Condor Cross

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The road along the South western side of Colca Canyon was built as part of the Majes Project by a team of engineers from Arequipa who came to improve access in the valley and to spend painstaking years cutting irrigation channels into the mountain sides to bring additional glacier water to the farming terraces.

On the way we passed through Maca, a town littered with white ash from a volcanic explosion and where the road undulated like a rollercoaster thanks to the geological fault line which ran right through the town and which caused the land to rise and fall rapidly over recent years.

Along the way our coach stopped at various Miradores or viewpoints where we could take in the spectacular valley and lush terraces. At one Miradore we saw the Choquetico Model Stone, a pre inca carving into a rock and which seemed to be a precise model of the terracing and terrain on the opposite side of the canyon.

Shortly before reading our destination we passed through Pinchollo a small ramshackle village of crumbling buildings and grazing donkeys. Our guide cheerily pointed our that Pinchollo bizarrely translated as "small penis" It was only then that I was informed that the town in which we had stayed the night before translated as "swollen vagina", there must be something in the water!!

Eventually we arrived at Condor Cross, a platform 1200 meters above the River and 3800 above sea level. There, along with hundreds of tourists we perched ourselves on a rock no more than 5 feet from the edge and waited for the main event.

This was apparentley the best place to view The Condor, the largest bird of flight in the world as there is a nesting colony deep below the viewpoint. The Condors, some 1 meter high and sporting a 3 meter wingspan leave their nest like clockwork in the early hours and as the sun heats the air, they catch the thermals and circle higher and higher searching for food.

We were informed that the Condors can sometimes come quite close to the throngs of tourists but nothing could have prepared us for the sight of first, a couple circling below us and then a Condor slowly soaring passed our faces just 10 feet away!

Although we were also informed that the Condors cannot recognise forms but just blocks of colour it was difficult to accept that the Condors were not aware of our presence. That said, we were amazed when one the giant birds landed on a rock just below us and then was joined by 4 more for a preening session. Without ever flapping, the condors one by one opened their wings and gracefully lifted into flight again... an amazing sight and one which we´ll never forget.

On the journey back we stopped at two more miradores, Hauyya Kpuncu (door of the wind) which offered stunning views of the Inca and Pre inca terraces growing corn and potatoes and Antahuilque where below us we could see two lakes, one of which is famed for being the shape of Peru.

After a short stop in Maca, the volcanic town to see the Colonial Spanish Church and its gold Barroco-mestizi (a mix of spanish and local influence) interior and where we also took turns to have photos with eagles on our heads, we boarded our coach again and began the journey back to Arequipa.

We felt quite sad to be leaving Colca Canyon in many ways and could easily have spent much longer there. The photographs could never do the scenery the justice it deserves and we're sure it will remain one of the most beautiful places we'll have visited.

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Photos

Catalogue pose No. 2
Of course there´s one of Kev to!

Lady who sold us a magic jug....
We will demonstrate magical properties to you when we get home....

Comments

[mags]

I know how too work this now
I love you guys and happy birthday mate , I wanna be a alpaca or at least sleep with on one x