Colca Canyon

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After Cusco we drove to Arequipa and from there a few of us went on an overnight excursion to the Colca Canyon. This is one of the deepest canyons in the world. It took four hours to get there and the first thing we did was go to some hot springs. It was lovely and relaxing to look up at the stars whilst lying in the warmth of the water. Then we had dinner in Chivay in the canyon and went to a lovely hotel for the night.

We got up at 5 and left at 6 to drive for two hours up to the Cruz de Condor. This is the lookout point for condors which are massive and majestic birds. I wasn't expecting to be particularly impressed with them but they were fantastic. We saw loads of them and they glided effortlessly and soundlessly near us. They were big and mostly black apart from some white on their wings and the older ones were brown. We were also looking down into the canyon which is 3800m deep but this is measured from the top of the highest mountain and so is a bit of a cheat. It wasn't really what I was expecting but it was beautiful none the less.

We then drove the 4 hours home. It was a tiring excursion because of all the driving but the condors made it worth it!

After Arequipa we drove back down to sea level and had a night on the beach at the Pacific Ocean at Puerto Inca. This was a famous Inca port in Inca times where the king would get his fish from. The beach was beautiful; it was a small beach with crashing waves and just us camping there. I had a paddle in the sea (it was too rough to swim) and then we had a sangria and barbeque night. As we were camping on the beach I woke up to the sound of crashing waves.

We then drove onto Nazca where some people were doing the flight over the Nazca lines, the strange designs in the ground that no-one can really explain. I'm glad I had decided not to do it because the planes were very small and bumpy. It was a hot day so I sunbathed in the hotel grounds that we were camping in.

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