After the jungle, we flew to Lima, which I think I said already, but anyways, ended up in Arequipa. From Arequipa, we took a two day tour of the world´s deepest canyons, in the Colca Region. The first day of the tour we drove up through the highlands, passing herds of vicuñas, llama´s close cousin and reached the highest point in the tour. I don´t remember how high exactly, but I know that for a while there, it felt like I was breathing cotton balls.
A watery, grassy, llama-y terrain called pampas.
çWe later stopped in Chivay, a small town, even a townlet you might say. From there we visited some volcanic thermal baths which were merely lukewarm and filled with fat Peruvian señors, but surrounded by canyons and ridiculous rock formations. That night, Cameron and I broke off from the group and found a gourmet buffet followed by a private planetarium show for ten bucks. SWEEET. But the next day was the kicker.
Our little van clung to the side of a mountain, through tunnels and around herds of cows as we drove to the principal lookout point, or mirador. The beautiful scenery never left our side, and we stopped for a few photo-ops.
ooh-wee, put that in yer pipe and smoke it
Upon arrival to the mirador, there were enough gringos to really make you feel like a tourist, which I always hate. But nothing could stop that view. After a bit, there was an excited shout of "CONDOR!" and heads turned in unison. Indeed, far away over the peak behind us, was a dark shape that might as well have been a pigeon from that distance. But the giant birds eventually warmed up to their audience, and soon they were soaring back and forth above the infinite gorge, every once in a while close enough you could have spit on their nine-foot wingspan. They´re truly lucky to be so humongous and rare, because you´ve probably never seen a face so fleshy and grotesque. Imagine Freddy from a Nightmare on Elm Street - with a beak.
Wasn´t having much luck catching a good shot, until...
CONDOR ATTACK!!!
My condor impression
This baby reaches depths twice that of the Grand Canyon
We hiked for a while, opening different viewing angles down to the river 3,500 feet below. After a few hours soaking it all in, we piled back into the van and made one last stop in a small church town where there was a man with a tame eagle available for pictures.
Who´s the bigger bird-brain?
Back to Arequipa then off to Puno the next day.
1 comentario:
owen you are amazing
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