Choose another map, showing:

• Amazon
• South America (central)
• South America
• The World

Other entries in Chivay

Chivay and Colca Canyon

A long drive day today which means an early start at 4.30 to have breakfast before getting on jack and getting some more sleep.  We left Arequipa at the crack of dawn and drove towards Colca Canyon which is one of the world´s deepest canyons easily dwarfing the Grand Canyon in the US.  It is 3191m at it´s deepest point and is famous for this fact and also the presence of Andean Condors.  These magnificent birds have wingspans of upto 3m and at the lookout point we were visiting they fly within 5m of you.  It was quite something to see them soar high above you on the thermals and then swoop down into the canyon, all with out flapping their wings.

Trying to catch them in any sort of detail with the camera was quite tricky as they would suddenly appear from below us in the canyon and pass by quickly overhead so collectively as a group we had some great shots of blurred dark objects and plenty of blue sky!!  Hope fully some of mine came out and will be added later.  We went for a walk around the canyon rim which gave some great views along and into the canyon.

Thr journey to the canyon was really stunning as we went over a high pass of 4900m from where we could see many volcanoes and snow capped peaks including Peru´s highest Ampato at 6288m.  It was really apparent we were at altitude as just walking around and climbing over rocks for photos was an obvious effort and gave a lightheaded feeling.  There was also some remains of snow and ice there.  The summit was covered in 1000´s of mini cairns which are formed when people pass over the top and are made for wishes and are placed here as they are closer to the heavens, it gave the place a weird look.  We passed some alpacas and vicunas which were living wild on the high plateaus.  They were quite friendly and posed for pictures eben though they are wild animals.

After a lunch stop by the side of the road on our way back down to Chivay, which is itself at over 3200m, we finally arrived at our hotel.  After checking in a dozen or so of us went to the local hot springs for clean.  The pools were empty when we first arrived but after 5 mins several other groups turned up.  It was quite strange to suddenly see the locals descend on the tourist pool to watch us splash about, I think they were more interested in taking pictures of the girls.  This was obviously the high light of their day and payback for all the pictures we take of them. The waters were really warm and very relaxing especially when enjoyed with a beer.

Later on we went out to the local square to find a restaurant for dinner and shared a pizza whilst he rest of the group went for a group meal to watch some local dancing.  We made the right decision as the dancing was OK but the food not great.  It was early to bed as it had been a long day and we were also up early the next day to head to Cusco.

Add to del.icio.us Add to reddit

Photos / videos of "Chivay and Colca Canyon":