Luckily our friends Linda and Dario wanted to come
along with us, although they would be returning to work in Arequipa after the
trip. We loaded them up with their
stuff, along with Shorty (our new pet dog from Arequipa!), and Cubby’s wheels
were rolling once again.
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| Linda and Dario in the backseat with Shorty |
We had gotten some insider tips from our friends David
and Angelica (Spaniards living and working in Arequipa) for how to get to Colca without
having to pay the tourist “fee”. It was
a different route, which we almost didn’t find – it was a good thing that we
had left Cubby safely parked at a police stop a ways back and were only
travelling with Pichula.
Soon we found the right route and were able to get
to Colca the “back way” to avoid the fee.
We checked out the town of Chivay…
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| we stopped for some delicious tea from these ladies on the street...it will cure whatever ails you |
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| these statues were everywhere! |
And camped the first night behind the “termas” (hot springs). It was a cold night, but we cooked a feast!
It was too dark to see anything when we arrived,
but in the morning we checked out the amazing scenery around us.
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| packed up to leave the next morning |
We had lunch in the town of Yanque, the next in the
line of small towns around the canyon.
From there, we went to the nearby archaeological
complex called Uyo Uyo.
Uyo Uyo was a Kollawa village, later taken over by
the Incas (as seems to be the story with all the ruins in Peru). The village was later burned by the Spanish,
leaving only one survivor. It is a sad
story for the people who once lived in the beautiful Colca Valley.
Back in the town, we came across a group of 3
travelers who needed a lift. Despite
the fact that we already had 4 people, a dog, backpacks, and instruments loaded
in the car (the drum takes up a seat all by itself!), we managed to pack in 3
more people and their giant backpacks.
Don’t ask me how we did it, but where there’s a will, there’s a way!
We continued the journey along the canyon,
stopping at the many miradores (viewpoints) to admire and take pictures.
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| tunnel |
We finally made it to the “Cruz del Condor,” the
popular condor-watching site, and the spot where the canyon is the
deepest. Since it was late, we had the
spot all to ourselves.
We knew the hoardes would be coming in the
morning, though, (all the tour buses come at dawn because early a.m. is the best
time for spotting condors), so we decided to set up camp at another spot just
down the road, called the “Cruz del Cura”.
This area also had viewpoints to see the spectacular canyon.
We found a perfect little “hole” to set up the
tents, sheltered from the wind. There were a few dead cows laying around (don't know why...), but no matter, it was beautiful!
After we had the tents set up, we returned to the
canyon to watch the sunset. Wow!
After another campfire feast, we went to bed
early, knowing we had to get up early to watch the sunrise and catch the condors
the next morning.
And get up early we did. Maybe a bit too early…it took forever for the sun to rise, and it was
freezing! It was even too early for the
condors, apparently.
Soon we started seeing steam coming from the
canyon. We had heard that the condors
ride the warm air and steam as it rises from the canyon in the morning…
But no luck.
No condors. We waited and waited
in the subzero temperatures, but… nothing.
After a while, disappointed, we gave up. We had breakfast and took down the tents. After we loaded up the car, we decided to go
to the “Cruz del Condor”, down the road, and take a last look.
At the “Cruz del Condor” there were hundreds of
tourists milling around, but still no condors.
We waited around for a while, and after about 10 minutes, we noticed
some movement far off down the canyon. A
CONDOR! Everyone trained their
binoculars on that area, and soon there was another condor, both flying in our
direction.
I guess the condors felt like sleeping late that
day, because pretty soon there were many condors (we counted at least 7 at a
time), flying closer and closer, until soon one swooped right over our
heads! The crowd oohed and ahhed. We had arrived just in time for the condor
show.
When these birds fly directly overhead, it is
mesmerizing…you appreciate their size and their beauty. We watched for a good 20 minutes until they
seemed to disappear again. Totally worth
the wait!
We began the drive back along the canyon through
all the small towns we passed on the way…this time moving a little faster
knowing we had to make it the whole way back in one day – Linda and Chiquis had
to work the next morning! We did have
time to stop a couple times, though. On
a walk through one town, we discovered that Shorty has a double, haha!
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| The one at the door is the imposter...Shorty is NOT happy to meet her doppelganger |
We drove back to where we left Cubby on the direct
route, this time going over high mountain passes, with snow and all.
Check out these nutcases playing like kids in the
snow – snowangels and snowball fight. I
took pictures from the warm car:
It was a great trip to Colca, and a great way to finish our time in Arequipa. Arriving back at Cubby, we said a sad goodbye to
Linda and Dario. They were taking a bus
back to Arequipa, while we hooked up Cubby and would be continuing along the
road to Puno and then into Bolivia. We
will see these guys again soon, we hope!
And we set out once again (this time with Shorty),
with new places and many more adventures in store…
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