Day 16 and 17: Colca Canyon

Yesterday at 3am Tim and I woke up woke up to get on our bus to the Colca Canyon. In our last blog we mentioned that it was twice as large as the Grand Canyon but to compare the two is impossible. I’ve never seen the Grand Canyon but I know that it is a sheer drop into expansive emptiness. The Colca Canyon has steep drops too, in some parts, but in others the mountains slope down and people have carved out terraces to allow for villages and farming industry in the canyon itself.  

Two soaring condors

Tim, happy to see condors

We arrived at the canyon at 9am and got our first glimpse of the amazing Andean condors, which have an average of 3meter wingspan. We watched these huge birds soar over the river below, looking for food or hapless tourists, before we proceeded on to the start of out trek. At the town of Cabanaconda we met up with our tour group, a quiet bunch including some friendly Argentinian computer techies, travelers from Holland and British teenagers on their Gap year. Led by our kind guide, Carlos, we proceeded to descend into a very steep portion of the canyon for a 3.5 hour trek to the bottom. Near the bottom we stopped for lunch, made with fresh ingredients from the family farm in the canyon (the fresh avocados were the best!). After lunch, we had another 3.5 hours to hike to our campground and on the way Carlos stopped to teach us about the medicinal plants, fruits and bugs that grow in the canyon. We made iodine paste with leaves and red face paint (pre-Inca lipstick and rouge) with the squished up bodies of pill bugs that live on cacti (gross I know, but these things were a hot commodity in ancient times for cosmetic and artistic use). 

Our campsite was very rustic. Tim and I slept in “cabanas” which were basically mud huts, with mud floors (since it had been raining on the last hour of the hike) and thatched roofs and walls. We really didn’t want to imagine what was creeping and crawling around us. However, after 7 hours of straight hiking, a few hours of chatting in Spanish and hot, spiked coca tea with our Argentine friends, we slept like babies. 

This morning we awoke at 4:30am, not-quite ready for the 3.5 hour hike directly ascending the freaking 9,000ft+ canyon walls. Breakfast awaited us at the top, and was my incentive for trudging up the treacherous switchbacks in the cold, misty morning. How would you like to wake up at 4am and climb the fucking Stairmaster for 3.5 hours? Yeah, me neither. But Tim was very supportive and stuck with me the whole way, reminding me that breakfast and warmth awaited me at the top. We also stopped frequently to take pictures and admire the view (well, that was my excuse for catching my breath and trying not to puke).  But we made it! And breakfast was delicious! 

Colca Canyon

Descending into the canyon

Carlos climbed a tree to bring us pacay, or whitee, fruit growing on the trail. Yum, reminded us of Guyana!

A family farm on the way to lunch in the canyon yesterday

Tim and Carlos, our guide, loved the crazy-eyed cat at lunch yesterday

Tim was happy to be trekking up a canyon!

I was not so thrilled to be plodding upwards at 5am!

The beautiful sunrise was worth it!

Feeling victorious at the top of the canyon

Sunflowers and corn on the way to breakfast today

Checking out the amazingly beautiful pre-Incan terraces

The beautiful arch welcoming us to Chivay and breakfast!

The rest of our tour was by bus and it was easy and fun. We stopped in a few villages for photo ops at churches, with locals and local fauna (condors and alpaca, oh my!). When we arrived back in Arequipa we had a local dinner of rotisserie chicken and chips and headed to our hostel where we had stored the majority of our junk. We showered (hot showers, yay!) and are checking in on the net before we head out on a night bus in a few hours to our next destination: Copacabana, Bolivia, on the shores of Lake Titicaca. Hasta pronto!  

It wouldn't be a trip to Peru without the obligatory photo of alpacas!

I paid 1 sole to put a condor on my head......yup, I'm a tourist!