Wild Condors
Arequipa is also Canyon country. The deepest canyon in the world (Colca Canyon, about twice as deep as the Grand Canyon) is some 3hours from the city. We went on a two day, one night tour to see the wild condors that made the Colca Canyon famous.
We travelled to a little village called Chivay (with some impressive ruins nearby) where we stayed the night. The early evening was spent in the nearby hot springs as our accommodation did not have hot water and the temperature drops to well below freezing at night.
Early the next morning we travelled to Cruz del Condor, a lookout point over the canyon. At this point the canyon is already some 2100m deep. It increases in depth towards the coast. Wild condors nest in the canyon and soar on the thermal air as it heats from the sun. When we arrived we saw a few condors some 100m lower than us, but it was difficult to make them out. Then suddenly as the air in the canyon warms up, they started to fly at eye level just metres from us and also started to swoop over our heads! It was an awesome experience to see birds with wingspans of 3 meters flying so close that it feels as if one can touch them! We were just stunned and watched in silence!
From here we travelled back to Arequipa in time to catch the night bus to Cusco, the city from where the Incas ruled over much of South America.
We travelled to a little village called Chivay (with some impressive ruins nearby) where we stayed the night. The early evening was spent in the nearby hot springs as our accommodation did not have hot water and the temperature drops to well below freezing at night.
Early the next morning we travelled to Cruz del Condor, a lookout point over the canyon. At this point the canyon is already some 2100m deep. It increases in depth towards the coast. Wild condors nest in the canyon and soar on the thermal air as it heats from the sun. When we arrived we saw a few condors some 100m lower than us, but it was difficult to make them out. Then suddenly as the air in the canyon warms up, they started to fly at eye level just metres from us and also started to swoop over our heads! It was an awesome experience to see birds with wingspans of 3 meters flying so close that it feels as if one can touch them! We were just stunned and watched in silence!
From here we travelled back to Arequipa in time to catch the night bus to Cusco, the city from where the Incas ruled over much of South America.
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