Mountain biking
Textile Demonstrations
Expert weavers from the ancient village
of Chinchero demonstrate how they make their colorful ponchos and sweaters, including how
they dye colors and weave garments.
Cooking Demonstrations
After hearing many guests remark, “This
is so amazing, how can I make it?”, we decided to bring our secrets out of the
kitchen for “Cooking Demonstrations.”
The event begins with a welcome from the Sol & Luna management. We then
proceed to drinks – our barman Delfur demonstratesn how to make famous Peruvian
cocktails such as Pisco Sour (grape brandy and lime), Coca Sour (coca leaves with grape
brandy) and Algarrobina (carob cocktail). Next comes the art of fruit and vegetable
carving, demonstrated by our chef Nacho Selis Martinez. Learn how to fashion pumpkin
roses, flower tomatoes, and carrot and turnip lillies.
Local Andean cuisine follows. Chef Nacho takes visitors through the steps of
preparing specialties like Ceviche of Trout from the rivers of the Sacred Valley, Lomo
Saltado of Alpaca, Soup of Quinoa, (local cereal), Duo of Ocopa, Huancaina Sauce and
others.
We end by showing you ways to prepare juice from exotic “jungle fruits”.
Depending on the season, these fruits may include maracuya (passionfruit), guanavana
(custard apple), lucuma, granadilla, aguaymanto, sauco, tumbo and many more. You will
leave with a thorough knowledge of the tastes and flavors of the Sacred Valley.
NOTE: KID FRIENDLY: Bring out the inner artist in
your child with a Demonstration especially adapted for ages 7+. Under supervision, we show
kids how to carve exotic fruits into animals, birds and a variety of unique shapes. A fun
“transforming” experience!
Pizza
Night
Ideal for a family or a group of friends, “Make Your Own
Pizza Night” is a fun way to cook and spend leisure time together. We organize a
buffet-style presentation of pizza toppings, salads and deserts at our Ranch – Wayra
which has a rustic seating area and a lawn terrace with lots of room for children to play
and horses nearby as an added diversion. Our chefs prepare the pizza dough, you choose
your toppings, and the pizzas are placed in the Ranch’s large brick ovens.
NOTE: KID FRIENDLY: Thrown in a few chef’s hats and aprons to get
junior chefs into a cooking mood, hand them their very own pizza dough, let them get
creative with their pizzas and the result is a great evening of cooking fun.
Pachamanca (For 10 pax minimun)
Experience a banquet, Andean-style with this traditional feast, in which vegetables and
meats are stone-roasted underground. In the Andean belief system, nature is responsive to
man and must be honored. The mountains have apus (spirits) and the entire land has
Pachamama, the earth goddess whose fertility reaps fine harvests and whose goodwill
ensures healthy livestock.
For centuries, Andean villagers have performed rituals to honor this goddess.
Pachamanca is part of this tradition paying homage to the earth by cooking the fruits and
vegetables of the earth within it. It is also a collective experience – whether for a
family celebrating a special occasion, a village hoping for a good harvest, or a community
displaying respect for its leaders or celebrating a religious holiday.
We offer you a chance to experience this spiritual and communal
feast at Sol & Luna. In the lawn outside our Ranch-Wayra, our waiters dig a hole, make
a fire and heat stones in it. Then with you and your friends and family watching, we place
a variety of meats, vegetables, spices and fruits in the hole in layers separated by the
red-hot stones.
The main ingredients include chicken, alpaca, beef and pork;
vegetables like corn, sweet potatoes, fava beans as well as plaintains, cheese and oca.
All of the meat is marinated with huacatay, a green herb with a taste entirely its own.
The hole is covered with fronds and leaves, and sealed off with heavy sacks and earth. For
about 45 minutes, the ingredients are roasted. Then the pit is slowly uncovered, releasing
the delicious aromas of meats, vegetables and fruits made succulent by the slow roasting,
along with the tangy scents of herbs and spices. All the food is arranged in a buffet to
be savored at your leisure.
NOTE: KID FRIENDLY: Pachamanca is a great
interactive event for children who love to watch the parade of different foods and the
intrictate placement of these foods in the earth. We can make this a more kid friendly
event by playing name games with these different foods and allowing the children, under
supervision, to help with their preparation.
Ranch Barbecue
Our Barbecue is a perfect lunch or dinner-time event for
family, friends or a private group. Arranged on request, it is held in our Ranch which has
a large seating area and a wide lawn. We offer a variety of grilled meats and fish:
alpaca, trout, kingfish along with Andean salads, a range of sauces including huacatay and
a selection of deserts.
Theater
Cusi Wasi or "House of
Happiness" in Quechua is an Urubamba-based group that has been interpreting and
performing Peruvian myths and folklore since 1992. “The Gods of the Andes” is a
dramatic presentation that evokes Inca and Spanish traditions and features vibrant
costumes, dancing and singing.
Narrated by a woman named Wayra Tica or “Flower of the Wind,” the play
tells the story of a time long ago when people forgot their traditions, forgot how to live
in harmony with themselves and nature. Seeing this, the Gods intervene. Inti, the Sun,
Pachamama, the Earth, Mama Killa, the Moon, and Illapa, God of Thunder, meet and clash
when they hear th fighting,
The people are reminded of the presence of the gods, and remember their culture
and traditions. They begin to sing and dance again and so invoke Ekeko, the god of
abundance and prosperity who dances with them and brings them good luck.
Finally, a sacred fire comes and Wayra Tica, the villagers and the Gods, dance,
cleansed and purified. An evocative mixture of color, light, fire, music and words,
performed at night in the Sol & Luna Ranch. Arranged upon request.
RIDING TOURS
- HALF DAY RIDING TOUR
Experience The Peruvian Paso Way of Riding
- ONE DAY RIDING TOUR
Pacing Through The Land of Enchantment
o Route 1: Sol y
Luna - Pichingote - Rio Grande - Pumahuanca - Sol y Luna
Enjoy the exhilarating ride that only the Peruvian Paso horse can give! We
visit out-of-the-way Quechua communities and meet the local people in a natural village
setting.
We cross the Urubamba river and visit the ancient settlement of
Pichingoto, a tiny village of 6 families, who claim to be immediate descendants of the
original Inca settlers. The village is nestled against a cliff and the houses of the
inhabitants are partially built into the rock face.
We stop for our picnic-lunch in Pumahuanca, an area protected to
preserve its important fauna and flora. The scenery is breathtaking. A relaxing ride for
all abilities with no difficult climbs and plenty of time to stop for a refreshing drink
or memorable photos. Actual riding time 5-6 hours.
o Route 2: Sol y Luna - Pichingote -
Salinas - Maras - Moray - Sol y Luna
This is a route for the more experienced rider who is in good physical condition
!
We'll cross the Urubamba river for the climb (almost 1000 meters) to
the altiplano of the Andes and to the salt pans of Salinas, a fascinating system of
platforms used since the Inca times to extract salt from a natural mountain spring.
Visually the shining salt-encrusted terraces are extraordinary. This climb takes about two
hours. Take it easy because the change of altitude does not only affect the horses. Once
we are at 3700M you will be impressed by the sight of the snow-capped mountains of Chicon,
Veronica and Salcantay and the beautiful altiplano of the Andes that surrounds us. After a
picnic lunch in Maras, a typical Andean village that boasts a beautiful 400-year colonial
old church,we continue our ride to Moray. This site is not the ruin of a city or a
fortress, it is an earthwork.
The ancient peoples of the region took four enormous natural
depressions in the landscape and sculpted them into several levels of agricultural
terraces that served, hundreds of years ago, as an experimental agricultural station for
the development of different strain of crops. This was possible due to the discovery of a
fascinating phenomenon: the climates of many different ecological zones were present at a
single site. In the thirty or so meters of altitude between the bottom and top levels of
Moray's main depression, one scientist, John Earls, has recorded a full 15 degrees Celsius
difference in temperature. That is equal to the difference between the mean annual
temperatures of London and Bombay. Conceivably it was Moray itself that played the key
role in the original transformation of maize into a high-altitude crop!
There are no great ruins in Moray to impress visitors. Moray is more
for the contemplative traveller with an affinity for such phenomena as the Nazca Lines,
the stone rings of Avebury and the menhirs of Brittany.
From Moray we return to the riding stables.
Walking - Por las rutas incas
SHORT WALKS
The Pumahuanca Gorge
HALF - DAY
The Saltpans
The Terraces of Yucay
ONE DAY
Moray and the Saltpans
TWO DAYS
The Lost City of Huchuy Qosqo
THREE DAYS
The Lares Valley
Birds of the Sacred Valley
With Carlos Seminario
We start early in the morning, at about 6:30 am in the garden of Sol & Luna.
This garden of local and international plants and flowers, is a profusion of color
throughout the year. It extends all over the property, winding around the bungalows, the
restaurant and the ranch and includes hortensias, geraniums, salvia, hibiscus, cypress
trees, fig trees, elderberry, lantana bushes, echinopsis, raspberries, sombrero de panamas
and more. This variety of plants has become a mini-eco system, attracting an assortment of
both common and uncommon birds. At least 30 different species have been observed in the
garden. We will spend about an hour here, watching for frequent visitors like Peruvian
sierra finches, green and white humming birds, golden-billed saltators, black-backed
grosbeaks, conebills, blood-throated flower piercers and rusty-throated flower piercers.
Next, we drive about 45 minutes towards the Pumahuana Gorge until we reach Pisi
Granja, a fish farm. From here we continue on foot, ascending higher into the mountain.
We pass through primary forest, with trees endemic to these parts like the
quenua. Here we hope to find the creamy-crested spine tail and the rusty-fronted
canastiero.
If we are lucky, we might see a Royal Cinclopes. We continue to ascend slowly up
to about 9000 to 10,000 feet where we hope to see birds like the white-browed tit
spinetail and the tawny-tit spinetail, both common for this altitude.
Depending on the group, we can spend 2-3 hours on the mountain for a half-day
excursion and return to Sol & Luna for lunch. Or we can plan a full-day excursion,
spending longer on the mountain with a box lunch and returning around 4 pm to the Hotel.
NOTE: KIDīs FRIENDLY
RAFTING - Urubamba River
LOCATED: Urubamba river, Sacred Valley
GRADING: Class II - Easy – No prior experience needed.
ITINERARY :
We leave the hotel early in the morning and drive through the Sacred Valley of the Incas
to our private put in, located in Pachar. Here you will receiven a safety talk and
equipment (toilet facilities).After a brief period practicing on the flatter parts of the
river, we will begin rafting rapids, passing down to Ollantaytambo and its Inca terraces
and through rapids of Class II and III finishing with “El Resbaladero” (the
slippery one), a strong Class III rapid that includes waves and small whirlpools. We dry
off and change clothes, and have a picnic lunch at the side of the river.
SERVICES INCLUDED
Briefing (orientation meeting), transportation, picnic lunch with table, chairs, bathroom,
dining tent in rainy season (vegetarian option), expert guide, safety equipment, rafting
equipment (self-bailing boats, professional life jacket, helmet, spray jacket), first-aid
kit.
