Now this is one mother of a canyon

No visit to Arequipa is complete without trip to Colca Canyon. Although the best way to explore is to trek it, my itinerary had me on a gentler route; yep by bus; although we did partake in some ‘nature’ walks.

The canyon is one of the world’s deepest canyons, it stands, or falls at 3191m; bigger than the Grand Canyon. We started our two day trip by us, stopping at craft stalls and finding out about the wildlife en route. Now did you know there are four members of the llama family? Me neither! Llamas, vicuña, alpacas and guanaco. Our tour guide, who was exceptional, did explain the variations, some have chubby cheeks and flat noses, while some tails stick up and others down. Mind, please don’t ask me which ones are which 😉

Checkout the cute little rabbit, there were many on the roadside and they scampered about like squirrels, most bizarre.

Ww stopped off to take in the majestic volcano which is el misti, 5822m high. There was no way your were going to get me up there, but it looked pretty good from afar.

We headed though the reserva nacional salinas y aguada blanca, along the deserted road to the altiplano (high Andean plateau) where we reached the highest point – hey it was a wee bit chilly up there!

After a quick drop off at the hostel, our next stop was Chivay’s hot springs. We had a good hour to chill out and wash away the days journey before our evening treat of a show, yep with singing, music and dancing, oh and food and drink.

Check out the chaps mask… This was the malaria dance which saw the chap eating an apple, falling to the floor in convulsions and then getting the illnesses beat out of him. Enough said.

The following morning we headed to the canyon in the hope of seeing it fog free and maybe catching a condor, or two. We were in luck – it must have been the dance we performed the previous evening asking pachamama (mother earth) to grant our wishes! It was really atmospheric on arrival, hidden in mist, but if you look hard enough you will be able to catch a glimpse of the river and the enormity of the canyon.

There’s only about 50 condors left in the valley, so I was pleased to see a couple. My pix don’t do them justice; they have a wingspan of over 3m, when they soared above you it was certainly a sight to behold. A few more stop of points and lovely landscapes before heading back to Arequipa.