Colca: Condors, Incas, adventure

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We left Arequipa early in the morning with Felix, our driver and guide. He pulled up to the hotel in his van, along with his wife, and we loaded up for the long drive to Colca Canyon.

The trip would be worth doing even without the canyon. Much of the drive crossed through a large national preserve that remains undeveloped and unused, except for native folks who raise llama and alpaca there. Huge herds of alpaca wandered near the road, while tourists stopped and went gaga taking pictures. I was among them, though it occurred to me that to the Peruvians it must seem as silly as it would look if you saw tourists pulling over to take pictures of cows in Missouri (I think I actually have seen this a time or two).

Part of the preserve is also home to the protected vicuña, a less common relative of the alpaca. The wool of the vicuña is much softer and more valuable than llama or alpaca wool, and they say the meat tastes better. Eating vicuña is illegal, but alpaca is common throughout the south -- and it is delicious (and supposedly less fattening than chicken). It is dry here as well, but a lot of water comes down from the mountains and often bubbles up into melt water streams.

Interestingly, a lot of the alpacas have brightly colored decorations woven into their ears, just for fun. Also, as you can see in one picture, they carry the shepherd's lunch around on their backs.

We passed the highest point of our trip on the way to the Canyon, climbing to about 4,900 meters. The area is cluttered with cairns, stacks of rocks tourists make before making a wish. Flatlanders like us have to move slowly even getting out of the car or dizziness can set in.

Chivay

The largest city in the canyon is Chivay, and it is where most of the tourist buses stop for the night. We stopped for lunch in Chivay, and sadly, our driver's favorite spot was closed because of some sort of kitchen accident. We were redirected to another spot, and if I could remember the name, I would tell you to never go there. Go to "El Pichy," which has a good menu del dia and buffet of traditional food (we went on the return trip through Chivay). At the first spot, we were the first people there, but they gave our food to every large tourist group that came, so we were there for almost three hours before we got to eat. We were the last group to leave.

I had my one and only explosion of the Peru trip at this unnamed restaurant (well, more like three explosions during the one lunch). At the end of the meal, I told the waiter, "La cuenta, si tienes morro suficiente para cobrarnos." This doesn't really translate, but isn't very nice. Because of the rather leisurely lunch, we didn't have time to see Chivay's one attraction, the natural hot springs, but I hear they're nice.

We continued forward to the town of Coparanque, and our charming hotel, Mamiyachi. Once we arrived, our driver took us on a short hike to see the Inca ruins of the original town of Coparanque. The entire area is covered with Incan terraces, which people still farm as they have for the past 600 years.

A pair of young girls ran down the hill, and I chatted with them for a while. Not many tourists have made their way to Coparanque, and the town remains sleepy. It only got electricity a couple years, and as we walked backed to the hotel, we saw a group of farmers performing an ancient ritual of making payment to Pacha Mama, the mother earth, with seeds and chicha.

La cruz del condor

The next morning, we got up (there was a good earthquake during the night, no damage) before dawn to enjoy the big reason people got to Colca: they Condors.

We drove through a few small towns along the rim of the canyon, looking at several thousand foot drops inches away from the tires. Finally, we arrived to La Cruz del Condor, Condor's Cross, where there is a viewing point to wait for the condors.

In the first half hours, I saw three condors, for less than two seconds a piece. I walked down to another viewing point. After a few minutes, several condors circled in the distance. I started shooting photos, and the condor hung around for several minutes. Estatic, I ran up to the first look out point to tell my family. There, the condors were still flying, and they kept getting closer. It was incredible. Some condors have wingspans of about 9 feet, and they almost never flap their wings. The condor catches a current and glides through the canyon.

Many people go to the cross and never see a condor; we had the enormous luck to see 11 different condors for about 30 minutes. Some passed about 15 feet over our heads. The shock and their beauty made the condors one of the best experiences of the trip, rivalling Macchu Picchu.

On the list of things to do on a future trip: you can take hikes from 2-5 days through the entire Colca Canyon. The trails follow the walls on the canyon and pass through tiny agricultural hamlets. No road passes through the canyon, and the only way to arrive is on foot or with a mule. From above, the views are stunning. Any takers?