We got a wake up call at 3:45 am and everybody assembled in the hall at 4:30 ready to go. Unfortunately, our bus didn’t come until 5 am. The drive from Arequipa to Chivay took about 3 and a half hours mostly up, first on a paved road and then on a dirt road. Chivay is 3600 meters (about11,000 feet) above sea level and we definitely felt it. Going up was an effort causing heart palpitations and shortness of breath. Luckily, at breakfast we had mate de coca (tea made of coca leaves), which helped. Every day our breakfast consists of eggs, local rolls, butter and jam. Eggs here, especially today in Chivay, are amazingly tasty probably because all the hens roam freely, eat what they like and are happy.
We walked around the town waiting for our leader to settle some mysterious business in the city hall. We saw a parade and lots of Indian women dressed in beautifully embroidered, colorful costumes of the Colca valley. Ever their hats are embroidered. I want to buy one like that, but so far we haven’t seen them for sale. The locals were drilling lots of holes in the street around Plaza de Armas (the main city square) so we asked them what they were for. It turns out that tomorrow is a great fiesta and the holes are for poles that will hold a special arch for the fiesta. Very interesting.
After Chivay, we drove along an unpaved mountainous road to the entrance into the Colca Canyon. We stopped along the way by the condor lookout. Condors have their nests in the rocks near there. We were so lucky… As we were there, many condors appeared flying back and forth above us and deep into the canyon. One even sat down right below the lookout where we were. They are magnificent birds with the wing span between 1.5 and 3 meters. It was amazing and awe inspiring.
Along the way we also saw agricultural areas, terraces established by the Incas and cultivated to this day mostly with oxen, mules and horses, but we saw one tractor, too. They mostly grow corn and potatoes here because it is high in the mountains and very dry.
The little town at the end of the road, Cabanaconde, is a poor village of stone houses, donkeys and mules. It is a starting point for all those who want to trek down to the colca canyon. It’s not easy to get here because the road is very steep, narrow and mountainous, unpaved and uneven so driving creates clouds of dust and you can barely see the road in front of you. At some point we went through a very long tunnel, wide enough for one big car; it was so dark and dusty that you couldn’t see the other side and we were wondering what would happen if there was another car on the other end…
It was worth it, though because the views here are exquisite. Andrew took us to the best hotel in town, and it is seriously an excellent hotel. We had a great lunch of alpaca stew, salad and desert of bananas with honey. It was delicious. The hotel is located on a hill overlooking snow-capped mountains and the whole town. The group unloaded all the luggage here, and everybody was allowed to take only a small bag with indispensable items for the 4-hour trek down the canyon. All these bags were then packed into two gigantic bags and on two mules that will carry them down. We set out at about 2 pm, but…….. Ania and I decided we needed a day on our own and decided to stay in this lovely hotel and explore the town. We wanted a day to adjust to the altitude and also to be away from everybody. It is so lovely here and our room (almost a penthouse)overlooks the town and the mountains and has a little terrace. We just love it here. We walked the group to the edge of the canyon, took pictures, wished them a great time and turned back without the slightest regret…
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