April 14-16 Homeward bound

 

Our South American Salsa was more than we could have hoped for. It was quite an odyssey yet we covered little of this our neighbour continent. What a journey of contrasts and experiences it has been. From Cape Horn in the south, in and out of fjords to experience some of Chilean Patagonia’s glaciers, through Chiles’s high Atacama Desert to then ascend even higher (to almost the same level as Mt Everest Base Camp) to gaze mouths agape at volcanoes, vast salt flats and flamingos in Bolivia. From those awesome wonders to Amazonian Pink River Dolphins, multiple monkeys, brilliant birds and wriggly reptiles of Peru’s vast rainforest over 6000km from where we had climbed to the lighthouse on Cape Horn at the southernmost tip of the South American continent. The final cherry on the cake was our way too brief trip to Colca Canyon the deepest canyon in the Andes to watch the magnificent condors fly.  We returned home very weary, but our travels were made that much smoother thanks to our wonderful travel agent. Thank you, thank you again Bev Edwards - TravelManagers Australia.

April 13 Lima-bound

It was an absolutely magic couple of days made that much more enjoyable by our knowledgeable quiet and gentle guide and driver. We learnt much about the Inca and pre-Inca days – fascinating. The next morning we flew back to Lima to prepare for our long haul for home. From the plane we could see the glorious mountains many of which we had seen from the ground. A magic place. 

There is Volcano Sabancaya 5980m constantly smoking

Impossible to pick out Colca Canyon amongst the many in the high Andes

April 12 back to Arequipa from Colca Canyon

 We finally dragged ourselves away from the condors to head back to Arequipa. On the way back to Arequipa we stopped at villages to watch local festivals and wander through markets. 

There was a big contrast between lush cultivated valleys and humble dwellings of the farmers

The tranquility of the area has been shattered by many earthquakes - it is vulnerable

Transport in the high country of the Colca Valley is simple

Villages are dominated by very big churches sitting beside rudimentary dwellings

This village square is marked by tongue-in-cheek statues depicting the occupations of the people

We happened upon a wee celebration of festival. Dancers were circling the fountain. I watched for a while and though some looked like men (some of whom were checking their phones!). Our guide, Emmanuel told us that in the early days of the Spanish colonisation the local people were not as suppressed as the 'invaders' thought - it was a quiet resistance. Men dress as women and infiltrated the camps gathering intel, the clever things.  

In most villages sheep were herded through the village square and local women posed with adorable alpaca for people to photograph.

Local markets were fun to explore. This day was not the main market day but it was still abuzz

Quirky local transport buzzed around like little tuktuks

Local dress is worn by the older women but the younger women sported the traditional hats

The style of dress harks back to the time of the Spaniards when the local women sought to emulate the wealthy Spanish women. 

Arriving back in Arequipa

It was hard coming back into the city after the beauty and tranquility of the Colca Valley. It had been an absolutely magic couple of days made that much more enjoyable by our knowledgeable quiet and gentle guide and driver, Emmanuel. The last two days we learnt much about the Inca and pre-Inca days – fascinating.

April 12 Colca Canyon, Peruvian Andes

This morning we got up very early to visit the Colca Canyon; where we were was over 4000m deep and currently they say is the 3rd deepest canyon in the world after Nepal and China. Quite overwhelming. We were there to see the Andean condors! These most beautiful creatures with a wingspan of 3 or so metres is the world’s biggest flying bird. They wait for the thermals that rise as the sun starts to warm the cliffs and when they do catch a thermal. We stood mouths open for well over an hour watching them - adults and juveniles soaring and swooping, gliding less than a metre above our heads. They are magnificent and held us mesmerised! 

It's an impressive canyon

There were plentiful wild flowers but my eyes were on the birds

April 11 driving from Arequipa to Colca Valley

 

Arequipa is very dry so they use every spot to grow vegetables and crops

Next morning? You guessed it, an early start to drive a little way north to Chivey the town closest to Colca Canyon and deep in the Andes. It was a fascinating drive and we had the most wonderful driver and a surprise bonus we had him and the car all to ourselves – the repeating civil unrest on top of covid has severely affected tourism in Peru. But back to the drive … the scenery was absolutely stunning but the roads in many part were challenging as we were on a main road through to Cusco and treacherous in others as we wound around mountains.

A mix of llamas and alpacas

Our driver was intent on ensuring our visit was memorable stopped often and drove slowly so we could drink in the mind-blowing countryside.  We ascended from Arequipa winding our way through amazing landscapes, surrounded by towering mountains and puffing volcanoes, past flocks of vicuña, alpacas, llamas and even some scattered guanacos. Past ginormous Andean geese and many beautiful birds including flamingos. 

We saw many llamas, alpacas and vicuna crossing the road

One of my favourite pix - tranquility plus

In the background Volcano Sabancaya 5980m is constantly smoking

This is a truck stop.

There were quite a few abandoned buildings along the road

Rail was extensively used in earlier times

We reached the highest point of the road. Here there were signs describing the volcanoes around the horizon.

We scooped around the crater rims of ancient volcanoes to eventually arrive near Chivey, the capital of the Caylloma province in the Arequipa region. The town is located at about 3,600m so we were still panting and lacking in energy but that of course was compensated for by our enthusiasm and excitement at the possibility of seeing the condors, the largest flying bird.

We passed some stunning land formations and strange rock strata

Part of an ancient crater 

We were heading for that distant valley - the Colca River valley

The Incas dug water channels and they are still being used to channel water to the valleys

We stopped for lunch along the way and had a delicious meal; mine included a Colca Sour - pisco and cactus juice

That night we stayed at Refugio Hotel in the Colca Valley with the Colca river roaring passed us between towering rock cliffs. Magnificent. Lindsay went for a wander and found a giant and other humming birds – he was excited. We dined by a roaring fired and went to bed each cuddling a hot water bottle. It was chilly!

April 10-11 South to Arequipa and the Andes

The next couple of days was almost an afterthought, an addendum. It wasn’t really but it had not been included in the itinerary the tour company had mapped out our South American sojourn. I found reference to this place while I was trawling through the internet preparing for our trip – the Colca Canyon deep in the Peruvian Andes where the condors fly! That leapt out at me as something Lindsay would absolutely love, the ‘cherry on the cake’ for a bird lover. 

Arequipa is ringed by snow-capped volcanoes

Another early morning flight saw us winging our way south to Arequipa where we spent an afternoon and evening before heading for Chivey and the canyon. Arequipa is known as White City as many of its building are built of the white volcanic rock, ashlar I think. The city is surrounded by towering volcanoes so the setting is quite stunning. We weren’t so interested in being tourists in this quite large and growing city as we were champing on the bit to get to the canyon. But we did take a wander to look at the impressive cathedrals and monasteries. We were not as high as we had been when in Bolivia but still higher than Mt Kosciusko! 

Top R+L Basilica Cathedral of Arequipa

The city square - Plaza de Armas

The University

This power metre caught my eye