Peru - Colca Canyon and Condors

SUNDAY MORNING
We had an early start treking along the top of the Colca Canyon in pursuit of the Andean Condor. The scenary through the Colca Valley again was stunning. We saw the Incan and pre-Incan terraces that were carved into the sides of the Canyon. They are still cultivated by local farmers in the same way today. There are maps carved in rocks along the valley that show where to get water from to irrigate the fields. This is my first Inca experience on the trip and was fasinating.

DID YOU KNOW?
The Colca Canyon is about 65miles (100k) long and is more than twice as deep as the Grand Canyon in the United States, the deepest being 20,630-ft (6,288-m). However, the canyon's walls are not as vertical as those of the Grand Canyon. The Colca River flows along the valley and people live and farm on the very steep sides of the canyon.

The terraces


We are in Peru´s dry season so the crops are beginning to be sewn. In the wet season the the valley will be a lush green with snowy capped mountains.

Along the Colca Canyon


I did not want to get too close to the edge


Treking along the Canyon


Having a rest


Our tour group


Andean Condors


An Andean Condor


Close up photo of a Condor by Thuresson (not me)


So we managed to see quite a few Andean Condors. We started our trek away form the crowds of tourists that in their bus load go to the viewing point at Pinchollo. We walked along the top of the canyon and would every so often see Condors or Giant Hummingbirds, flowers and rabbits. It was a good time of the year to come to this viewing point as the Condors come here to find a mate. Once found they fly to the coast to the Islas Ballestas Island to eat the sea lion placenta. Hmmm yes interesting first dinner out with a new mate :-)

DID YOU KNOW?
The Andean Condor wingspan can reach 9 to 10 ft (274 to 310 cm) and is part of the vulture family. So are pretty big and ugly. They can live for 50 years or more, and they mate for life. They are considered near threatened by the International Union for Conservation of Nature IUCN and Peru is now conserving them. The Andean Condor is a national symbol of Peru, Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia and Ecuador. Condors have been represented in Andean art from c. 2500 BCE onward. So special birds.

Andean Flicker


We saw some smaller Andean Flicker birds on the trek.

Flowering Cacti


I like Cacti plants.

Cross on top of the hill


At the top of the viewing point there was a decorated cross which I liked. Every year on the 2nd of May Andean communities celebrate with a party called Cruz Velacoy.

A group stop to take pictures


More terraces across the wide valley

Peru - Amazing journey from Arequipa to Chivay in the Coca Valley

El Misti Volcano


We are now on a 5 hour bus drive to Chivay. It is a bright sunny day again and we have stocked up on munchies and water. There are lots of things to see on the way, and the scenery is awesome with the volcano in the background.

Vicuras


Drinking Coca tea


We stopped to drink some coca tea, which is suppose to help stop altitude sickness. I don't like tea and did not really like coca tea so added lots of sugar. Have now reached 4,910m above sea level, which is pretty high. We are all feeling the pressure of being so high. I am getting a bit of a headache, which is normal but not feeling too bad. I did buy some altitude sickness tablets in Lima, but somehow managed to leave them in the last hotel. Hmmm. Saw a Red Backed Eagle on the roof of the tea room.

Red Backed Eagle


Alpacas


Sophie and Dairmaid


Ice in Peru


Can you believe the diversity of the land. We have just stopped to see ice! and it is really sunny!

Mother earth sculptures


We stopped to make some stone sculptures.

Llama (I think)


PETER / SOPHIE - Is this correct?

Vizcacha sitting on a rock


The Vizcacha is a rodent. It looks a little like a cross between a rabbit and squirrel and is part of the chinchilla family.

Amazing views


Heading down to Chivay


We then saw some amazing views on the way and entered the Colca Valley National Park.

We stayed in the town of Chivay where they were also having celebrations.

Street decorations


Toys on the street decorations


Close up


They were beautifully made and had cuddly toys hanging from them, loads of flags and silver coloured trays.

We then did a short trek to the La Calera Hot Springs. Which were great! They are on the side of the hill and outside.

La Calera Hot Springs

Drinking Pisco Sours in La Calera Hot Springs


Rowan was pretty happy to share the pool with the girls on the trip!

Rowan dancing again


Dinner was in a touristy resturant with traditional dancing, where Rowan and Kirsty was pulled up to dance.

Then down the local Irish pub for a well earned Cuba Libre. :-) It´s a hard life.

An Irish pub in the middle of Peru

Peru - Chilling in Arequipa

The main square


We have just arrived in Arequipa a Spanish colonial city after an overnight bus journey. I managed to sleep some of the way. It is the second largest city in Peru, Cusco being the largest. Arequipa lies in the Andes mountains, at an altitude of 2,380 meters above sea level, overseen by the snow-capped volcano El Misti. In the next few days we will be gradually getting higher in order to acclimatise to the altitude for our Inca treks to Machu Picchu.

It is an attractive city, built out of pale volcanic rock and stands at the foot of El Misti Volcano. I don´t know why but I always want to put an e at the end of volcano ... volcanoe ... hmmm looks wrong.

Lots of flags


I like flags! :-)

Parade


The modern city was founded on 15 August 1540 and we just so happened to arrive on 15 August 2008 so they were celebrating with a long parade down the main street. We found a bar and watched from above. Rowan managed to get asked to dance. There was even a float with Mr.Peru on it, he was not my type. Then we had a nice meal in the square and a reasonably early night and a good sleep.

Rowan dancing


Mr.Peru


The main square at night

Peru - Dinner cooked underground at Wasipunku

THURSDAY EVENING

Opening the underground oven


Was great food!


Our tour guide recommended a great restaurant a bit out of town. When we arrived I thourght that the owners had just buried a dog. As there was a mound of earth that they were standing by, had spades in their hands and there was a cross on the mound with pink flowers on it. But alas was dinner! No dog had died! there was a jumping well looking dog out the back. Phew!

This way of cooking is called Pachamanca. It is a traditional Peruvian dish based on the baking, with the aid of hot stones of lamb, mutton, pork, chicken or guinea pig, marinated in spices and vegetables. Tasted delicious! We had lamb and chicken, no guinea pig.

Before the food was taken out of the earth oven, we had a 'Mother Earth' blessing. Colette and Dairmaid were the godmother and godfather and gave an offering of beer in the shape of a cross, or was it wine?

Did you know?
They speak Quechua in Nazca and in Quechua "pacha" and "manca", means "earthen pot" (cooking vessel). Preparation begins with the heating of stones over a fire, and the meat is then placed on top. The fire is covered with grass and earth, and the resulting oven is opened up after around an hour and a half. Usually, a large quantity of meat is cooked, perhaps a whole sheep, to serve several people.

THURSDAY NIGHT / FRIDAY MORNING

After a great meal we headed off to the coach station for a 11hour overnight comfortable bus journey to Arequipa.

Peru - Mummies, ancient pottery and panning for gold

Mummies at the Chauchilla Cemetery


We were not sure if the sky would be clear enough to fly over the Nazca lines so in the morning we visited the Chauchilla cemetery in Nazca and saw a few mummies. Watched a local potter and found out how the locals pan for gold.

Did you know?
The Nazca Desert area was home to the ancient Nazca culture from about 200 AC to 800 DC. (So these mummies are over 1,500 years old) The forgotten Culture of Nazca was discovered in the sands of the Nasca Desert by grave robbers and archaeologists.

In the Chauchilla Cemetery, bodies from the ancient Nazca people were preserved by natural mummification in the arid climate. Through their habit of burying their people, this Culture left to us mummies, ceramics, colorful textiles, skull and devices, practically untouched.

Unfortunately, it was a known location by thieves or tombs robbers. They used to invade the tombs, picked the treasures and the mantles, and just left the mummies and some belongs of less importance exposed on the desert. Now they are protected and a tourist attraction. There were about 10 open tombs each with different mummies. You can see that their hair was really long and that they were buried with cloth. There was an archaeologist there when we visited who laid out the body and artifacts next to him.

After seeing a couple of mummies I was ready to go. They did not look very nice, but suppose was interesting.

Tombs at the Chauchilla Cemetery


Archaeologist at the Chauchilla Cemetery


Seeing a local potter make some replicas of ancient Inca pottery was much nicer than seeing mummies. I bought a small pot and hope to get it home in one piece.

Local potter


"There is gold up in dem hills!!" and local Nazca men, women and children pan the gold and sell it to earn a living. It is in clay so has to be extracted by pounding the clay with a large stone and by chemical (Mercury)extraction.

To be honest I was not really listening to how they extracted gold, I think my brain was in need of chocolate. But Colette who has a degree in Chemistry probably understood it all.

COLETTE - Can you explain how they extracted gold. I was sort of lost at the glove and mercury stage?

Peru - The Nazca lines

Viewing tower


Yesterday on the Pan-American Highway just before we arrived in Nazca we saw our first Nazca lines from a viewing tower, it was not that clear but could just make out the shape of a body with hands.

Nazca line - Body with hands


Nazca as a town is small and the lines bring the tourists into the area. There was an option to fly over the Nazca lines. So in true Indiana Jones fashion we did.

A small plane...

Before our flight smiling next to our small plane


We paid or $70 US Dollars for the flight and 20 Peruvian Soles airport tax ($8 US Dollars - which is a way the Government makes money on our 30min flight).

Was fantastic! We were all a bit nervous. Was a 6 seater plane. Before we took off I sat there with my headphones on (to soften the engine noise and so we could hear the pilot) and wondered why I was in a tiny plane as I really don´t like flying. But then I asked myself how else can I see the lines? So the engine started and we safely took off. I was in the middle right seat and had great views. There were 13 different lines that we were going to try and see. I saw most of them.

Astronaut


About in the middle of the above picture on the side of the hill is the Astronaut.

Hummingbird - 97 meters


On the plateau just to the left is the Hummingbird, which has the long thin beak pointing down and wings and tail behind. You may need to zoom in.

Scenery was breathtaking ... in the summer months there would be rivers flowing through the valleys.

Mountains


We were high up!



... the plane had to swoop down and flip sideways for us to see them. Hmmm was good but a again scary.

On landing the pilot had to wait 2mins for the engine to cool down before we could all get out. All feeling very sick we managed to get back to the airport without throwing up. But in Collette´s and Dairmaid´s plane a Frenchman did throw up which was not very nice.

ELLEN - Thanks for your email about the Nazca line flights. I did read it before I went up and knew it would be scary but was well worth it! And our pilot was good as I think some of them try to make the passengers throw up!