Before we meet each other in 1976, Bruce travels through Africa with his sister, and Tass spends a winter in South America with her best friend, Suzanne. Tass and Suzanne go to South America to study birds, and also to see some of the old Inca ruins and cities. At that time, in 1975, very few people visit Machu Picchu, and even less people hike in to see the ruins via the Inca trail. Tass and Suzanne hike the Inca Trail for three days following a hand drawn map. They don't see another single tourist. They hike through frequent rainstorms, and often the surrounding valleys are obscured with clouds and mist. Imagine their excitement when they look down and see Machu Picchu through the clouds.

Archeologists believe Machu Picchu was constructed in the 1400's by the Inca ruler Pachacuti. When the Spanish first arrived in South America they fought and conquered the Inca. But the Spanish never learned about Machu Picchu, and the city high in the Andes mountains of Peru is not rediscovered until over 400 years later.

The walls of the buildings are built of granite rock. The roofs of the buildings were all covered with grass thatching that has long since rotted away. No one knows whatever happened to the people who lived here.

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