Colca Canyon – 10/10&11

We were up at 2:20 Sunday morning for a 3:00 pickup and 3 ½ hour drive to the town of Chivay for a typical breakfast of tea, rolls, butter, jam and juices.  Properly filled, we drove another 2 hours or so on bumpy, eventual dirt roads to the Cruz De Condor vista in Colca Canyon. This canyon is more than twice the depth of the Grand Canyon and covers a huge area.  

As soon as we got off our small bus, two juvenile condors, maybe 6-7 foot wing span, put on a show for us (full size adults reach 11 feet across).   

After getting plenty of pictures we started part II of our journey and continued further down the dirt road where we were dropped off with our guide for our trek into the canyon.  Our group included 4 New Zealanders, an Israeli lady, a lady from Montreal, a guy from Belgium and a lady from Switzerland.  We packed up and began the descent into the canyon….and went down, and down and down, on a dusty, hot trail.  Several hours later we reached the bridge at the bottom of the canyon.  After a rest, we crossed the bridge and did our first climb, up 150 feet and then trekked up and down through the countryside for another hour until lunch.  We had lunch at a very small town restaurant camp where we had soup (part of every meal), fish, rice, and potatoes.

After lunch we ascended quickly up and trekked into another small town.  We reloaded on water and our guide described the lives of the people in these three villages we went through:  they farm and do a weekly trek to the town at the top of the canyon to trade for what they can’t grow.  The center town has a grade school, a traditional doctor and a medical doctor that goes door to door.  In the last year they got cell service.  Trails connect everything together and we watch them planting fields from overlooks.  Our book says people have been living there for 2000 years.

After the villages we descended down to our “camp” at the bottom of the canyon.  There are actually three camps:  Oasis, Paradise and Eden.  After a day on these dusty trails, it was like heaven:  showers, swimming pools, restaurant, bar, hot pools, and simple accommodations with no electricity...all beautifully landscaped.   We had a nice dinner of soup and pasta.  A long day and early morning coming sent us to bed around 8 with 11 miles and 1,400 feet of elevation gain on our legs..

Day 2 of the trek began at 5 am with a long trudge back up the canyon (about 3,100 feet of elevation gain in 2.8 miles).  The sun was hot and bright when we regrouped at the top about 3 hours later.  Wow!  And all before breakfast!   Another mile into town we got to sit down for a breakfast of tea, scrambled eggs and rolls.  Back on the bus we stopped off at a few towns and overlooks along the way, before stopping at Chivay for lunch. 

During lunch the weather turned and you could hear thunder.  By the time the bus got to 11000 feet or so it was snowing with several inches on the road.  This continued for another 2 hours until we descended far enough and we drove out of the storm.  Back in Arequipa at 5, showered, a bit weary, and preparing for our day tomorrow. 

Off to Nasca…..