The Flight of the Condors!

This morning at 6 am I arrived back in Cusco after a wonderful trip to Arequipa, Chivay, and the Culca Canyon. On Thursday night we (me plus 4 of my housemates and 3 other friends) boarded a night bus to Arequipa, in southern Peru. The bus was very plush, with huge leather seats that reclined to an almost horizontal position, and dinner provided. The trip took about 10 hours, putting us in Arequipa just in time to see the sun rise. Arequipa is in the Andes mountains, about 8,000 feet above sea level. The (inactive) volcano, El Misti, overlooks the city. We did a little more sleeping in the hostel, and I took full advantage of reliable hot water and decent water pressure (if you know me at all, you know that it was reaching crisis point on the shower front). Then I ventured to the Santa Catalina Monastery, the most important religious monument of Peru. It was so beautiful and serene. It literally used to be a city within itself, with almost no reliance on the outside world. I don’t want to become a nun, but there is certainly something appealing and at the very least, thought provoking, about living simply. We stayed in Arequipa for dinner and woke up bright and early Saturday morning to continue our trip to Chivay, located a little higher, at 12,000 feet in the Colca valley. I really enjoyed this town. It is considerably smaller than anywhere I have been in Peru thus far. The town is much less touristy than Cusco or Arequipa, a very nice change. We had lunch here and then rested up for the hot springs. We spent an hour or two Saturday night relaxing in pools of naturally occurring (approximately) 85 degree water. Then I had dinner at a traditional restaurant and I got to participate in an offering to Mother Earth to bless our meal! Totally cool! I had to eat Coca leaves in front of the whole restaurant! They taste exactly how you would expect leaves to taste; I waited until I got back to my table to politely dispose of them in my napkin. It’s an acquired taste I think. They do wonders for the altitude though. Sunday we were up around 5 am so we could complete our drive to the Colca Canyon in time to see the flight of the Condors! These are huge, HUGE birds that still “rule” the area. I’d guesstimate that they have a wing span of 5-6 feet. We’re talking really large birds. So beautiful, they just glide through the air. We saw around 20 of them fly around together for a while (apparently a rare sight…) Then we took a short walk around the outside of the canyon and began traveling home. Another 2 bus rides, a short stop in Arequipa for dinner, and then another 9 hour ride and we were home!

Pictures coming soon! If you have access to Facebook, check out the recently posted photos from our Sunday picnic at Moray!

Love to all!!!
C