Weekend Travels - a grander canyon than the Grand Canyon

Our latest adventures took us high into the Andes where we saw some quaint villages, and later descended deep into a canyon deemed to be deeper than the Grand Canyon (by foot).

On Friday, Deedra and I departed for the small Andean village of Chivay which was more or less a stopping point on our way to see Peruvian condors in their natural habitat, and to see the magnificent Colca Canyon. Chivay was small and warm in nature but cold by temperature standards, and thus we took up the tour´s offer to visit the hot springs, a series of swimming pools filled by the water bubbling past the hot volcanic core deep below the Earth´s surface. After a two hour soak, we were relaxed and returned to the town for a nice 3 course dinner for $10 (all-inclusive).

Early Saturday we headed out to the Cruz De La Condor, or "Cross of the Condor" where a family of gorgeous condors live and fly over the deep Colca Canyon making use of the thermal winds while searching for their once living meals. We snapped a couple of great shots of the birds, and then met up with our guide, Remi, who took us on a two and a half hour descent to the canyon floor (roughly 3000 ft). Our legs were a bit wobbly at the end, but we were able to relax with a nice meal and plenty of water. We then made another 3 hour trek, traveling along the river´s direction towards a small spot named the Oasis. This trek made many ups and downs, and by the time we reached the Oasis, we were ready for some serious rest.

The Oasis also had some hot springs, though in this case they were really warm springs, as the water had to travel a decent distance to reach their pools, and cooled off in the process. We took a dip nonetheless, and then relaxed with a couple of beers on the grass by the pool. We met many other young travelers with varied interesting stories, had some dinner, relaxed by the fire, and rested until 2:30 am, when we made the trek back up the canyon. This took us approximately 2 and a half hours, and by the end I was convinced that Colca meant "your legs will fall off if you try to climb this canyon." We made it to our guides house just before sunrise and had some bread and coffee while watching their Guinea Pigs have their breakfast. Guinea Pigs in Peru, and other South American countries, are a delicacy and referred to as Cuy (pronounced quee) when they become part of your delicious dinner. We have yet, and are likely not going to, indulge in such delicacies.

We got on our return bus at 6:30 in the morning, and rode the 6 hours back to Arequipa, apologizing to our bodies as they chastized us the entire time. The buses here are like those in many other developing countries, crowded to the point of disbelief, and predictably came with some mandatory chickens as fellow riders. We made it home yesterday, and went to bed, thankful for all of the fantastic sights we had seen. Back to work today, but more travelling this weekend.

Having a great time, but miss you all,
-Beau & Deedra