Blogs from Colca Canyon, Arequipa, Peru, South America - page 3

The Canyon of the Condors - Colca Canyon

South America » Peru » Arequipa » Colca Canyon May 3rd 2013

6 hours of busing took us from Puno to Arequipa, surrounded by a handful of volcanoes and double that in mountains. Arequipa is nicknamed the white city because of its unique brickwork made of the volcano deposits. But less of the facts and more about what we have been up to! We'd made no plans for our first day in the town, simply to get there, find some accommodation, buy some food, eat and have a drink. The hostal that we got was one of the cheapest in Areqipa, £7 for a double room, looking out onto the main road and with a bed fit for a jail cell. Safe to say it wasn't the Ritz. On the food front though things were looking up, we found the supermarket and grabbed a load of food for ... read more

Canyon journey

South America » Peru » Arequipa » Colca Canyon April 30th 2013

Condors!

GandRinsouthamerica

On route to the Canyon (around April 8-13) We explored the town, Cabanaconde, and the Colca Canyon via a stopover in the city of Arequipa. First, some quick points about Arequipa. This busy city is a nice size of about one million people. The main square is very lovely with many offshoot streets filled with shopping and restaurants. We luckily found a great local diner on San Francisco street, not far from the square (on the left side if walking away from main square). Otherwise, there are other places to try alpaca or cuy (guinea pig). A good place to stay we found via a local was Los Andes which was 50 meters from the main square. Aside from walking around, city tours are popular, but book through an agency in the main square not the ... read more

The Colca Canyon trip

South America » Peru » Arequipa » Colca Canyon April 23rd 2013

Condor - The Colca Canyon!

Teesside Travellers

24-25th April ’13 The Colca Canyon Trip We were picked up at 7.45am to start our 2 day 1 night trip to the Colca Cayon. Our minibus was a right mixed bunch of ages and nationalities, there were 2 Argentinians, 3 Chinese (including the mad camera woman who we had thought was Japanese from our trip to Cachi in Argentina), 1 Thai, 4 Polish, 4 Peruvians, us and 1 American. Our guide, Wilber was a young, funny guy who spoke very good English and had a penchant for cracking jokes. The American lady, who was in her 70s was sat alongside us and we chatted for ages, she was incredible – retired and had lived in Mexico for 7 years and more recently Guatemala where after 4 years she had packed up to travel some more ... read more

130 diena. Terminiai vandenys.

South America » Peru » Arequipa » Colca Canyon April 14th 2013

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Sumeris

Šiandien iškeliaujam 7 ryto. Iki kito miestelio kuriame yra terminiai vandenys tik 2 val kelio, tad atėję ten paprašom, kad pagamintų pusryčius, o mes tuo tarpu einam pasimaudyti terminiuose vandenyse. Šalia upės slėnio apačioje pastatyti trys skirtingų temperatūrų baseiniukai, du apyšilčiai ir vienas labai karštas. Tuo tarpu upėje vanduo ledinis. Iškart lendam į patį karščiausią baseiniuką. Tokių terminių baseinų čia slėnyje yra daugiau, bet pro visus kitus eina turistiniai maršrutai ir juose paprastai būna žymiai daugiau žmonių. Mes čia šiandien vienui vieni. Pasimėgaujam karštom versmėm apie pusantros valandos ir einam pusryčiauti. Šiandien dar laukia mažiausiai 5 valandos kelio ir visą laiką reiks lipti į kalną, išvis apie 1300 m. Pailsėję, papusryčiavę vėl išsiruošiam atgal į kelią. Priėję tiltą pamatom per jį einančią lapę, bet pamačiusi mus ji greit apsisuka ir nubėga atgal. Eidam... read more

129 diena. Huaruru krioklys.

South America » Peru » Arequipa » Colca Canyon April 13th 2013

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Sumeris

Šiandien laukia taip pat nelengva diena. Gan vėlai išsikrapštom iš lovos, pradedam eiti tik apie 8 ryto. Iš pat ryto pasukam neteisingu takeliu, kuris lyg ir atrodė neblogas, bet vėl netikėtai baigėsi. Čia laiko daug nepraradom, bet iki normalaus kelio teko ropoti stačiu šlaitu. Šiandien reik nueiti gerokai didesnį atstumą, bet su mažiau pakilimų ir nusileidimų. Pirmiausia reikia pasiekti kaimelį kuris už 4 valandų kelio. Jį prieinam gan nesunkiai, pakeliui nuo kaktusų pasirinkdami vaisių. Šių vaisių bėda ta, kad jie turi labai smulkių spygliukų kurių prilenda visur, juos iškrapštyti labai sunku, o neiškrapščius labai niežti. Bet vaisiai labai sultingi ir saldūs, tad pakeliui jų ir prisivalgom. Beeidami pakliūnam į spūstį... takelis, šlaitas status, o prieš mus gal 6 arkliai besiganantys ant takelio. Šiaip ne taip pavyko juos išjudinti, kad eitų į priekį, nes prasilenkti vietos nėra. ... read more

128 diena. Galingieji kondorai.

South America » Peru » Arequipa » Colca Canyon April 11th 2013

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Sumeris

Kaip planavę, atsikeliam iš ryto ir keliaujam tiesiai į autobusą su visais daiktais, nes po kondorų stebėjimo pradėsim savo kelių dienų žygį pėsti. Autobusas pilnut pilnutėlis žmonių, dauguma vietiniai važiuojantys tik kelis kilometrus iki savo trobos. Nežinau ką jie čia visi taip anksti veikia. Autobuse taip pat pasirodo piktai atrodanti vakarykštė policininkė ar parko prižiūrėtoja kuri patikrina ar visi turistai turi bilietus kanjono lankymui. Vistik gerai, kad vakar nusipirkom. Už gero pusvalandžio išlipam kondorų stebėjimo vietoje. Su mumis taip pat išlipa ir nemažai vietinių prekiautojų pardavinėjančių suvenyrus. Žmonių visai nedaug, panašu, kad atvykom vieni pirmūjų. O laikas čia būti tikrai pats tas, ant uolos, gal už 10 metrų nuo mūsų tupi 4 didžiuliai kondorai. Aš pasiemu fotiką ir einu dar arčiau, prieinu gal per 5 metrus nuo jų. Arčiau neinu, nes nenoriu nubaidyti. Netrukus iš... read more

Colca Canyon: The Day of the Condor, Cuy and Chicha

South America » Peru » Arequipa » Colca Canyon March 13th 2013

Condor

bvchef

I am hoping that the blog title will have captured your interest, because this was an absolutely amazing 2 day tour. For all of the internal freak outs I have had on this trip, my overnight trip to the Colca Canyon was absolutely postcard perfect. Pick up was at 7:30 yesterday morning. When the guide told me that it was a small group, I didn’t expect that it would be only 1 other person on the trip, and he was on a 3 day tour, so today I was the only person on the tour. For someone who doesn’t like crowds, this was an unexpected surprise. Both the guide and the driver were incredibly friendly and helpful. I swear, that driver had eyes like a hawk. He could spot a chinchilla resting on rocks beside the ... read more

Colca Canyon

South America » Peru » Arequipa » Colca Canyon December 16th 2012

ChristoandKarien

Ons het vanoggend 'n vroeë begin gehad. Ontbyt 5:30 en 6:00 oppad na die Conder Cross uitkyk punt ind die canyon. Oppad het die gids ons omtrent die hele geskiedenis vertel van die Inka en pre-Inka wat die terrasse gebou het in die vallei. Daar is letterlik duisende terrasse wat gebou was 1400 jaar gelede en tot vandag toe gebruik word. Hy het ook grafte uitgewys wat hoog op teen die krans was. Dit was blykbaar vir baie belangrike Inkas. Weird! By die Conder Cross uitkyk punt het daar klomp mense rond gesit met kamers en verkykers en wag vir die Condors om hulle verskyning te maak. Ons het seker vir 50min ronde gesit, maar niks nie. Terwyl ons gestaan en wag het dat die bussie ons moet oplaai maak die Condors hulle verskyning in die ... read more

Arequipa and Colca Canyon

South America » Peru » Arequipa » Colca Canyon August 8th 2012

Plaza de Armas

Amerasian

Machu Picchu is a hard act to follow, so we were keeping expectations low as we headed toward Peru's canyonlands. An all day ten hour bus ride from Cusco to Arequipa gave us time to read, relax and take in the colorful Peruvian countryside. The ride to Arequipa is the Altiplano of Peru, high altitude treeless plains sliced by lazy rivers, rural farms, and rocky roads leading off to far off ranches and valleys. Boredom is rarely present, for if one becomes tired of scenery outside the window, the action inside the bus can be entertaining. Hence, at a short middle of nowhere stop, a couple of Indian women board with a large greasy bag smelling of something cooked. Surprisingly, they display a huge chunk of roasted Alpaca right down the bus aisle. Watch you step ... read more

Colca Canyon & Arequipa fun

South America » Peru » Arequipa » Colca Canyon August 6th 2012

El Misti Volcano

Toni and James

Our bus from Cusco was pretty uneventful and we arrived in Arequipa at sparrow farts in the morning and got dropped off at the main Plaza, to grab some much needed breakfast before finding our hostel. We didn’t think they would appreciate a 6:30 check in! Arequipa wasn’t in our original plans but, after a few recommendations from fellow travelers, we were keen to check out the popular Colca Canyon and see the beautiful Condor birds from the canyon walls. Before setting out on the trek we pottered around town for 2 days, regaining our energy and taking in the awesome scenery! The city is surrounded by a group of volcanoes, some dormant and some quite active. El Misti dominates the skyline with its symmetrical cone and little white snowcap. I was truly in awe, as ... read more