There's little to see or do in Vilcabamba apart from enjoy the balmy climate. The leafy square, dominated by the neoclassical church, is the town's main focus, alive with chirping, flitting birds at dawn or dusk, and the odd oldie. Walking for about 15 minutes down the Calle Diego de la Vaca will bring you to the
Area de Recreacion Yamburara, which includes a small zoo and
orchid garden. For a more strenuous hike, ask the tourist office for directions to the
Cerro Mandango, or there are great hikes up towards
Podocarpus from Cabanas Rio Yambala.
| |Article contributed by Dominic Hamilton||| |
Valley of the immortals
The valley is famed for its longevity of its locals, it has been reported that many folks lived to be over 100 years of age with the oldest up to 135 years making it an area with some of the oldest inhabitants in the world.
Such longevity has been mainly attributable to the perfect all year round climate, deep family ties, low animal fat diets, little stress and daily physical exercise along with a simple life and hard work ethic. Backing the last statement up, often you can view people in their 80's working away in the local fields. The result of this legend has helped in increased levels of tourism as well as appealing to migrants for a more low key existence along with their imported alternative health techniques as previously mentioned on living the natural life, this has led to the name of the town being named "the valley of longevity".
