Colca Canyon...flight of the Condor

February 27, 2011

On my way to Arequipa, I stopped in Nasca to visit Sky´s resting place, bring flowers and sit in memory with my beloved companion. There is not a day that goes by, that I do not think about him. Yet the energy around his death had evaporated for
me and I was able to look at Nasca with clear eyes and an open mind.
Arequipa, although a beautiful city, did not hold much interest for me, other than it was on the way to Colca Canyon.
It is still the rainy season in the Highlands, but once again, I got very lucky on the 3 day Colca Canyon trek with sunny, warm days and cool, rainy nights.
We had barely entered the Canyon, when two Condors flew by in arms reach. I was so stunned by this magnificent sight, that at first I did not even comprehend, these were Condors. The first one was an appx. 5 year old Juvenile, whose colors had not yet completely changed, but already had an impressive wingspan. The second one was an adult who eyed us curiously. There are a good number of villages within the canyon, all of them are small, and only reachable on foot, horse or donkey.
We stayed with a local family, of the Cabana culture, enjoying Chicha and the ongoing Fiesta, dancing the night away in the village plaza. Most of the houses are made out of the tipical mud/clay and straw bricks, which are very common all over Peru, especially in the indegenous villages. They hold the heat of the sun very well and don´t seem to be as cold at night, as the cement brick buildings. We spent a comfortable night on our cots and awoke to brilliant sunshine, although there was no water in the morning for showers or anything. I am not really sure where or how they received the water. I could see no pipes anywhere and guessed that the donkeys are hauling it from a source above the village. We did enjoy warm water the night before. The watertanks are solar tanks and warm up quite nice. There is some electricity, but a lot of locals do not want to pay for it and make due without it.
At 7 am the band already started playing. By the time we got to the plaza the Fiesta was once more well on it´s way, with locals dancing and drinking large bottles of beer. We got invited to eat and drink, something you can not turn down, or it would be very impolite, but opted for the Chicha drink instead of the beer.
Colca Canyon is a well known destination, but there were few tourists to be found at this time of the year. We hiked back out of the Canyon and spent the 2nd night in Cabanaconde. Before leaving on the 3rd day, we had a visit to Calera Hot Springs for a soak. I love Hot Springs and enjoyed every moment we had there. The road from Cabanaconde to Arequipa leads over a 4900 meter pass, which was snowed in on our way back. Honorio and I lost hands down to the Austrian/Italian combo in the ensuing snowball fight, but we were top sliders on the icy road.
The next destination was Puno. Along the route I saw many herds of Vicunas and even some Flamingos in the high Lakes and Marshes. Arriving in Puno, I was greeted by music, dancing and much drinking in the streets. The fiesta de la Virgen de Candelaria was in full swing, which lasts 2 weeks. It appeared more like a Carneval celebration with all the different costumes and only an occassional hint of the religious icon. Later I learned, that the masks of the Diablos and Achachis make fun of the Spaniards, or that the Morenados represent the chaingang of black slaves and that the rattles used by all dancers represent the sound of the chains. My favorite groups were the Waca Waca and Tinkus, indigenous communities from Peru and the Bolivian highlands.
Inspite of the amount of participants, fiesta revelers and tourists..the festivities were peaceful and very joyful. Well, after 4 days of dancing and drinking, the crowds got a little more rowdy and the participants more drunk and sleepy. I enjoyed the Fiesta and loved dancing through the streets, but was looking forward to the islands of Lake Titicaca.