Mike and Sue visiting in Vilcabamba - Shanta's restaurant

 Shanta's is a special restaurant in Vilcabamba. They may have the best pizzas in town, but also other interesting stuff off the beaten path...

 The garden is a mix of lush exotic plants and cacti.

 Orchids.

 The inside is like a reptile museum. These are snake spines hanging from the ceiling.

 These are shark jaws from Peru.

 This is a large tarantula.

  There is something strange about snakes in this place...

 After we had pizza, we had to introduce our friends to Shanta's home made snake liquor. Mike and Sue are from Mancos, Colorado. We all had a thought for Joe Goulet that night since he is the one who introduced us to one another back in Durango.

 This snake liquor is said to have magical properties and to cure everything. Going to Shanta's is like going to a shaman. You get a healing, unknowingly at first.

Shanta with Pancho Villa and other friends, back in Mexico, what a good computer job!

 Shanta gave us some extra snake liquor and a glass of another mysterious liquor he reserves only for friends, on the house, what an honor! He did not want to say what this last one was. More magic for sure.

 This coral snake was caught in Vilcabamba, in the Izhcayluma neighborhood.

 We asked Shanta if he left the snake venom when macerating the snakes. His only response was that it is a secret and the recipy has been in his family for over 106 years.

 This snake has been macerating for 4 years.

 Other customers were celebrating a birthday. We sang with them and they shared the cake with us.

   We will never forget this very special evening at Shanta's. Thank you so much, Mike and Sue.

 We went back another night for some "cuy", some kind of large guinea pig cooked the traditional Ecuadorian way. The locals ravish this dish.

 Mike and Sue stayed at "Le Rendez-Vous" in Vilcabamba and said it was the nicest hotel they stayed at during their trip to Peru and Ecuador, and the cheapest!

  The next day, Sue went to school and made a short presentation in Louis's and Angelina's classroom at the local school while Peter worked on his angles.

 Sue told the Goldilocks tale in English. The kids understood the story and loved it.