Samstag, 3. Dezember 2016
Colca Canyon
zwinkerschaedel, 04:41h
Last weekend I traveled to the Colca Canyon, apparently the second deepest canyon in the world. It was a very strenuous but absolutely worthwhile trip! I did the trip together with Nate and Anna, a very nice American couple that also study @ the language school in Arequipa.
On the first day I was picked up @ 4:00 a.m. in Arequipa to drive the roughly 3-4h to Chivay, one of the towns on top of the Colca Valley. There we stopped briefly for a meager breakfast before going on to Cruz del Condor, a famous lookout with a nice drop-off into the beginning of the Colca Canyon. Here the huge condors use the morning updrafts to soar close by. Unfortunately we got there late (around 9:30 a.m.) and we didn't see any condors. Whether we were just unlucky or late, nobody will ever know... After that we drove a bit further to our starting point of the trek. Our trekking group consisted of 10 people: The American couple, 4 people from Majorca, Spain, a Mexican and a Canadian girl, an Israelian and me. We descended roughly 1200m into the valley to the first "oasis", our resting place for the day where we arrived for lunch around 1:30p.m. After that we had free time to do whatever. I went out exploring a bit more and taking some pictures. After that, a shower that felt realy great and dinner before we went to bed early.
The famous Cruz del Condor
View on the way of day two
Same Picture with the way marked in red
Posing on day one
barren canyon walls
lots of cactus in Bloom
lots of the cactus had white stuff on them which turned out to be mites (Milben). If you Squash them they make a very red color that the Incas used as a natual lipstick. Someone used them to draw this Smiley.
almost sunset on day one
Second day: After a good breakfast we started our walk around 8:30a.m. and first ascended around 150m to walk through one of the bigger settlements and then descend again to the second oasis where we again arrived around 1:30p.m. for lunch with free time afterwards. I descended the last roughly 30m to the river to marvel at the lush green everywhere with different fruit bearing trees like mango and avocado. Then a quick dip in the pool before dinner followed by just talking amongst ourselves before going to bed early.
morning of day two in the small oasis with a gorgeous view.
like having been painted
Resting. The guy in the middle with the blue hat was our guide and the dog had been following us from the middle of day one.
clever way of fixing stuff
posing on day two
terrace farming, already used by the Incas
local "taxi"
The way up for day three... You can just barely make out the top (left upper corner of the picture where there are some trees)
The river as a steady flowing force having carved this deep canyon (long exposure using a strong grey filter)
The sun starting to fade in the bottom of the canyon
lush orchard
Last day: Getting up @ 3:45 a.m. to start our grueling ascend @ 4:45 a.m. to the top of the plateau, roughly 1100-1200m. We started this early to walk in the shade to avoid adding the heat of the sun to the already strenuous ascend. Two of our group didn't ascend with us but took a local taxi (= a donkey or a mule). It took me roughly 2:45h to the top. In the beginning it was the muscles that hurt from the day before and towards the end it was the shortness of breath due to the altitude. After a good breakfast we headed on to do a "japanese tour" as our guide called it, stopping at places to quickly get out and take some pictures. Most of us were tired though and just wanted to get back to Arequipa, including me. We finally got back @ 5:30p.m. But all in all a good trip with gorgeous scenery and a good trial run for the Inca trail to come in Cusco (4 days of hiking towards Machu Picchu).
Sunrise on the last day
Cheating...
Last pose (tired, dirty,...)
Our group
Three of the indigenous cameloids: 1. Vicuna, 2. Alpaca, 3. Llama
A street vendor
On the first day I was picked up @ 4:00 a.m. in Arequipa to drive the roughly 3-4h to Chivay, one of the towns on top of the Colca Valley. There we stopped briefly for a meager breakfast before going on to Cruz del Condor, a famous lookout with a nice drop-off into the beginning of the Colca Canyon. Here the huge condors use the morning updrafts to soar close by. Unfortunately we got there late (around 9:30 a.m.) and we didn't see any condors. Whether we were just unlucky or late, nobody will ever know... After that we drove a bit further to our starting point of the trek. Our trekking group consisted of 10 people: The American couple, 4 people from Majorca, Spain, a Mexican and a Canadian girl, an Israelian and me. We descended roughly 1200m into the valley to the first "oasis", our resting place for the day where we arrived for lunch around 1:30p.m. After that we had free time to do whatever. I went out exploring a bit more and taking some pictures. After that, a shower that felt realy great and dinner before we went to bed early.
The famous Cruz del Condor
View on the way of day two
Same Picture with the way marked in red
Posing on day one
barren canyon walls
lots of cactus in Bloom
lots of the cactus had white stuff on them which turned out to be mites (Milben). If you Squash them they make a very red color that the Incas used as a natual lipstick. Someone used them to draw this Smiley.
almost sunset on day one
Second day: After a good breakfast we started our walk around 8:30a.m. and first ascended around 150m to walk through one of the bigger settlements and then descend again to the second oasis where we again arrived around 1:30p.m. for lunch with free time afterwards. I descended the last roughly 30m to the river to marvel at the lush green everywhere with different fruit bearing trees like mango and avocado. Then a quick dip in the pool before dinner followed by just talking amongst ourselves before going to bed early.
morning of day two in the small oasis with a gorgeous view.
like having been painted
Resting. The guy in the middle with the blue hat was our guide and the dog had been following us from the middle of day one.
clever way of fixing stuff
posing on day two
terrace farming, already used by the Incas
local "taxi"
The way up for day three... You can just barely make out the top (left upper corner of the picture where there are some trees)
The river as a steady flowing force having carved this deep canyon (long exposure using a strong grey filter)
The sun starting to fade in the bottom of the canyon
lush orchard
Last day: Getting up @ 3:45 a.m. to start our grueling ascend @ 4:45 a.m. to the top of the plateau, roughly 1100-1200m. We started this early to walk in the shade to avoid adding the heat of the sun to the already strenuous ascend. Two of our group didn't ascend with us but took a local taxi (= a donkey or a mule). It took me roughly 2:45h to the top. In the beginning it was the muscles that hurt from the day before and towards the end it was the shortness of breath due to the altitude. After a good breakfast we headed on to do a "japanese tour" as our guide called it, stopping at places to quickly get out and take some pictures. Most of us were tired though and just wanted to get back to Arequipa, including me. We finally got back @ 5:30p.m. But all in all a good trip with gorgeous scenery and a good trial run for the Inca trail to come in Cusco (4 days of hiking towards Machu Picchu).
Sunrise on the last day
Cheating...
Last pose (tired, dirty,...)
Our group
Three of the indigenous cameloids: 1. Vicuna, 2. Alpaca, 3. Llama
A street vendor
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