Condors and bumpy roads

Trip Start Dec 29, 2008
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Trip End Mar 22, 2009


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Flag of Peru  ,
Thursday, January 8, 2009

We left at 7am along the pot-holed road out to the condor lookout. As we travelled along the Colca valley we saw terraced agricultural plots, cows, donkeys and women walking with large loads on their backs.

The main purpose of this trip was to see the condors in the Colca Canyon, down the far end of the road. The Colca canyon is at one point the second deepest canyon in the world, but we weren't going to that point of it. As it is currently the rainy season it is also the breeding season for the condors, so our chances of seeing a condor wee pretty slim, as only one condor leaves the nest at a time, and heads up the canyon and out to sea for the day in search of food.

Luck must have been with us, because we had beautiful weather and also saw about 6 condors. A condor is in the same family as vultures, and only feeds on dead animals. Their wing span is said to be about 1.2m, but according to our guide it can be as much as 2m.

The first condor we saw swooped low over the 'Colca cross' lookout point, circling back around to give us all a fantastic view. A few more glided past quickly, before it was time for us to get back in the bus for the trip back to Chivay. Along the way we stopped to see a rock which had the map of the irrigation system for the area drawn onto it. This had been done in Inca time; the Incas were highly skilled in irrigation.

Lunch was at a tourist stop in Chivay. We then jumped back in the bus for the 3 hour trip back to Arequipa. The road seemed to have become ten times more bumpy than on the way there! We were all glad to get back to Arequipa for a good nights sleep.
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