Colca Canyon Condors

Day 13

Strange Dancers
Today's big excitement was visiting the Colca Canyon to view condors.  Which we did see.  Only we took the truly tacky tourist route.  We hit up a few scenic viewpoints along the way.  We had a few stops along the way.  The strangest one was a small town where the teenagers do this specific dance in the square every morning.  It involves the boys wearing masks while dressed like girls while they sway around the fountain.  I'm not sure how excited they were to be doing it because it mostly felt like a draw for bringing in tourists.  The square was filled with people selling things, and of course a few ladies and their alpacas.  This stop also had a few opportunities to take a picture with an eagle I believe.  We only seen a few places with birds and most of the tour guides are quite disgusted at the idea of people catching the birds for picture opportunities for a few soles.

Our next stop was at another church along the way.  We did a little tour through and I was amused by the mirrors popping up again so they could worship the sun.

We finally made our way down to the canyon.  And what a spectacle this is.  Dozens of buses and hundreds of people come out to see the condors.  The air currents seem to be best for the condors around 8-9 in the morning so this is when everyone comes.  And then the place clears right out.

Colca Canyon
It was a little underwhelming at first.  We were all just standing there staring into the canyon looking at not much.  Joking that the moment we get on the bus the condors will come right over where we were standing.  We had about an hour to watch to make sure we had time to spot them.  We did end up seeing a few come by.  Nothing really close.  Until we got on the bus.  And our joke came true.  So we all went running back out!

Condors above the canyon
The canyon is massive, about 1200m to the bottom.  But incredibly narrow.  It's the second deepest canyon in South America.  And it's filled with condors.  And oddly, a very touristy region.  There are women selling stuff all along the road to get here.

After our wait there was the option for a small hike along the canyon.  Most of us ended up going on it and we had some really great views of condors along the way.

Condors, thanks to Terry for the picture
Having driven through a good chunk of the country the landscape had changed quite a bit along the way.  Now that we are back in the desert and the high altitudes there are mostly just rocks and cacti.  And Incan terraces.

And now we are heading to Arequipa, our last city to explore.  It's known as the white city.  Driving into the city you would not think this at all.  It's right under Misti, an active volcano, which made the city really dry and dusty.  And was really unattractive right until you made it to the city center.

We went for drinks before dinner and had some Pisco sours because why not.  The main plaza is really lovely and busy.  And filled with pigeons.

Arequipa main square
We later went for our farewell dinner because tomorrow could be a late night after our flight to Lima.  And then everybody starts heading home.  It was a good meal, but we had to practice our Spanish a little.  It's still not as good as I would like it to be.








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