Day 8 (Wednesday) - the first day of 2014 - started with us waking up at 6 am. We had a quick breakfast at the hotel and our tour guide picked us up at 7 am. We drove for 2 hours to reach the Colca Canyon around 9 am.
Colca Canyon is the deepest canyon in the world (twice as deep as the Grand Canyon in Arizona, US). Apart from amazing natural topography formed by the juxtaposition of high mountains and the deep canyon, it is also home to the Condor - a bird that has a wingspan of 10 feet. In most reviews, we had read that one can see Condors in flight only around 8 am when they leave their abodes to glide over the mountains in search of prey and once they lock down their target, they swoop down and take their breakfast with them and after that can't be seen flying in the sky. We were expecting that we won't be able to see any. However, we got lucky and saw not one but three condors in full flight.
There was a hike of a couple of kilometers on the edge of the canyon with the depths of the canyon on our left side. Due to some confusion with our guide, when he gave everyone 30 minutes of free time to relax and try to spot any condors, we did half of that hike on our own - going down and then coming back. When the actual hike started, we repeated half of it with the group and then went further as well.
We saw our first condor around 9:40 am when we were waiting for our group at the meeting point with our guide. He pointed the condor to us and we saw it for a few seconds before it settled down in the mountains, probably to enjoy its brunch.
When the hike started, we spotted a wild rabbit and an eagle in flight. We saw different varieties of flowering cactus plants on the sides of the hiking trail. The area does not get too much rain so most vegetation that one can see is the kind that you find in a desert or dry area.
Towards the end of the hike, we saw the other two condors. This was around 10:30 am. We're guessing these two were up late the night before celebrating New Year's Eve so were late for their breakfast - lucky for us!
Our guide also told us some facts about the Condor. It has a typical life expectancy of 85 to 90 years. Also, it is monogamous, that is, it has only one partner throughout its lifetime. If that partner dies, it spends the rest of its life alone. The male has a crest on its head that differentiates it from the female. Both male and female develop a collar of white feathers around their necks when they become adults. Condors are related to the vulture family so they eat only meat and don't shy away from eating carrion (dead meat) either. We got a chance to capture the flight of the condor on video too.
After seeing the condors, our hike ended on the road where our bus was waiting for us. We set off for Chivay. On our way there, we stopped at the small town of Maca where we saw an old 16th century church built by the Spanish that is still used by the locals. Samia also got a picture taken with an eagle on her left arm and holding a llama by its neck in her right arm.
We had lunch in Chivay - another average buffet where all we had was potatoes in different forms. Then we set off for Arequipa in our tour bus. It was a 3 hour drive and we reached our hotel around 4:30 pm. After freshening up, we strolled around the Main Square.
Arequipa is a colonial city that was built by the Spanish. It is the second largest city of Peru with a population of over 2 million. Apart from the historical Main Square and it's surrounding area, it's a modern and advanced city. If it wasn't the New Year's Day, we might have been able to see a couple of local museums quickly but everything was closed.
We had dinner at a Turkish Peruvian restaurant and had delicious falafel and veggie sandwiches. After that, we went back to our hotel and made sure that our luggage weight was distributed according to the airline specifications. We are going to bed now since we have a flight tomorrow morning from Arequipa to Lima. When we land in Lima, our private car and guide will pick us up at 10 am and show us different areas of Lima. Lima is the capital and the largest city of Peru with a population of 9 million (almost one third of the country).
Colca Canyon is the deepest canyon in the world (twice as deep as the Grand Canyon in Arizona, US). Apart from amazing natural topography formed by the juxtaposition of high mountains and the deep canyon, it is also home to the Condor - a bird that has a wingspan of 10 feet. In most reviews, we had read that one can see Condors in flight only around 8 am when they leave their abodes to glide over the mountains in search of prey and once they lock down their target, they swoop down and take their breakfast with them and after that can't be seen flying in the sky. We were expecting that we won't be able to see any. However, we got lucky and saw not one but three condors in full flight.
There was a hike of a couple of kilometers on the edge of the canyon with the depths of the canyon on our left side. Due to some confusion with our guide, when he gave everyone 30 minutes of free time to relax and try to spot any condors, we did half of that hike on our own - going down and then coming back. When the actual hike started, we repeated half of it with the group and then went further as well.
We saw our first condor around 9:40 am when we were waiting for our group at the meeting point with our guide. He pointed the condor to us and we saw it for a few seconds before it settled down in the mountains, probably to enjoy its brunch.
When the hike started, we spotted a wild rabbit and an eagle in flight. We saw different varieties of flowering cactus plants on the sides of the hiking trail. The area does not get too much rain so most vegetation that one can see is the kind that you find in a desert or dry area.
Towards the end of the hike, we saw the other two condors. This was around 10:30 am. We're guessing these two were up late the night before celebrating New Year's Eve so were late for their breakfast - lucky for us!
Our guide also told us some facts about the Condor. It has a typical life expectancy of 85 to 90 years. Also, it is monogamous, that is, it has only one partner throughout its lifetime. If that partner dies, it spends the rest of its life alone. The male has a crest on its head that differentiates it from the female. Both male and female develop a collar of white feathers around their necks when they become adults. Condors are related to the vulture family so they eat only meat and don't shy away from eating carrion (dead meat) either. We got a chance to capture the flight of the condor on video too.
After seeing the condors, our hike ended on the road where our bus was waiting for us. We set off for Chivay. On our way there, we stopped at the small town of Maca where we saw an old 16th century church built by the Spanish that is still used by the locals. Samia also got a picture taken with an eagle on her left arm and holding a llama by its neck in her right arm.
We had lunch in Chivay - another average buffet where all we had was potatoes in different forms. Then we set off for Arequipa in our tour bus. It was a 3 hour drive and we reached our hotel around 4:30 pm. After freshening up, we strolled around the Main Square.
Arequipa is a colonial city that was built by the Spanish. It is the second largest city of Peru with a population of over 2 million. Apart from the historical Main Square and it's surrounding area, it's a modern and advanced city. If it wasn't the New Year's Day, we might have been able to see a couple of local museums quickly but everything was closed.
We had dinner at a Turkish Peruvian restaurant and had delicious falafel and veggie sandwiches. After that, we went back to our hotel and made sure that our luggage weight was distributed according to the airline specifications. We are going to bed now since we have a flight tomorrow morning from Arequipa to Lima. When we land in Lima, our private car and guide will pick us up at 10 am and show us different areas of Lima. Lima is the capital and the largest city of Peru with a population of 9 million (almost one third of the country).
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