Along the Inca Track

Many of you will have probably spent more time than I on the Inca Track, the ancient paved road across the face of the Andes that leads to Machu Picchu, near Cusco in the southern Peruvian Andes, but I've three times walked the last day's section, climbing up from Km104 on the railway line to the wonderful, though ruined, Inca town of Wiñay Wayna. I've previously talked a little of the wildlife of Machu Picchu itself, but this is in fulfilment of a promise I made then to say something of the track too. 

The climb up to Wiñay Wayna is not too steep, but is relentless for about three hours; thereafter it is more or less along the contours, though it dips into gullies, and there is one short but brutal staircase which is more like a ladder! 

Wiñay Wayna from above; there are two accesses, depending on the state of the track;
the one from directly below is the tougher one.

Wiñay Wayna is a Quechua word - Quechua was the language of the Incas (though not uniquely so) and they spread it throughout their vast empire. It means 'forever young', and is also the name given to the beautiful and ubiquitous orchid Epidendrum secundrum. 

Most of the route is through cloud forest, and orchids are a feature, including more Epidendrums.

Epidendrum funkii (it's true!)

Epidendrum syringothyrsus

Cyrtochilum minax

Sobralia dichotoma

unidentified - sorry, but it is too magnificent not to share, even without a name!
(And any suggestions welcomed.)

And of course there are many other plants to distract us too.

Bejaria aestuans (family Ericaceae - the heathers and lings)

The bromeliads crowd every surface above ground level; as well as providing important habitat for a huge number of small animals - including frogs that live nowhere else and even a crab! - they are key food for the endangered Andean (or Spectacled) Bear, of Paddington Bear fame. There are some 3,000 bromeliad species in tropical America, the best known of which is the pineapple.

Tillandsia fendleri, above and below.

Cliff face studded with bromeliads.

Animals, especially birds, are prominent too, but wildlife photography in the cloud forests is not easy.

Anole Lizard, pretending to be dead.

This magnificent creature is, I would venture to suggest, a stag beetle
in the Scarab group of beetles.

Amethyst-throated Sunangel; I never met a hummingbird I didn't like,
and this is certainly not an exception!

And after a day of such fabulous treats, we are rewarded with a stunning view of Machu Picchu from the Sun Gate, high above.

The journey should never be about the destination, but not many destinations are this fabulous.