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I'm currently in Canon de Colca. It's about a four hour drive north of Arequipa . We took the bus up here yesterday . On the way we sighted some alpacas , llamas and the local vicuñas ( which I think are like a hybrid of a llama and alpaca ?). Slowly we ascended up a bit of the Andean mountains . According to the lonely planet we got to 4800 m! Arequipa where we just came from is at 2300m . Lima is at sea level. So yeh it was quite high . We stopped on the way at a local restaurant and had some coca tea . Apparently coca leaves are supposed to help with high altitude .. Obviously if you have too much I'd imagine you'd get as high as a kite . It was tasty though just tastes like a modified green tea .. A bit more leafy maybe .
Eventually we arrived at a small town called Chivay ( they call it the capital of the canyon ). It was ok. Not nice but not s*** . Somewhere in between. Some of us went to the near by hot springs called the La Calera Hot springs . Initially it was so nice to get in the pools but then it started to piss rain . Dinner was at a local restaurant that had some local Peruvian dancing also on display. They got some of the audience to get up and dance. I put my head down and pretended I was stuffing my face to avoid being picked . I need to get drunk to do anything like that... Everyone was stuffed after dinner so we all returned to the hostel and had an early night.
The next morning we made our way to Cruz del Condor. This is a part of the canyon where you can spot condors nesting or gliding through the canyon. We were lucky enough to spot heaps of condors . I met some people from another tour group who said they had been there an hour already and not seen any . They got on the bus and left then boom condor galore . I got some pretty good pics . Afterwards we returned to Chivay for lunch then made our way back to Arequipa . And here I am writing my blog and I think I'm finally up to date ! Amazing ! Tomorrow we are getting an early flight to Cuzco . I am so close to starting the Inca trail . I think it's only two or three more days ! Can't wait !
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