Condors in the Colca Canyon.

The reason for our trip to Arequipa was to visit the surrounding Canyon country. AN organised tour bus picked us up early in the morning & we headed north for the Canon de Colca. The day long road trip wound up & up from Arequipa to the bleak “antiplono” – high plateau pass at 4800m, before descending to Chivay our night’s stop destination & hot springs relaxation. We chewed on coca leaves & drank Coca tea to help deal with the dizziness of altitude sickness. No one felt too bad but we all felt the lack of Oxygen when trying to breath.

We stopped of en route to meet the locals, the protected Vicunas, distant cousins of the Llama & Alpaca family. Every time we stopped, local Peruvians attempted to sell us everything under the sun. Water, coca tea, snacks, hats, scarves, jumpers & earrings were all available. Sean & Tim, the two Southern Irish lads seamed to buy almost everything offered & are now proud owners of a complete Peruvian wardrobe!

The Colca canyon is 3191m deep, yes nearly 2 miles deep! It is second only in terms of depth to it’s near by neighbour Canon del Cotahuasi at 3354m. The Grand Canyon doesn’t even come close. Our Colca canyon mission was to Condor watch. Our two day excursion was based on the possibility that we MIGHT be able to see these huge birds soaring the Canyon walls so we headed out early on day 2 (5am ) to hopefully catch these majestic birds. We weren’t disappointed!! A full 2 hours were spent filling my camera memory card with as many shot so& film of these magnificent birds.

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