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After a buffet breakfast at the Casa Andina, Cesar, our guide for the next two days, was calling our name in the lobby. He and Felix, the driver of an 11-passenger travel van, would take us from Arequipa to the Colca Canyon. There was already a couple on the van and we would make three more stops and leave the city at capacity.
As soon as we broke from the city, the smog lifted and the snow-capped mountains became crystal clear.
The road climbs impressively reaching over 16,000 feet at the Patapampa Lookout. Along the way the terrain was mostly high desert with deep valleys that were lush green with terraced crops rising above the valley.
We passed through a National Refuge where we saw hundreds of vicunas, llamas and alpaca. We made one pit stop at a small village and Dave bought a pair of alpaca socks. More impressive than the socks was the traditionally clad woman who wove and sold them. We got a cool picture of her and her lamb. Cesar pointed out several volcanoes and one is still active and smoking. He was very good about stopping whenever anyone wanted a photo op for
scenery or wildlife.
We had been apprehensive about the altitude and rightfully so. At 12,000 to 14,000 feet we had slight headaches and by the time we reached the pass we had trouble with deep breathing. In conversing with our fellow travelers, we were not alone. In fact, some were experiencing nausea and dizziness. At the pass, we took lots of pictures and added our own personal rock pile (for good luck) to the hundreds already there. Almost immediately after the pass, we started to feel better, the terrain turned greener and the mountains were more craggy than dome shaped. The Colca River Valley was very lush and the agricultural terraces sprouted upward from it.
We continued down to the principal village, Chivay, where we had a typical lunch as a group in the only tourist restaurant in town. After lunch we had about 30 minutes to explore the central plaza on our own. The plaza was very colorful with a fountain in the center and a local church on one side. Lots of local people were there and outfitted in their traditional garb. Back on the bus to drop everyone off at their respective hotels in Chivay.
We are staying at the Colca Lodge about 10km past Chivay so we were last. Cesar said it is the best in the area and he was right. Wow -- a 5-star for sure! As we were driving in, Cesar stopped along the road so that we could see the lodge and grounds from above which were spectacular. The rooms are spread out in separate thatched-roof buildings. It reminded us of the shire in "The Hobbit"! Our room was huge with a vaulted ceiling, spa-like bathroom, and heavy-wood furniture. Even though the room was really impressive, the grounds surpassed it! The lodge is located on the banks of the Colca River and has its own natural hot spring pools (each a different temperature), an alpaca ranch and museum and beautiful manicured gardens and lawns. We wished we had more time to enjoy it! In keeping with the rest of the resort, the dinner was superb. This time Sue had an alpaca filet which was even better than Dave's the night before. Unbelievably, the dish we both liked the most was a quinoa salad. Many varieties of quinoa are grown in the Valley and the Colca Lodge has several plots
of the rare and expensive black kind growing outside the lobby.
We enjoyed the morning light on the river valley while eating breakfast. The specialty at breakfast was the baby corn tamales with chicken -- yum!
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MD&B
non-member comment
Appears you selected the right trip to call you bucket list trip! Looks like a wonderful adventure so far. Build a rock pile for MD&B and keep the photos coming.