Peru Trip: Colca Canyon... and some condors

[Editors note: Thank goodness for Ariel who is proofreading my blogs. Otherwise people would realize I can't spell without spellcheck...]

Day 8 & 9 - Colca Tour

Ariel and I signed up for a 2 day/1 night bus tour to see the Colca Canyon, which is larger than the grand canyon and 3 hours outside of Arequipa. We awoke early in the morning and left our favourite hotel to board our cramped bus.

The first part of our tour consisted of us learning to chew coca leaves (we were again going high in altitudes). After chewing the coca leaves for the first time, I actually think they work for a number of ailments. They taste absolutely disgusting though.

On the way, we also saw (and distingushed between) the three types of important Peruvian animals:


1. Vicuna (so cute, not domesticated, and was extremely sacred for the Incans)









2. Alpaca - looks like a lamb, domesticated (if you don't own an alpaca, you are NOT cool), and popular for its soft wool.





3. Llama - camel face, good climber, and can carry 80 lbs.




Our bus ride went through the Andes to some great viewpoints where we could see the volcanoes and mountains...

This is a pretty cool picture (in my humble opinion) which shows the good luck custom here... to pile/balance small rocks on top of each other which makes for some pretty neat surroundings...



We have really been missing our dog, Ziggy, on this trip (special thanks to my Uncle Stan and Aunt Linda for taking care of him while we are gone). Any animal that is small and cute reminds us of Ziggy, for example this cute little goat that we found in the mountain... [yes, you figured it out... the bus trip wasn't the most thrilling and we stopped at every possible stop to see animals and buy trinkets from old women in typical Peruvian clothing...]


Finally we arrived at our rustic lodge in Colca where we would stay overnight and then leave early in the morning to look at the canyon and hopefully spot condors. The lodge was a great place to unwind on some hammocks. The food was quite delicious as well... [editor's note: Ariel would put a hammock in our condo if he could]


We then took a hike up a mountain to view an Inca burial site. There were a number of skeletons and bones there, which was sorta freaky. One interesting thing we learned is that the different communities in that time would deform the skulls of their people to differentiate them (note that the skull on the right is narrow and long).

In particular, I think i am the best looking one in this photo but I welcome your comments and feedback...


Prior to heading to bed in the lodge we went to visit a "modern" hot springs (a.k.a hot springs attached to 5 swimming pools with hot water) to soak in the hot water. This was especially welcome given how cold it got at night.

We woke early the next morning (5am!!) to explore the canyon in the hopes of seeing the condor, which is the second largest bird in the world (thanks Cliff Clayvin).

The canyon itself was very impressive, wide and very deep. There are different 'terraces' along the sides at different altitudes which were used for agriculture since different crops grow at different altitudes.


We managed to see quite a number of condors. At times, they suddenly appeared from the canyon and you could really appreciate their size. Unfortuantely, at those times, my reflexes were not as amazing, and as a result, my best condor photo appears to the right (no laughing please).




Real photo from Google -->

The real excitement for us, however, was the group of 20 teenage South American girls that were screaming to take a photo with us. It was hillarious!!... they were all lining up and wanting to pose with us for photos. Of course we obliged and even did fun things with them as you can see in the photo... As you recall we had a similar experience at Macchu Pichu-- obviously these South American girls have a thing for Canadian jews.

We then had lunch in Chivay, a nearby town, then boarded the bus for a 3 1/2 hour bus ride back to Arequipa. Overall, the canyon was a pretty fun experience. Here's a final photo of the canyon and the condor...



We were looking forward to getting back to Arequipa for one more day of exploring, then off to Lima.

Preview of upcoming (and final) blog from Peru: Frozen girl, unique food, nunneries....

Heading out to Sitges Club now... 25 peso all you can drink...

Hugs,
Miguel.