Campfires and Quechua: A Summer to Remember

Hi, my name is Amelia. I am 11 years old and I went to the 2025 summer Valley Camp. I’m from the Cayman Islands and I’ve been traveling with my family for four years. I learned Spanish from my nanny and practiced while traveling. I went to all four weeks of Valley Camp and loved it.

Each week at Valley Camp, I had the same leader for my group. I was in the oldest group, of kids who were 10 to 12 years old. We also had different teachers for workshops. My leader and the teachers for our workshops were all really kind, fun, and cool and they always helped us during the activities. They were really good at helping kids get along. They made sure everyone was included and safe and encouraged us to do everything.

The best thing about the first week at Valley Camp was going rock climbing! Our group hiked to some steep granite cliffs. Some kids had climbed before and some hadn’t. Before I started climbing, I felt happy and excited and not nervous because I trusted the teachers. First, the teachers made sure you were safe by getting you into a harness that fitted and then you partnered up. We got pick who we climbed with. I was in a group of four. There were three different walls, a small one, a medium one, and big one. You could start on whichever one you wanted. When you reached the top, you repelled down and it was really exciting. It was raining lightly while we climbed which made the rocks slippery! That was challenging, but we still did it. I climbed the biggest wall!

During the first week, we did lots of fun classes at the Valley Camp base. First was designing an obstacle course: they separated us into two teams and we had to build the other team’s obstacle course as challenge for them to complete. Whoever went through the obstacle course the fastest was the winner. It was really fun. Then we learned about baking traditional bread. We tried multiple different types of breads from the Cusco area and then we baked pan chuta which is sweet and flavored with anise. Finally we got to design and bake our own bread with our own ingredients and flavors.

I made three friends at Valley Camp. One of them was from the US and spoke English and Spanish, the other was from Calca, a town near Urubamba, and spoke Spanish, and the third was from Patacancha, a village in the high Andes mountains, and spoke Quechua and Spanish – I loved her little sisters too. In the middle of the camp, we went to visit my friend and her family in Patacancha. We drove for a long way up into the mountains. When we got there, my friend and her sisters came down to greet us and we walked up the hill to their house. Their mom was with their alpacas in the mountains. Their dad was there with us. We played with a ball and my friend French braided my hair and they taught me to weave bracelets. Their mom and the girls all weave with alpaca wool. I showed them how to make friendship bracelets and we made bracelets for each other and for my parents. For lunch, their dad cooked a“Pachamanca” where foods are buried under the ground under a fire to roast or steam. We had quinoa soup then plantains, potatoes, chicken, cheese, and fava beans from the Pachamanca. In the late afternoon we had to say goodbye and head back to Urubamba.

During the second week of Valley Camp, we learned about medicinal plants that the Inca people once used and that many Quechua people still use to help themselves recover after being sick. We learned about ginger, muña, and other plants and we made healthy ginger gummies for colds and muña tea for stomach problems and altitude sickness. We also designed and carved gourds and worked on our teamwork with games and activities. For fieldtrips, we went to a hotel to learn about their environmental programs and we went to a waterfall and the Inkari museum. At the Inkariy museum, they had cases of artifacts and at the end of each room they had set up a display of mannequins showing life-like scenes from long ago. My favorite was a cave that you can walk through. It was super exciting.

During the third week of camp, we learned traditional Peruvian dances and first aid. We did dances from the mountains, the coast, and the Amazon. In first aid, we learned how to treat wounds and save people from choking, and how to identify poisonous snakes. We practiced bandaging each other and played charades with medical situations. This week was one of the funnest. For the fieldtrips, we visited an Inca site and did a clean-up in the mountains.

The fourth week was my favorite because we got to do an overnight camping trip! During the whole week, we learned how to set up a tent, what to bring on a camping trip, and how to work as a team. On the day of the trip, we drove for an hour. Then we hiked up three kilometers in the middle of a steep valley. We helped each other and kids carried bags for other people. Finally we reached the Inca ruin of Huch'uy Qosqo, which is on top of a high hill. A king wanted to build a place where he could be safe and where he could spend his last few years. It was hot and sunny and we could see the whole valley and further away mountains. We set up our tents and hung out for the afternoon. I got to stay with my friend and her two little sisters. For dinner we had spaghetti. We sat around a huge bonfire and roasted s’more for dessert! Then we went to bed. I poked my head out of my tent and saw majestic stars. In the early morning at 4:30 some really annoying boys woke me up but I didn’t get up until 7am. In the morning, it was cold and misty and really pretty. You could look down over all the hills and see the Urubamba river and the first cars running along the road. For breakfast we had oatmeal and sandwiches. We relaxed for the morning and played Twister and Uno. Then we hiked down and got the bus back to camp. When we got home our parents were waiting to do our goodbye ceremony.

Valley Camp is the best camp in the world. I loved it all and hope to come back next year.