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We had an extremely early wakeup call (5am) to leave the hotel for 6am. We visited the Cruz del Condor which translates as Condor Pass. Its the only part of Cocla Canyon where you can see the condors. They are absolutely huge, the biggest birds in the world. They stand 90cm tall and have a wingspan of 3 meters! We arrived at Condor Pass at 8.30, we had decided to stay for an hour and see if we could see them flying, if not we would stay for another half hour.
We managed to see them in the hour but only in the distance, it was still really good asyou could still tell how big they were even from hundreds of meters away. I was hoping to see them much closer up but it was still good. We headed back to the coach and just as we were about to leave one of the Condors flew right over where we had been sitting before. We all jumped back onto the coach to go back up (the altitude was too much to walk it!). We found a great spot, me, Ann, Sarah and Edwina had front row seats as about 4
or 5 Condors flew straight over our heads. It was fantastic. Edwina said how good it would be if one of them landed in front of us and just as she said that one did, shortly followed by another one! I couldnt believe it, they were so close to us, just sitting there for a good 5 mins. They had really started to show off for us!
So we all left on an absolute high! Luckily, as we had another hike planned! If yesterday was anything to go by I would struggle with this one! I felt much better today though as it wasnt as steep for so long, most of it was flat! Still dreading the Inca trail though!
We had a bit of free time in the afternoon so I found a Locotorio (a cheap phone place) and rang Chris. Its the first time ive spoken to him since being away and it was really nice to hear his voice.
That evening we headed to some natural hot springs for a bit of relaxation, after all the trekking I think we definately deserved it! They were really nice, there was one outside pool which was
about 35°C and two indoor pools which were 39°C. Of course we tested all of them but getting out of the one outside was a challenge, it was freezing!! We finished the visit off with a Pisco Sour made with cactus fruit instead of lemon in the outside pool, whilst looking up at the stars, it was very relaxing! A great way to end a fab day!
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Chris
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Great
Seeing the Condors so close up sounds amazing. Can't wait to see the pics. Was great hearing from you too....will look forward to my next call :)