The last few days were spent in the Colca Canyon, just north of Arequipa. It is a very scenic route through the mountains, with the highest point being just shy of 5000m ASL. The area has 7 volcanos surrounding the Canyon, and we transitioned from a dry dessert environment to a lush green valley. The pictures speak for themselves.
Through the valley, runs a river which is actually overflowing due to the recent heavy rainfall. The wet season has just ended and is transitioning to the dry season. One day, just above the river we stopped and took a dip in natural some hot springs. 5 pools of varying degrees of hotness. Mish stayed in the middle pool, while the girls tried the hottest ones. Nobody went into the cold pool… brrr…
The valley is amazing with its landscape of terraced fields. These were all made pre-Inca times and are still in use today growing food for the the local population. It reminded us slightly of the terraced rice paddies of Vietnam and Laos.
One of the highlights of of the Colca Canyon, are the famous Condors. We got up early to go further into the Canyon, and fortunately the early bird did not catch the worm! The whole Canyon was filled with clouds, but we did manage to see ONE condor fly past us, just 5 meters away from us before it disappeared into the clouds. Its wingspan was incredible, and it was a shame that we only glimpsed the one. Didn’t even manage a picture…. They fly up the Canyon in the morning to make the most of the thermals, as it is the most energy efficient way for them to fly.
We learnt that the young condors take around 2 years to become independent and leave their parents, and the parenting is done equally by both parents.
Along our journey through the valley we stopped in a number of local villages. These villages were created by the Spaniards, as a way to better control the locals. Nearly every village has a square/plaza, that has an arch on every entrance. This was apparently a requirement of the Spaniards. And along with every square, there is also a church. Unfortunately most of the churches have been damaged by earthquakes, and hence many bell towers are propped up with wooden scaffolding.
At one of these villages we stopped and saw the oldest primary school class performing a traditional dance to raise money for essentially their graduation prom. The boys are dressed as girls, in skirts and blouses and a funny hat with fringes. In the dance, and in the past, the boys from the upper valley would dress up as girls, and go down to the lower part of the valley and “kidnap” the girls there as they were more attractive than the upper valley girls. A very interesting courtship ritual.
We also did a homestay with one of the locals in Coporaque. We shared a little room in a home belonging to an older lady, whose kids have all left home. It was a fun experience as we helped her herd her sheep in for the night. The girls had a fantastic time being sheep dogs whilst the parents played road blocks to divert the sheep in the right direction. This was made a bit more challenging as the local lady spoke no English and we speak no Spanish. The local lady made it more special by letting the girls borrow a couple of local hats and a blanket backpack. As we travel through Peru, we have found that the local women love their hats, and each region has its own style of hat.
After the herding of the sheep we helped with making dinner. It was a very traditional kitchen with a wood burning stove, made out of mud. We all got a bit smoked out in the process, but dinner was very yummy and included a starter soup with broad beans, maize and alpaca, and a main of rice, veggies and chicken.
The night’s sleep was not the most comfortable but it’s all part of the experience! Especially waking up in the middle of the night to stumble outside to the toilet in the dark…
After waking with the sun rise, we had a slightly lazy morning, breakfast with our host and then we said our goodbyes and headed off to Puna and Lake Titicaca.
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