Colca Canyon, Arequipa

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Thursday May 28th

The trip to Colca Cayon was beautiful, the roads well that is another story. They are dusty and bumpy. We went through two tunnels that are really true tunnels, just a hole in limestone and long, it was kinda scary since the guide just got done telling us how the terrain has changed due to it has been sinking over the years. The whole reason for going to the canyon was to see the deepth of the Canyon, it is twice as deep as the Grand Canyon and also to see the Condors fly. Well we expected to see 1 or 2 condors and we saw at least 25, it was amazing. Yes a condor is something we are familar with in California but these were huge and there were so many. We have hundreds of pictures to sift through when we return and hopefully we got a few good ones. We went on a little hike through the Canyon and headed back to Chivay where we had stayed the night before so we could have lunch. Oh the food the last few days has been so good and way too much but oh well we had done pretty well earlier in the trip so I do not think we gained more then a few pounds. After lunch it was back in the Van for the long ride back to Arequipa. The road back is dirt for the first half of the trip and we inhaled so much dust, the second half of the 3 hour trip was asphalt. At least on the way back we got to nap a little and we did not make as many stops as we did when were were heading to the Canyon so it went by pretty quick. Back to Arequipa and our new room was much better this time, we walked to do some shopping and had dinner. In bed by 9pm. Oh we are getting old.

Friday May 29th
This is it our last day in Peru. Up at 7am because we could not sleep any later. Our private tour of the city of Arequipa was at 9am and lasted till noon. We saw the Santa Catalina Convent and it was very impressive, there are still 20 nuns that stay there today. We also saw a Monestery which half is a cathedral now and the other half where the school use to be is now shops. The last stop was Basilica Catedral and oh my it was truely impressive even better than Cusco. This cathedral we were able to take pictures so we will share them on our return. It is more modern then the one in Cusco, built in the Neo-Classicial style and the mid 1800's. We checked out of the hotel at 1pm and walked to lunch, then to a local bakery oh yummmm. Now we're waiting at the hotel for our driver to pick us up at 4:30 for a trip to the airport to catch our flight to Lima. Then we wait in the Lima airport till 1am for our flight home. We will arrive in LA about 7am, pickup a rental car and drive home. Do we miss home? Well a little we miss the girls and the comfort of home.

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Photos

Vicuna
Vicunas on the way to Chivay

Colca Hotel
Our lodge in Colca