The Colca Canyon
We left Lake Titicaca on Saturday morning at 7am, with a driver and guide organised by the hotel. It’s a 7 hour transfer from Lake Titicaca to the Colca Canyon, our next stay, so it was a long day in the car. A fascinating journey though, across the altiplano and through the mountains. We had a few stops en route, including one at a viewpoint above a lake, where we ate the picnic lunch provided by our hotel and another at 4,910m of elevation (the highest point we will reach on this trip). From the second of these stops, you can see a ring of 7 volcanoes, including one (Sabancaya) smoking gently in the background.
We have stayed here in the Colca Canyon for 3 nights, with two full days to explore the area. This is our Casita, which is very comfortable.
On our first full day here, we had booked the hotel’s “Breakfast at Tapay” option. We left the hotel at 8am and were driven about an hour to the Cruz del Condor, which is - as the name suggests - supposed to be the best place in the canyon to see condors. We did see one there, but it was quite crowded and we were pleased to move on about another 15 minutes to a much quieter viewpoint, where the hotel staff had set up breakfast on the rim of the canyon. We were joined by an American couple from Texas, who had booked the same trip. It was great fun, and we saw 5 or 6 more condors there. They proved very hard to photograph, so none included!
In the afternoon, back to enjoy the hotel pool which is lovely until about 4pm, at which point the temperature begins to plummet - it’s close to zero overnight.
Today, we’d booked another morning excursion. This time we were on our own, for reasons that may become obvious. We were picked up at 7.30am, after an early breakfast. Whilst we were waiting to be picked up, the hotel’s tame llama, Jamila, made an unauthorised visit to the hotel reception and had to be ushered out.
We were driven about 1 1/2 hours down the valley, on the other side of the Colca river. From here, we started a hike up a seemingly endless series of zigzags to the Chimpa fortress, situated at 3,600m and with great views of the canyon. It was tough given the altitude, but definitely worth it. The last photo shows Diana with our driver/guide, Alejandro, and his son. Alejandro also drove us yesterday and will be taking us on to Arequipa tomorrow, so we have got to know him quite well!
