From SATA-Peru-2007
The alarm sounds at 2:20. Not only am I confused as to where I am, but also bewildered as to why my roommates (Hans and Rick) are up and walking around when it’s still dark. I then realize that I am in Arequipa and am rightfully confused due to my 3 hours of sleep. We are up so early because we are off to Colca Canyon to see the famous Peruvian condors and we are told the best time to see them is early morning, so from Arequipa (a 5-hour drive away) our only chance is to leave by 3 a.m. We all stumble onto the bus and either fall back asleep or pretend to sleep as we make the 3.5 hour drive to Chivay. We are all suddenly awakened a little after 5 a.m. by the frigid mountain air when the bus stops and Manuel, camera in hand, quickly jumps out. We are all clearly upset at being awakened by the cold, but immediately realize the spectacular view. The bus has stopped at around 16,000 feet and we have a beautiful view of a fading full moon over gorgeous snow-topped mountains. Also, at this altitude the terrain resembles what I think they moon may look like and the whole thing made for arguably the most spectacular view we’ve seen this trip. We then finished the car ride to Chivay, where we all sat down for breakfast. After breakfast we set off in the bus again for La Cruz del Condor, which is approximately 1.5 hours from Chivay. Distance wise the trip isn’t far, but the roads are unpaved, windy and there are many small streams running through the road, which makes things interesting.
During the trip our fantastic tour guide, Elfer, taught us a bit about condors, including their large size and wingspan, big eyes, and egg laying tendencies among other things. As we arrived at the spot, we saw condors flying overhead and quickly ran out to capture the image. We stayed at the spot for about an hour and were lucky enough to see numerous condors, some even coming close enough to see and capture detail with our cameras.
Colca Canyon is amazingly vast and the condor is probably the most elegant and beautiful creature I have ever seen. The manner in which it glides through the canyon was truly a special thing to see.
After staying put overlooking the canyon for an hour, we took a 50 minute stroll along the side of the canyon, checking out a few more condors as well as the verticality and beauty of the canyon. We got back into the bus and had an uneventful ride back to Chivay. We drove through the small town of Chivay to some hot springs, which felt amazingly good on our already tired bodies, despite the fact that it was only noon. We relaxed in the springs for a few hours, before heading to a traditional restaurant in Chivay. The meal started with free pisco sours (like all meals in Peru) and we all had some type of salad as well as traditionally prepared alpaca, chicken or trout. The meal was long, but very tasty and the building was even more impressive with a structure that was over 900 years old! After lunch, it was back to the bus where we had the 3.5 hour drive back to Arequipa. I slept like a rock on the bus and I’m not sure what else happened on the bus ride back. It was essentially our first night in Arequipa so we decided to check out the town and nightlife. We stumbled into a very odd bar that pumped North American 80’s music and had a very incapable waiter. We ordered drinks, but didn’t stay long because it wasn’t exactly our scene. We near sprinted back to the hotel to meet the rest of the group for a dinner that again included free pisco sours and despite the fact that everyone was exhausted from the long day, I was in the group that attempted to go out on the town. This time, we asked a few people where to find good bars in order to avoid another awkward bar situation and found ourselves on a very fancy street with some serious nightlife. The night ended around 11:30 after one drink and no serious attempts to hit on any of the beautiful Arequipan women.
September 26, 2007September 28, 2007
