Our next stop was Colca Canyon, "The Deepest Canyon in the World". This is actually a bare-faced lie. Itīs the second deepest in the world, but is generally misrepresented and misquoted. The deepest canyon is a few doors down, but is rarely visited for some reason.
Our accommodation was in a nearby village, and it was here that I feasted on a new type of meat. VEGETARIANS PLEASE STOP READING HERE. Every county I visit, I always try the local cuisine and national dishes, and I am particularly keen on trying new meats. On my carnivorous travels I have tried frogs, crocodile, buffalo, snails, guinea pig, wild boar, bison, kangaroo, horse, antelope, rabbit and ostrich. (my personal favourite is horse. Rich and very tender) So I was delighted to try alpaca! For those of you who donīt know, an alpaca is very similar to a llama but with finer wool. Of course, you donīt eat the wool, just the NICE JUICY STEAK! It was very tasty, beeflike but more gamey, and very little fat. At first I thought alpaca was either exotic or just a gimmick for tourists. But as I ventured deeper into Peru, I noticed it on every
menu. I have seen...
1. Alpaca bolognese
2. Alpaca burgers
3. Carpaccio of Alpaca
4. Alpaca ravioli
5. Alpaca stir-fry
the list goes on...
In this village there were numerous kids holding baby llamas in their arms and intentionally looking cute and highly photographable. They will pose for an "adorable" photo in return for cash. This is a common trend all over Peru, especially at roadside viewpoints where coaches and tours stop for their passengers to admire the view. There you will find cute little kids in traditional dress holding cute little llamas for a cute little photo. Take the snap and then pay the cash. And it goes further than this intentional and planned milking of tourists. On the average street, if you take a photo of someone, they will ask for and expect money. I generally ask people before taking a photos anyway, and in other South American countries, people are happy to oblige, glad that you are taking an interest in their culture. But here it is money, money, money. This is a consequence of the "over-tourism" of Peru. The "Gringo Trail" attracts more tourists per year than any other South American country. At
one point in the village we stayed at, I took a photo of a street where a woman was herding some sheep in the distance. She was barely in the photo, but she must have had eagle eyes. She came charging up to me and asked me for money for the photo! Cheek. To take an innocent photo in the street and be charged for it! Whatever next. I was most disgruntled. (funny word "disgruntled". It sounds like a term you would use when a pig loses itīs voice)
Anyway, back to Colca Canyon. It is very very deep, and very very beautiful. Itīs deepest point is 3,269 m. Thatīs two miles down! You could make yourself giddy peering down into itīs unfathomable depths. It is also the arial playground of the elusive Andean Condor, of which we were lucky enough to see several soaring specimens. The Andean Condor is the worldīs heaviest bird of prey, with a wingspan of up to three metres. They can drag a carcass of up to 20kg. When they can be bothered. Because you see, the Andean Condor is basically a fat, lazy oaf. They might look beautiful and graceful, and soar majestically
through the sky, but despite being a "bird of prey", the condor doesnīt actually hunt. It obviously feeds well because it has an enormous, fat barrel of a body. But it basically flies around all day waiting for things to die. Doesnīt even flap itīs wings, just uses the air currents to float around. How lazy is that? If I was the worldīs heaviest bird of prey, I wouldnīt be gliding around all day waiting for a free feed. Iīd be swooping down and carrying off small kittens. And did you know that the Andean Condor lives for about 50 years, and the oldest known condor was 77 years old? That means that some of the condors I saw flying around could be older than me! But despite being old, fat and lazy, I have to admit the condor does have a certain beauty and grace. Yet i canīt help but wonder.... what would a condor steak taste like?
a better class of birda decent respectable bird, with proper manners and modern values. You know where you stand with an eagle. Not like the fat, lazy condor.
3 Comments -
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Send Private MessageI also like to try the local specialities. OK, you got me on the Alpaca (and the Guinea Pig, of course!) but I have eaten most of your list and have one you don't. I have eaten Yak many times, including Yak Burger, which I highly recommend. You strike me as a Steak man. Yak steak is excellent, too, though rather tougher than the burger!
My attempt to procure scorpion in China failed, though. A plate of scorpions is expensive and my Chinese was not good enough to obtain just one to try with a promise to buy a plateful if I liked it. Ah, well.
Your tales and pictures of Peru remind me so much of Tibet that I have a lump in my throat. OK, so they're both mountainous, I'll grant you and I guess that the similar environments caused similar ways of life for both animals and people. But it's strange that the people actually look simliar. The Tibetans do not look like the Chinese who have invaded their land from next door. They look like the Peruvians who have lived for thousands of years in a land so like theirs, but on the other side of the world. Hmmm.
Oh, yeah, I forgot to say : The Tibetans (those that will let you do it at all) also want money if you take photos of them.
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