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Published: January 24th 2005
Atop Colca Canyon
It was a stunning view that my pictures will not come close to approximating.Colca canyon is the 2nd deepest canyon in the world at 3,400m at its deepest(the 1st is cotahuasi canyon which is also in southern peru). its about a 5 hour busride from arequipa.
we went to a small pueblo named cabanaconde to begin the trek. our original plan was to go it alone and camp wherever we found a suitable spot. however, once we arrived in the town and sat down for some almuerzo, our waitress told us that it really wasnt{ advisable to hike alone as the trails are not well marked and going with a local guide will actually save you money as he or she could help negotiate prices in the tiny campos within the colca canyon. she then told us that she herself was a guide and would be happy to take us for 10 soles (3usd) per person per day with all meals included. this sounded like a great deal so we took it. it turned out to be a great decision. our guide, pilar, is a 20 year old girl from cabanaconde who took my bullshit in stride. she led us on our 3 day adventure through colca.
the first day we hiked
Me, Chillin in Colca
Despite the smirk on my face, my legs were burning like hell from the hike down. down from cabanaconde for 4 hours to a tiny campo called san juan de something. the view at the top of the canyon was breathtaking and it was difficult to imagine that within 4 hours we could arrive to the bottom. but we did, though with significant pain. hiking down bashes the shit out of your knees and i feel like it wears me out more than hiking uphill. anyway, san juan was a veyr nice, tranquilo place to stay. we slept buy the cuys(pronounced kwee and it means guinea pig) and crashed in some surprisingly comfortable foam matresses. the beds were 5 soles after pilar negotiated with them.
the next day, [challenge day[, we headed for 6 hours along an almost sheer cliff on the side of the canyon. i hate heights, so this was not too much fun for me. but, i got used to it and survived the trip to llauar (yah-wahr). there we enjoyed several hours of lounging in the natural hot springs and contemplating our navels. it was, again, very tranquilo and worth the 6 hours of hell it took to get there. pilar pieced together a meal of fried trout with rice and
Our neighbors on Night 1
These furry bastards are cute. tomato sauce which was excellent. we crashed early and awoke the next day to several more hours of lounging in the hot springs to rest our weary bones for the 4 hour hike up the canyon wall back to cabanaconde.
we left at 2pm and blasted the hell out of our legs uphill and finally arrived in cabanaconde for a meal of salchpapas (a fabulous mix of spaghetti, fried salami and french fries) and a cold fanta. i felt dead, but hte salchipapas revived me and i took my hot shower and crashed at our shitty little 7 peso hostel that pilar found for us.
we awoke the next morning for a trip up to the [cruz del condor[ which is a lookout of colca canyon where, for some reason, andean condors love to chill out and show off for the tourists. it was chilly as hell and we waited and waited until finally, after about 20 minutes, a female condor emerged and wowed us. these birds are the largest flying animals known with a wingspan of 3 meters. theyre huge and very majestic. it was the perfect end to our colca canyon hike. we are now back
Little girl with a cuy
She was squeezing the hell out of her little pet. in arequipa after this morning{s bus from the cruz del condor and we will be taking the overnight bus to tacna to cross the chilean border at 6am tomorrow and stay in arica. thanks for staying tuned.
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anonymous
non-member comment
well if it's gonna be that kind of party...
getting ready for the trip and for seeing you guys. i cant wait. - pat