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The van picked us up at 6:40am for our drive to Cruz del Condor where we would, hopefully, observe the giant birds. The first stop was the plaza in Yanque where there were lots of local people dressed traditionally selling their wares , dancing and posing for photos with alpacas and hawks. Dave bought another pair of alpaca socks since he wore his other pair today and they felt really good!
Breathtaking views of the terraced agricultural hillsides rising from the canyon floor. These terraces pre-date the Incas by as much as 500 years and are still used today by local farmers.
The last half of the 60km drive was on a very rough, gravel road that had been previously destroyed by an earthquake. It had huge potholes and several water crossings.
When we arrived at the Condor Cross, there were already probably 200 tourists spread over 1/4 mile of lookouts on the ledge of the canyon. Cesar picked a spot for us and within minutes we spotted our first condor soaring below us. During our hour there, we saw dozens of them, even a male & female that roosted for several minutes on a ledge close by.
It looked like the female was resting her head on the male's shoulder! We learned that condors are monogamous, share the responsibility for raising their chicks (only reproduce every 3 years), nest in a crevice high in the canyon walls, and live for 75-85 years.
We returned to Chivay for lunch with many photo stops along the way. At each stop, women and children in local clothes sold souvenirs and offered themselves for pics for one sol (36 cents).
After lunch we deadheaded back to Arequipa and neither of us had any altitude problems. Cesar and Felix dropped us at the Casa Andina Hotel about 4:30pm. Within minutes of their departure, we noticed that Dave left his camping pillow (now being used as his lumbar pillow) in the van. As we were looking for the phone number of our local contact to confirm our transfer to the bus station, we received a call from him at the front desk. He verified a pick-up for 7:00pm so we were able to revisit the beautiful main square. We had decided to have a drink and enjoy sunset on a balcony overlooking the plaza when a very nice man from a
local restaurant approached us and told us about a new terrace where we could do just that! What a magnificent find! We were at bell tower level of the cathedral with a great view of the city and sunset. And, since it was cooling down, they offered their guests cozy wool ponchos! Nice way to end our stay in Arequipa!
We were transferred to the bus station and our driver and guide quickly got our tickets, checked our luggage, bought our user fee tax and showed us where to check-in. It was a huge private bus terminal and we were very grateful for their help!
The Cruz del Sur bus was first-class, served dinner, showed a movie, had spotty wi-fi, blankets, pillows, and the seats reclined to 145 degrees. The coach departed right on time at 8:00pm and arrived into Cusco at 6:00am. We slept a little!
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