Canyon del Colca & Juanita

I arrived into Arequipa at 4am and with the two other tourists on the bus, Corina(Brit) and Ben(Boston), we headed for the Plaza de Armas. Fantastic in the early dawn, but everything was shut. We tried a few hostals and most were full, the we found a room at the Santa Catalina. Not my first choice, but for 13 solis and after a long night bus with no sleep, it would work. We went to the roof-top and admired the view. As the sun was rising to the right of El Misti the light on it and Chachani was breath-taking! I immediately fell in love with this city. These mountains rise to around the 6000 meter mark and the city lies at 2300 meters. So, you can imagine how spectacular these mountians, that are less than 100km away and 3700 meters higher, can be.

After a bit of a much-needed nap, Corina and I headed out to see the town. We ended up doing the tour of the Museum of Juanita. In this museum, there is the 500 yr. old mummy found at the top of Ampato(6320m) and another Sarrita. These mummies along with others have been found at the tops of the surrounding mountains. As the Inca believed that the mountains were gods, it seems that they made sacrificial offerings to these gods from time to time. The most fascinating thing about these mummy's is their level of preservation by the freezing conditions of the peaks. Juanita is especially well preserved, still retaining her skin, organs, and hair. Scientists have even been able to learn what she had eaten the final day of her life. Fascinating.

After this solid day, which pleased me so much, I fell ill. For only the second time(first time since Bangkok, 9 months before) I was down with something. I knocked me out of the travel scene for a couple days, laid up in my room. Thankfully, Corina took good care of me, bringing me bread and water. Slowly, and with the help of mighty Cipro, I recovered. The Danish couple arrived into Arequipa(I had met them in Cusco). Matthew and Michelle, were in town for a few days and as I recovered I had a few easy nights out with them after afternoon Spanish private spanish lessons. Soon, I was better and they were off to Lima and I was off to the Colca Canyon.

The Colca Canyon is one of the major draws of the region and is home to many Condors. For many years it boasted that it was the deepest canyon in the world. Now, there is a debate whether it or another nearby canyon is. Whether it is number one or number two, it is very deep and highly impressive. I went up to Cabanaconde, the town which is next to a bit of the canyon which you can walk into. Most people will take a tour, but I decided that it sounded easy enough and would do it myself. This proved to be an exceptional way to do it and I was quite pleased.

I took a night bus up to Cababaconde. I immediately went to Hostal Tierra del Fuego, which is recommended in the LP. The man running this hostal took me to his sons down the road. Both were about the same, though his son's seemed a bit newer. He took me to his son, as he speaks better english. They gave me a map and told me how long it would take and what I would need. I was off.

First I took a bus up to see the Condors at Cruz del Condor. This is a good spot for viewing the Condors and many tourist groups were there. But, it seemed that they hadn't seen any. Then they all piled into their buses and left. I was there by myself. I walked over to the edge of the cliff to have my first real look down into the Colca Canyon. Magnificent. Then it happened. As I was peering down to the canyon floor, a whistling noise came from my left. I looked up, and there not more than a meter away was a three meter wide condor! Just flying past. It totally took me by surprise. I had thought before I had made the trip here that the canyon trek would be great, but the condors would be just something extra and probably not very exciting. I was wrong. These are not just another bird, which I had thought they would be, they were massive and beautiful. All in all I saw about 15 in the two days I was in the canyon, every time was a treat.

After about a half an hour here I headed on down the road back towards Cabanaconde. About a half later I came to some rocks that had a sign painted on them pointing to a short-cut, this is what I was looking for. But, to make sure, I spoke with the woman at the nearest house. Then, ascertained I was headed the right way, I headed into the canyon. It was a very long 3hrs later that I reached San Juan, the first town across the bridge at the bottom of the canyon. The descent of about 1500+ meters is quite steep and contains a lot of switchbacks. But, at the bottom, a woman greeted me and invited me to stay at her hotel, Casa La Roy, a fantastically beautiful place. She lead me there and after being shown around I decided to take a nap. I hadn't slept much on the night bus and after the long morning of trekking, I was out! She came around and woke me for dinner and then I slept again until morning. In the morning, I was feeling refreshed. And when I walked outside I was amazed at the views of canyon all around. Truly a spectacular place. The second day I walked through a few small towns and to Oasis by 11am. I spent a couple of hours there. It is a very nice spot which many tourists come down directly from Cabanaconde for the afternoon and then return to Cabanaconde. I thought it was a nice place with the pools, waterfalls, and lushness of the flora around. As it is very hot here I waded in the pool a bit, very refreshing. Then, I headed up to Cabanaconde. It took about three hours and was quite steep. When I returned to the town I bought a bus ticket for the night bus back to Arequipa, and I was off.

When I returned to Arequipa, I checked into my original hostal of choice, Casa La Reyna. Great place to meet other travelers and a sensational view from the top. I spent the next few days trying to work out a trek to the top of Chachani, but all seemed to get was the run-around. Eventually, I had to just leave. I was truly disappointed that I wasn't able to climb any of the mountains that I had wanted to, butI was losing my acclimatization and couldn't just sit around Arequipena for much longer. Finally, I left for Puno. Hopefully, trekking in Bolivia will be a bit easier to do....