Colca Valley, Peru

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Hey all. Having a blast! I am in a small town called Chivay in the Colca Valley in the south west part of Peru. We´ve done and seen so many things in the last few days and have been without any internet access for a few days. My last post was from Nazca, but just prior to that we had been in a place called Huacachina. Huacachina is a village built in an oasis in the Peruvian desert. From there we took dune buggies into the high sand dunes and ripped through the sand, amazing! We stopped a top a half dozen sand dunes and used sandboards to slide down on our bellies. They were incredibly high, and the views were amazing.
In Nazca we visited a necropolis, an ancient burial ground that has been excavated by acheologists. Mummies, amazingly preserved, sat in tombs in the ground. We also took a small plane (Cessna 174) over the desert to get a birds eye view of the Nazca lines. These lines and figures were carved into the desert floor by ancient Nasca people who had no way of seeing their work from the air. Some of the lines continue in a precisely straight line for 10kms.
From Nazca we headed to Arequipa. A few of us visited a local hospital for insured people. It really wasn´t as bad as I had expected. It was relatively new, clean, with Phillips monitors in PACU and portable xray machines in the halls. The layout was quite similar to a small hospital would be in Canada. Apprently the true public hospitals aren´t quite as nice. Arequipa is a very nice city and I had planned on spending our free afternoon touring the monastery and museum, but ended up getting a little heat stroke/ altitude sickness and ended up spending the afternoon in bed.
We arrived in Chivay yesterday by small transport van. We passed 4910m above sea level, the highest point in our trip. We all were a little out of breath and some people had headaches. Walking up to the bathroom on the hill was a lot more work that it would have been at sea level. Once in Chivay we stayed in a nearby village called Coperaque. Our hotel is amazing. The rooms are big, clean, and there is plenty of hot water. The view from the dining room is breathtaking... looking up into the mountains and down the valley. The food is delicious... I had some Alpaca meat, tastes like Buffalo apparently. I should also mention that the only other single male traveller had paid for his own room throughout the trip, so by the luck of the draw, I also have my own!
Today we got up at 5am to ride up the valley to the colca canyon to try to spot an andean condor (3m wingspan and the second largest flying bird in the world after the Albatros). Took us a while to get there , but we ended up seeing 4 or 5 of the birds. So amazing. And the view was breathtaking again.
We´re now in a short stop before our lunch at the hotel. We head to Puno tomorrow evening, not sure what is planned for the day.
Hope things are good back home!

Miss you all!
Adam

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Comments

[Megan]

Everything sounds so amazing, I am so happy for you. Sorry to hear you got sick one afternoon, hope you're feeling better. I love the pics. Stay safe xoxoxo

[Meg]

WOW
Sounds like you are having an amazing time!!! I wish I could be there with you to experience all the awesome adventures and views!!! Things here are pretty much the same...nothing like seeing an oasis or flying over the lines!! Have kind of been going back and forth from home and your place...your computer is really messed up and I needed a good one to write my paper on. Miss you so much and can't wait to see all your pics and hear all your stories when you get home!!