El Condor Pasa

The Colca Canyon is actually the world’s second deepest canyon (according to nearly every source I have managed to lay hands on) but don’t tell the locals that. Our guide got rather huffy when we suggested that this was the case- seems small man syndrome extends to ‘my canyon is deeper than yours’ type posturing.

Whatever. It’s pretty fucking deep; let’s just leave it at that. 

The Colca Valley is famous for its population of condors that appear every morning like clockwork, using thermal winds to rise high up above the valley floor. We left Arequipa at the ungodly hour of 3am to arrive in time for the daily condor show. Since you normally only see condors several hundred metres up in the sky above, it is difficult to get a sense of just how enormous they actually are. Adults weigh around 12kg and have a wing span of up to 3 (yes, three) metres.

 

From the condors we drove off to the start of the trek- starting at around 3200m we hiked into the canyon via a series of never ending switchbacks cut into the canyon walls. After two hours of scampering down the steeps rocky paths we were ready for a dip in the icy cold, snow-fed Colca River at the base of the canyon.

The second day of hiking was the easiest; a gentle walk along the river, passing through several tiny villages to arrive at the ‘Oasis’ around lunchtime. Aptly named, this series of lush gardens and naturally fed pools was the ideal place to ignore the next day’s hiking agenda.

The problem with hiking in deep canyons is that for every easy metre you descend, there is an equal but far more challenging distance to climb back out.

Our road out of canyon country

Although starting at 5am seemed like a cruel and unnecessary way to torture gringos, it was actually a blessing since it meant climbing in the shade. A few of the group had decided the climb up was to be avoided at all costs and rented donkeys….we toughed it out and hiked up. Needless to say, Martijn was a good half hour ahead of me…but I am quite pleased to say that I was the first chick in our group to make it to the top! Must be the champion diet of beer/rice/yucca I have been adhering to over these last three months!!!