Colca Canyon Day 2 / Back to Arequipa
Trip Start
Aug 30, 2008
1
5
64
Trip End
Oct 31, 2008
Arequipa,
Peru
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Today I got up at 5am to have breakfast from 5.30am to 6.00pm. It was an included "continental" breakfast, but it wasn't nearly enough to satisfy my huge appetite. It did the job for a little bit, at least. After breakfast we were to head off towardsthe Condor Cross to try and see some live action of the condors in their natural habitat, but first we stopped by a few different charming small Colca valley towns.
A quick addendum to yesterday's blog: After the touristic restaurant dinner, I went out with some of my new friends from the tour to celebrate Adi (a nice Israeli girl)'s birthday
Ladies posing
. Her friends Coby and Shiir weren't feeling very well, so it was just about 5 of us that went to this very small club and danced only for about an hour or so, since we had to get up the next day super early. Before going out with them I had sneaked out and caught some celebration for the local market and there was some amazing live traditional Andean music, which I enjoyed for a while before meeting back up with my friends. It was pretty chilly, but not that bad, and they also offered me a couple of Arequipa alcohol shots. Very friendly people.
So anyways, back to this morning. After stopping by the nice, small towns along the way, we headed of to Condor Cross, where every morning is the usual spot where the condors glide up with the thermal winds to the awe and wonder of the hordes of tourists (me included). So long story short, after about an hour of waiting around with brief faraway glimpses of the condor, we had to head back with the group to do a bit of a hike. So of course it makes complete sense that just as I was reaching the group, about 50 meters away from the canyon cliff, the condors start going crazy right nearby the other tourists that had stayed. Oh well! Maybe next time. It was still really fun to see the condor in it's natural habitat and all that
Dancing
.So anywho, after a few other random stops (and a free buffet lunch thanks to my super guide Cesar, since I was nice and helping him with his English, etc etc..), we headed back to Arequipa, stopping by on the way at some llama and alpaca fields to see them for a bit and at the highest crossing point between Arequipa and the Colca Canyon, where I left a small pile of rocks, which you're supposed to do for good luck.
Back in Arequipa I was able to meet up with Maja, whom I had met in Lima just a few days back through couchsurfing, since she had a work meeting in Lima over the weekend, as well as with Lucho, who's the Arequipa embassador for couchsurfing. It was really nice seeing Maja again, since she's super friendly and nice, and Lucho was a pleasure to meet as well, being full of energy and good vibes. I spend a really good time with them just walking around and then grabbed some dinner together with them and a new English friend, Jack, whom I had met on the Colca tour.
Now it's time to head off to sleep, after taking it easy with Maja at her apartment, and tomorrow I'll go exploring a bit more around Arequipa City and probably take the night bus (yay (sarcasm) ) to Cusco.
Till' next time. :)
PHOTOS
Comments
hola, soy yo otra vez!!
Hola Christian,
Te felicito por programarte tan bien, y excelente que vayas haciendo los cambios que te parecen mejor. sólo quería decirte que no puedo ver las fotos, ojalá después encuentre alguna manera de entrar.
besito
ma