Colca Canyon

I spent two days in the Colca Valley and got a glimpse of the Colca Canyon. The canyon is twice as deep as the Grand Canyon. I was thinking whether to go down to the canyon but I barely recovered from that virus which stuck to me and didn't feel the strength to go on such a strenous hike... I got a two-day tour to see the valley, the villages along it, the canyon from the top and the condors. We set out early in the morning on Monday and were basically on the bus most of the day. The scenery resembled that of the Atacama desert: dry mountainous land with vicunas and llamas roaming around. We reached the town of Chivay at 5 pm and had dinner there. Later we went to hot springs and enjoyed it very much. I met really nice people on that trip, I especially enjoyed talking to the middle-aged couple from Italy Wanda and Pierro. We shared a lot of laughs. It's amazing that even though they didn't speak Spanish and I don't speak Italian we understood each other, i.e. I understood when they spoke Italian to me. I also can understand Portuguese if a person speaks slowly. The langauges are indeed similar in some way. We stayed in the pool and sauna for a long time and afterwards had supper at a restaurant with wonderful folk singing and dancing. I got the CD of the folk group to remember Chivay. We were also dancing and it left me breathless as in other places at the altitude of above 3,000 meters above the sea level. While I was walking around the main square getting some more hand-knitted socks I noticed many donkeys coming with wood and sticks on their backs. It turned out that many campesinos - farmers - came to the town for a yearly fiesta and brought sticks as the offering. All night long different people performed on the stage in front of the muncipial building. The whole town and people from villages around were celebrating the fiesta. There were tiny stands selling juices, food, mate de coca and home-made alcoholic drink chicha. The wood was burning in a few campfires and people were standing close to them to warm up - it's very cold at night on the desert. To see the condors next morning we woke up at 5:30 and collected at the main square from different hostals we were assigned to at 6:00 and we saw the last campfires being extiguished and people going home to rest. It took us another two hours to get to the Condor Cross - the place from which condors can be seen. Before we reached it we passed through a few little villages. Some of them were badly destroyed by eruptions of volcanoes or earthquakes and consisted of the old rumbled part and the new. The Aymarans and Quechuans who live there cultivate land and get some extra money from tourism. We learned that a month ago they went on strike as they don't get any cut from the fee collected by the government to view the national park around the canyon - it all goes to Arequipa and Lima. Similar protests where held in the Sacred Vally. When we got to the Condor Cross we could immediately see the condors flying over the canyon. We were standing at a point above 3,000 meters above sea level. I was amazed by condors and understand why they are considered sacred birds. They are very big, they stand over 1 meter tall and the spread of their wings is over 3 meters. Some were just gliding below us in the canyon and some were coming close to where we were standing and looked at us very curiously. It's amazing with what clarity they look at people, how they turn their heads towards every movement. One of them glided above me and hung right above my head for what seemed like eternity but what really was probably 5 or 7 seconds. I couldn't believe it... There was a silent contact established between us... Looking into certain animals' eyes is like looking into a different dimension, beyond the one we experience every day. The sea lions and the condors looked at me they way the Shaman looked at me. It's communication beyond words... We were later walking along the canyon (and seeing the condors flying at about half-height of the canyon - tiny specks from where we were standing - gave me an idea of how deep the canyon really is) and the condors followed us. I loved seeing them so free, flying over this vast vast land. The guide told us that they live to the age of about 60-70 years and they reach maturity at about 7-8 years of age. They pair up for life and each couple has one baby condor every two years.

I made a full circle and came back to Lima. I am going to think what to do next and where to go. Maybe I will stay in Lima for a while. I will rest here and then I will decide... If I can get a cheap cheap flight to NY I will come for a few days for Emese's and Kura's wedding in July. I will look around for a ticket today. But then I would like to come back here. I think I would like to go the Central America but I don't have any definite plan yet.

I enjoyed all the countries and all the places I visited. There was not one place not worth the visit. Every place has it's own story and its own atmosphere. I will write more about my general impressions and also what I learned about the indigenous people soon.