It has been a while since the last blog partially due to my slack attitude and partially because there has been so much to do. As a result it seems a ridiculous idea to go on a day by day basis as before so I will run you through some of the highlights of the last 10 days or so in chronological order.

#1: Colca Canyon trip

After leaving Cusco on the date of my last blog the next main excursion was to the Colca Canyon just north of Arequipa. Here we arrived at a lunchtime to relax for the afternoon at a natural hot spring in the city we were staying in (Chivay). That evening we went to the restaurant with the second worst service in Peru (only to be beaten by the one in Nazca which I will come to later) food took anywhere between an hour and two hours to be served, depending on what you had ordered. The next day brought with it the main point of this trip as we headed to the Colca Canyon to see the stunning scenery and watch the Condors fly in the morning.

Condors are huge vulture-like birds that can weigh up to 15kg with the only flying creature larger than them being the albatross according to our tour guide (he also came up with some more debateable facts; for example, they apparently fly at close to 200kmph which having seen them soar I doubt). For me it was not only the Condors that were impressive but also the landscape of the canyon itself which cuts as deep as 1.5km in places (calling for some serious "oh my god it´s geography" moments).

Once the Condors headed back to their nests in well hidden caves we headed back to Chivay to relax for the afternoon before dinner at a restaurant with traditional peruvian dancing. Half way through my meal I was dragged up by a 5ft tall peruvian lady to take part in the "Yellow Fever Dance" which involved me lying on the floor holding an apple whilst being whipped with a rope (not the best moves I´ve ever seen). Having said that it was a very good evening and a great way to end the Colca Canyon tour.

#2: Nazca

We arrived at Nazca at around 6 in the morning thanks to an overnight bus and immediately checked into our hostel which, much to our delight, had a swimming pool. That morning those of us that wanted to flew flew over the Nazca lines in a small plane. Each plane was big enough for 6 passangers and so in our plane their were 5 of us buckled in for the flight ahead (sick bags at the ready). We took off from the small airstrip and were straight up to 2500ft as the co-pilot pointed out the first of the Nazca lines we were to see: the whale. I was quite amazed by the clarity of the lines despite the fact they were smaller in size than I had imagined. This was the first of 12 we would see over the next 30 minutes or so.

My favourite of the lines was the Hummingbird as it was so easy to spot and also quite large making it a fairly awesome sight. Even though I don´t buy into the help from aliens myths it is so impressive that they were drawn without any sort of ariel view as the pictures are quite clear. By the time we had seen the 12 drawings we had been promised the pilot was clearly quite bored and so decided it would be best to try some light stunts which led to some banging of heads and me wishing I had taken a motion sickness pill.

That afternoon we chilled around the pool which proved to be difficult thanks to a large group of rowdy school children constantly pushing each other in. Finally in the evening we went to the worst restaurant on the trip where food took ages to come if you were lucky and if you weren't it just wouldn't come at all! So at the end we managed to leave paying the exact amount on the bill to the cent.

#3: Lima

Finally we were back to Lima and it was great to be by the sea again. After 2 to 3 weeks of action we were ready for a chilled out time in the capital so we grabbed a final meal with the whole group before saying our goodbyes. There were however a fair few of us staying in Lima for a couple of days so we repeatedly went to a restaurant called Chillis which did fantastic ribs and burgers as well as making a trip to the cinema.

All in all South America was amazing way to start the trip with the obvious highlight being the Inka Trail. Having said that I really enjoyed my time in Bolivia as well since we managed to fit so much into the week or so I was there. I am 100% sure that I will return to South America later in life, given the time and money.

Now it is on to LA and then New Zealand to finally meeting up with Olly which I am really looking forward to!

Much love,

Charlie

P.S. A quick confession: this is being written from Auckland as I have finally found the time, so a quick blog on LA and the start of NZ will follow in the near future.