Wednesday 27 April - Written by Jo in BLACK and small edits by Murray in RED
Conquering altitude was the challenge of today. The 12 of us, plus our guide Herbie, packed a small bag and voyaged in our little bus to seek out condors in the Colca Canon. A two day trip out of Arequipa. The plan was to take it easy as we were climbing in our bus to 4910m above sea level, excellent preparation for trekking the Inca Trail. Our plan was to make only minimal stops on the way to the Colca Canyon, one for a coco tea (a medicinal plant made into tea to help you cope with altitude sickness) and to stop at the high point and view points on our way back the next day. Although we were going to travel through the high point we were staying at 3800m in a little town called Chivay relatively close to the Colca Canon. Hilda said there is always at least one in the group who suffers from altitude sickness and we were all hoping it wasn’t us.
We were introduced to the incredible mass of barren landscape and the unique wildlife that Peru has to offer. We drove through the Reserva Nacional Salinas which was a wildlife sanctuary where we saw Vicuna, Guanaco, Alpaca and Llamas. The difference between the animals are that the Vicuna and the Guanaco are wild animals and the Llamas and the Alpacas are domesticated animals. At a stop we made we met a baby Llama called Pepe. We all had a cuddle. This stop was a great view spot so was very exposed. The locals had set up their wares in little piles to sell to tourists. How they got there with all their stuff was a bit of a mystery, Mostly ladies with some children. While we were there was a sudden wind gust and this resulted in a mad scramble to stop products blowing away. The main method of achieving this was just to wrap, up produce, kids, baby Llamas etc in large blankets or plastic sheets. Certainly a hard way to make a living.
Swimming at La Calera Hot Springs was a welcomed treat after the long day. They had about six pools in total and it seemed that they had a designated pool for the ‘tourists’. The pools also offered massage for about $NZ20 for 30 min so several of us took advantage of the good deal. Great for helping the aching back after many hours in small buses. For the evening entertainment we had a dinner with local family in Chivay. We were driven to a local house where we helped a Peruvian lady cook a traditional meal for us. She introduced us to her son who we recognised from before we entered the house as the little boy with his hand out to us! Our guide Herby helped translate some of the traditions and their traditional dress. I have to admit I thought that Peruvians only wore traditional dress for the tourists but this is not the case, in rural areas it is common to wear traditional clothing. For example we have hardly seen any prams for our whole trip; mothers carry their children around in thick woven material strapped to their back. This was so they can still work. Anyway, back to the little traditional kitchen in Chivary (dirt floor, mud brick walls, open rafters with corrugated iron roof. Gas ring cooker and one single small table for all preparation. Little bench seats all around for the tourists to sit and eat. My long legs don’t go well with a seat about 250mm high). The ladies wore a unique type of hat: two flowers on the side meant you were single, one flower meant you were married. Why don’t they have this obvious system in bars London or Auckland? Haha! We ate roasted corn kernels, quinoa and potato soup and Alpaca served with vegetables and potato. Everyone had a go at some part of preparing the meal and overall
Thursday 28 April
We set off early for the Colca Canyon. Herby our guide had recommended a 45 min trek to the viewing platforms to miss the crowds and as an extra chance to see condors in action in the canyon. It was an incredibly bumpy road to get there but the views were spectacular. The Colca Canyon is twice as deep as the Grand Canyon. I haven’t been to the Grand Canyon but some of the people on our trip who had been were slightly disappointed, I don’t think it lived up to the expectations against the Grand Canyon. The main difference being that the Grand Canyon is one large hole. The Colca Canyon is more like a deep valley so they measure from mountain tops to valley floor. Seeing the condors soaring out in the open space in front of us and above out head made up for the disappointment. Their giant wing span was remarkable. The walk certainly showed me that altitude and I don’t go that well together. Huffing and puffing and short of breath with a headache just confirmed my decision not to do the Inca Trail again. We are told that if a couple of panadol take away the headache then it’s not too bad so no need to panic yet. Memories of Val Jameson’s story about suffering from altitude sickness at Colca canyon and taking the solution into her own hands rents a taxi to take her back down to Arequipa keeps one focused and monitoring the condition.
On the way back to Arequipa we had to made a few stops to take photos of baby donkeys. We also made a stop to look back down through the valley and made a pile of wish rocks. This is a Peruvian tradition where you make a little pile of rocks as an offering to the mountains and make a wish. Our third stop was to take a closer look at a quinoa field; it was interesting to see where this strange shaped rice like food originated from. We climbed higher in altitude and stopped at the highest point 4910m above sea level. I feel asleep on the way there but we all felt slightly dizzy when we exited the bus. Here we had an amazing view and I felt on par with three of the highest mountains, Mt Misti at 5825m, Mt Chachani at 6075m and Mt Ampoto at 6288m. According to legend Misti and Chachani are married and Ampoto is the boyfriend.
Back to Arequipa early evening to get ready for the long drive to Cusco tomorrow
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