Trekking
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Colca Canyon,
Peru
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
So, of course after waking up at 3:45 am for our 4 am departure time, we had to wait until almost 4:45 before anyone came to pick us up. Then, spent thenext 30 minutes driving around to other hotels to pick up other travelers, one couple who thought they were leaving at 5:45 and therefore the extended delay as we waited for them to wake up and get ready for their hiking. We had a few hour drive to Chivay (I slept most of the way) where we bought our entry tickets into the park.
We then continued on to Cruz del Condor a lookout point over a cliff into the canyon. We saw some condors flying around. Had to knwo if we saw one condor or more because we only saw one at a time but we did see it a few times. They flew right over our heads a few times which was really amazing. However, of course the lookout point was crowded with tons of other tourists.
After watching for about an hour and eating our breakfast (avocado sandwiches) we continued on a bit further to a spot near Cabanaconde where we started our hike into the canyon. There were 6 of us and 3 guides, so we split up into three groups. However, there were 2 girls from Belgium who had a horrible guide who abandoned them a few times and so they spent some of their time hiking with us.
Colca Canyon is the second deepest canyon in the world at 3,191 meters deep. The first 3 hours were straight downhill, over loose rocks that were a bit scary. I slipped and fell a few times but didnīt hurt anything. My calves were seriously burning after all the hiking and I was very relieved when we got to the bottom where we got to hike some flat land for a bit. We got to Gloriaīs hospedage in some little village...donīt remember the name but there was a little school right next to where we ate and the kids were getting out as we arrived and heading home for lunch. I canīt imagine that people actually live there and have to walk those three painful hours to get anywhere!! We had lunch at Gloriaīs, a delicious Peruvian soup and then some alpaca steak, rice, and french fries. I enjoyed the hour of relaxing before we had another 3 hours to hike to the Oasis where we spent the night.
The next three hours were a bit better as it was some uphill and some downhill and some flat. Our guide, Roy, was a bit crazy but seemed very knowledgable. Told us about some of the local fruits and about some traditions of the local people that live in the canyon. He was a bit difficult to understand in English and he spoke Spanish very quickly so we couldnīt really understand him but he sounded knowledgable and interesting.
We arrived at the Oasis a little late to enjoy the hot pools. Or maybe they just werenīt as hot as we were expecting. I just went into my ankles which did feel nice on the blisters all over my feet! But it was beautiful there. Unfortunately, I was too worried about tripping on rocks while I was walking to enjoy any of the views so it was nice to enjoy when we finally stopped for the evening. We got a big plate of pasta for dinner which was delicious and much needed! Watched the moon rise. The light from the moon hit the mountains opposite where the moon was coming up and them up in this gorgous silver light. We were pretty exhausted and were sleeping around 8:30.
Woke up at 5:00 and left around 5:30 for a hike straight up the canyon! Although it was hard and tiring (especially since we hadnīt had breakfast yet) but I think the up part was easier than the down part from the day before. At least it didnīt hurt my legs as badly! It was about 3 hours to the top and then we had about a half hour walk into Cabanaconda for breakfast. Of course there was some mix up with the bus and we had to wait for a while for our bus but we ended up getting a private bus with just the 6 of us who had started out together.
I stayed awake for this bus ride as the views here were beautiful. There were a lot of terraced farms with beautiful stone fences (I think the residents of Greenwich Connecticut would be jealous!). We got to Chivay where we ate lunch and then we continued back to Arequipa. Jan and I headed straight to the bus terminal to buy bus tickets to Nazca for that evening. We found a 10:00 bus which gave us plenty of time to head back to Colonial House Inn to take a shower and collect our luggage and go out to dinner.
I was very exhausted at this point, after many nights without a good sleep and lots of walking, and was very sore. However, I did manage to sleep pretty well on the bus (which was good since they put on a horror movie...Freddy versus Jason...not sure why they chose that movie. I even heard a few people ask them to change the movie but they didnīt)
Arrived in Nazca in the morning and headed to our hostel, Brabant, which was close enough to the bus station that we were able to walk. Iīm looking forward to a good nights sleep tonight. The hostel seems pretty nice.
