We were in the mountains of Urubamba, Peru, when a long-term resident at our homestay told us something that completely changed our perspective. We learned that driving up the mountain for just 10 minutes would lead us to a fresh trout farm. There, we found a farm fed by a stream diverted from the glacier at the top of the mountain. We tend to think of glaciers as being in the extreme North and South, but not so!
To get there, we had to drive up a dirt road that narrowed into a narrow pass, where our choices were to be stranded or brave crossing a bamboo bridge over a raging waterfall! I got out of the car to assess the situation and then decided to press on. The aqueducts reminded us a lot of the architectural ruins in the area, making me wonder just how old this fishery was.
I couldn’t immediately see anyone running the fishery, but eventually, three young guys stopped their impromptu soccer game and came over to ask what I wanted. My Spanish is functional but not great, so I managed to piece together that I wanted some pescado (fish). I wasn’t sure if I wanted pequeña (small), medio (medium), or grande (large). The young man walked me over to the medium tank, dropped in a large net, and pulled out half a dozen or so medium-sized fish. I said, “Sí, tres de estos” (yes, three of those).
He hand-tossed three of the fish onto the grass and then used a small wooden dowel to bludgeon them. With hand motions and a questioning look, I asked if they could fillet them for me. You’d be surprised how much communication can happen when both parties are willing! He agreed to do it for another sol (around $0.25). So, for about 9 soles ($2.50), we had our fish!
Now, the fun part, at least for our kids. Jenn had made arrangements to share a meal with some of the other homestay occupants. We just needed to build a fire. Luckily, Malaki (our youngest) had been planning to build a fire for several days and had been collecting firewood. Little did we know that another teachable moment was at hand: it’s really hard to start a fire at high altitude. In Urubamba, we were at 9,400 feet elevation!
But my kids are not ones to back down from a challenge. After trying different wood configurations and various kinds of kindling, we finally realized that a dry leaf from one of the local fruits, combined with bamboo husk, worked wonders! The thing was, we really needed to build the fire up to get it to burn as hot as fires we were used to at sea level.
After about an hour of effort, which involved lots of fanning, building, and scavenging for more wood, we were satisfied with our progress. This lined up nicely with some of the magic the ladies were working in the kitchen. I neglected to mention that two of the fish we caught were pregnant, so we had four huge rows of fish eggs that I brought back to Jenn to see what she could do with them.
She made fish cakes! We had an amazing meal of grilled fish, fish cakes, and vegetables from the local market. It was all made even sweeter by the effort we put into the fire, the love Jenn put into the meal, the great company we enjoyed at our homestay, and the sheer beauty of the fog-shrouded mountains of Sacred Valley, Peru.
