Arequipa to Chivay

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15th of August, Day 3: Arequipa to Colca Canyon Chivay



I have an apology for some of the odd words that have popped up in the blog - thanks to the predictive text. I also have an addition to make to yesterday's blog. Something I tried to forget. At one point, instead of being in the crowd we ended up on the road as the parade. We got a great reception from the crowd we were walking in front of. Well we thought we did but it was more Liz who was coming down the road behind the rest of us acting like a pork chop and doing a jig.

We had an early start and were picked up at about 8:00 am. It took most of the day to travel the 160km from Arequipa to Colca. The trip took us along a major road in the area with a steady climb up to 4,910 meters. We all got out of the bus at the high point. No-one on the bus seemed to have any great problems with the altitude although I think there was some light handedness. I had a minor amount of dizziness but this passed in moments. I followed the recommendations and drank lots of water and sucked on the cocoa leaves.

From the highest point it was down hill to Chivay at a relatively sane 3,700 meters. When we reached Chivay we were taken to an eating establishment and treated to a buffet. From there we preceded to a walk of about two hours. Half of which was up a fairly steep hill. Well it certainly felt like it by all the puffing and panting going on. In point of fact it was a steep hill and the views at the top made it well worth the effort. The view was down into the Colca Canyon. The Colca Canyon is deeper than the Grand Canyon and is home to a stunning array of wildlife and also some great natural hot springs! We are staying overnight in Chivay, a small town right in the middle of the Canyon. Our accommodation isn't quite what we've become used to but we didn't come here for 5 star accommodation and the sheets are clean.

Another early start in the morning with a 6:00 am departure to get to the Condor rookery.

Update on Pen. He offered himself as a sacrifice on a Cairn built by travellers for good luck. We nearly took him up on it.

Unfortunately there won't be any photos today as I took about 320 photos today (glad I purchased a back-up battery) and its going to take some time to back them up and go through them. Besides the internet connection is a bit dodgy and we can only log on in the entry hall of the hotel. Every-one else has already cracked it with the connection and cleared out - but that's how dedicated I am!

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