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!