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Yesterday morning I set off on a 2 day trip to the Colca Canyon. It has been remeasured recently and is now officially the deepest canyon the world at 3.5km deep.
We set off early in a mini bus and straight away stopped to buy coca leaves. The guide advised us to put about 15 dry leaves in our mouths and chew without swallowing. The leaves were gross and it was hard not to gag. After a while the effects kicked in and made my mouth go numb. The purpose of the coca is to help with the altitude and they really work! I think they increase the amount of oxygen that can be absorbed in the blood stream as well as relaxing you so you don´t panic about not being able to breath. Soon after we stopped to coca tea.
The journey was a few hours long up to over 4000m at the highest point. As soon as we left Arequipa the landscape changed. To start with as we were climbing (in the bus) we had a fantastic view of volcan Misti and a vast flat volcanic plane. Then the Andes..... they are breathtakingly beautiful. There are a lot of Llamas and Alpacas along the way. After a while the landscape is heavily terraced and stunning with a lot of Inca and pre-Inca buildings and structures about. The people are often in traditional dress. The set of villages around the valley that we visited are the first place i´ve visited where people genuinly dress for work in the traditional outfits... it´s not just all for the tourists.
Along the way yesterday I acquired a new friend.... Juanita Bonita! She´s been great company so far.... but how long will she stay with me???
Last night we styaed in a beautiful hotel that has a pet llama called Manchas.... he is soooo gorgeous, i really want one. Also yesterdy i held a 1 week old llama......... think i might smuggle a friend home for Juanita. Even though the hotel was nice I had a terrible nights sleep due to the altitude and couldn´t get back to sleep fter 1am... a total of about 2.5 hours.... ahhhhhhh
This morning we were up at 5.30am to drive and see the condors. We were told that there is only a 20% chance of seeing them as the Andean condors are pretty rare. However we were lucky and saw 11 of them. To start off with they were circling at a distance over the deepest part of the valley. Just when we thought we´d had our lot they flew right past us!!!! So amazing with an enourmous wing span..... it made the altitude sickness worth it!!!!
Tonight We´re back in Arequipa with an early start in the morning to fly to Cusco.
Need to go and lie down now... I´ll be dreaming of condors and riding llamas!!!
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