Day 378 – Santa Cruz Hike
On the third day
Once again, we were awoken by the angelic smell of cocoa tea in the morning. Afterwards we started packing, had breakfast and completed packing. At 7am we were back on the road for the third and final day of hiking for us (Typically it’s a 4 day hike, but since one member had a flight to catch, we all agreed to do it in 3 days).
The views throughout the hike are just beautiful. Everywhere we looked was picturesque scenery. The entire day was downhill, which made us super happy. However, near the end I fell and had superficial scratches to my arm. Even though I was injured, I soldiered on.
Final camp site
We reached our final camp site at 1.30pm. It was a long day again.
Our final camp site was at a store, Casa de Aquiles. Here we had lunch prepared by the cook and we purchased beer. We said goodbye to the guy doing the hike in 3 days, who took a collectivo back to Huaraz. Later, he messaged to say that it was a normal sedan with 8 passengers!
We saw many groups going the opposite direction to us today
Hot Springs
The rest of the group took a collectivo to the hot water springs. The return trip only cost 5 PEN ($2.20 AUD) per person (p/p). The hot springs were a 10 minute drive from the camp site.
It was essentially a pool using naturally hot water. The only others at the pool were a group of Peruvian males. Once we arrived, they moved to one corner of the pool. Entrance only cost 3 PEN ($1.32 AUD) p/p.
It was an amazing way to finish the Santa Cruz hike.
Afterwards, we then went back to the camp for tea, followed by dinner and drinks. As the night drew on, we noticed mozzies coming out.
Click here for our quick guide to the Santa Cruz Hike (https://travelthegap.com/quick-guide-to-santa-cruz-trek/)