Blogs from Colca Canyon, Arequipa, Peru, South America - page 2

The alarm went off at 2.15 am and we dragged ourselves out of bed, by 2.33am we were on the bus to Colca Canyon. After 3 hours we arrived in Chivay for breakfast. From there we stoppped at several small villages and saw local ladies and little children marching around the village square and got asked many times if we wanted to take photos of the children in their brightly coloured costumes. By 11am we were at Colca Canyon itself, the canyon was vast. We had just 40 minutes to spend here so rushed down to the best vantage point to see the condors. After a short wait we saw several huge condors cruising around in the sky getting closer and closer to us. All too soon it was time to leave, we stopped at some ... read more

After exploring Lake Titicaca we decided to make our way by bus into Peru and the city of Arequipa where we were pleasantly surprised by this elegant, yet modern town. With El Misti, a 5,700m dormant volcano poised directly above the city it certainly takes on a mystical feel. After a couple of days relaxing and enjoying the cuisine we proceeded north to go trekking in the Colca Canyon or the "Valley of Marvels" by the Peruvian author Mario Vargas Llosa. This canyon, which is nearly twice the size of Arizona's Grand Canyon and the world's deepest at more than 4km from cliff edge to river bottom held us captive with impressive views and vistas. The huge canyon is home to traditional Indian villages and settlements and our goal was to visit some of these and ... read more

der morgen beginnt früh und etwas anders als erwartet: eine unserer mitreisenden leidet unter atemnot. gemeinsam mit einer deutschen internistin folgt nach der ersten verdachtsdiagnose asthma-anfall die wahrscheinlichere lösung höhenkrankheit! nach diamox und abstieg am nachmittag verebben jegliche symptome und die diagnose bestätigt sich. witzig, dass ich auf unserer reise quasi auch eine kleine schulung in bezug auf altitude sickness mache :-) unser erster stop ist ein traumhaft idyllischer view point über dem erschreckend engen, steilen colca tal. schroff fällt das bröckelige gestein bis zum rio colca, gut 3.000m unter uns, ab. die kliffkanten in grau, mit vereinzelt roten verfärbungen, werden hier von kakteen, bäumen und imposanten agaven bewachsen. rechts und links des rio colca erheben sich kleine dörfer an großflächig ausgebauten terassen. in harmonisch ineinander fließenden grün... read more

Day 45 - 46 Today we temporally leave Arequipa & move further into the highlands for an overnight stay at Chivay which is the gateway to the Colca Canyon before returning to Arequipa. The main reason to visit Colca Canyon is not only the amazing scenery but to hopefully see the magnificent Andean condor, the world's largest flying bird, flying over the canyon. We travelled by minivan to Chivay (approx 5 hrs) stoping several times along the way to see llamas, alpacas ( both herded for wool & meat) and vicuñas (roam wild). One rest stop we were able to try some coca tea which is supposedly good for altitude sickness. Another stop was at Patapampa (the highest place on our tour at 4900 m above sea level) which was an assent of 2600 m from ... read more

Arriving in Arequipa just as the sun rose on a Monday morning, we got a cab to our hostel and after waking up the owners, we luckily had our room available where we could have a hot shower and pass out for the rest of the morning. As you don't sleep much on the long bus rides here, it feels like mild jetlag the day you arrive somewhere and inevitably means that a good part of the day is lost. Stumbling out of the hostel sometime after lunch we were greeted by a bustling city, heavily influenced by Spanish Architecture with a lot of the main monuments being made out of the white basalt rock that was mined from the 3 huge Volcanoes that tower over the city nearly 4000m above us. At 6057m Chachani is ... read more