Getting there is half the adventure {Colca Canyon}

 

Colca Canyon is one of the hugely popular tours from Arequipa, not just for the massive canyon that's twice as deep as the Grand Canyon, but also for the condors. Buses run a one or two day tour, but we wanted more freedom to stop at locations along the way for birding and exploring. We hired a driver, a missionary we had met when we first arrived, and paid for his room for our two day trip, which worked out really well. There was a nationwide shortage of LPG, the most common fuel for vehicles, due to maintenance work at the plant and delays of imports through the Panama Canal. The price jumped from S/5.85 to S/8.19 and lines were backed up down the streets. Our driver waited 2.5 hours to fill up before our trip! 

My guide for Lagunas Salinas had given me notes for birding stops along the way. The first was Laguna Pampa Blanca, which was dry but for a tiny pond and stream. The vicuñas were pretty happy with it.

We stopped at Chinito's for some coca tea, birding, and this great view of Misti volcano. 

Common Miner (above)     Variable Hawk (below)

A pair of Puna Yellow Finches.

A little further up the road we saw a herd of alpacas grazing. While I took photos, my family explored the other side of the road.

Later we came across a woman sitting along the road welcoming people to stop and meet her animals. Journey loved being able to pet them.

At Pampa de Toccra we found a Giant Coot feeding its young!

Crested Duck

Puna Teal

The Diademed Sandpiper-Plover is a sought-after bird that only lives on bogs, lakeshores and gravel bars in the high Andes. I was told Crater de Chucura was a good location for them. I looked for a bit, but couldn't find them. Asher found a small frozen ice cave though.

Just up the road we came upon another fascinating place called Ice Wall's Jaruma! The kids were mesmerized. Spot the people to understand the scale.

Next stop Mirador de los Andes

At 16,000ft, this is one of the highest observation points in the world! Stone signs sit in front of each of the five volcanos visible from this point. Each volcano exceeding 19,000ft! Can't spend much time here between the wind and the low oxygen.

Now we began descending into the town, Chivay.

The scary thing is once we arrived in Chivay, we stopped for a snack and realized the brakes had failed from overheating! We gave them time to cool down and we were good to go. So thankful we made it safely to the bottom before the brakes failed. Thank you, God! 

After a short visit at the canyon (explained in the next post), we headed to our hotel in Cabanaconde. The roads are very narrow here. Can you imagine driving a bus here? We had to wait awhile for this driver to inch the bus back and forth until he had clearance for his turn! Wow!

Our hotel, Pachamama.

The next morning we headed back to the canyon. (See next post.)

On our trip home, we stopped at a few of the same places again, of course the ice wall was Asher's request.

We stopped to give me one more try for the Diademed Sandpiper-Plover, and I FOUND THEM! 

Journey wanted to see the alpacas again. These were too wild for her to pet though.

This was a really good trip, and sometimes getting there is half the fun.

Volcanos, Vicunas, & Flamingos! {Lagunas Salinas}

A week before leaving Arequipa, I noticed on eBird two species of Flamingos were reported at Laguna Salinas! I had thought they'd left for the winter. I quickly found a birding guide who was able to take me on a Flamingo chase! I knew that three species of Flamingos are seen during the summer here, so I secretly hoped for all three! Juan Chalco picked me up at 5am to begin the 2hr drive up thru the mountains to 14,000ft. It was still dark as we drove past Misti Volcano. 

The drive up was really interesting as once you get out of the city, it's all curvy, switchbacks up the mountains. We saw a few birds along the way, including a lifer Aplomado Falcon!

As the car climbed higher and higher, we saw our first group of vicunas. We would later see gobs of alpacas, llamas and more vicunas. I loved seeing signs warning of alpaca crossing!

We also saw a viscacha, which is a chinchilla-like, rabbity creature, just chilling on some rocks. I knew my kids would have loved to see this and fortunately a few days later I got to show them one at Colca Canyon. Those photos are better, so check those posts.

My first view of the laguna. It was a really cold morning at this high altitude, -5C (23F)!

Before approaching the lake, we made a short stop at a small lagoon. With a volcano erupting in the distance, we watched an Andean Gull and picked up a few more lifers, including the super cute, Andean Negrito! What a pretty bird, all black with a rusty-brown cape.

We finally made it to our destination, and enjoyed a quick breakfast with a view of flamingos in the distance! It made me a little crazy to not run towards them to get a better look, but I kept my cool. Breakfast was interrupted a few times by a curious wren, some Ground-tyrants, a Cinclodes and Snow Geese.

Now it was time to hike out over the tundra and onto the salt flats. The elevation of Lagunas de Salinas is 14,000ft, so it's easy to get exhausted or out of breath. Juan was good about reminding me to take it slow.

Yellow-billed Teal

Here we got some great looks at a Puna Plover and more Andean Negritos chasing insects on the flats.

The vastness of salt flats make it them a good spot for trick photography. It's easy to create forced perspective shots where it looks like a toy dinosaur is huge and people are tiny, which is what this group was doing.

When we got a bit closer, Juan focused his scope on the flamingos. It looked like they were all Chilean Flamingos, but wait, one had a darker bill, is that an Andean Flamingo? It was! Later Juan picked out just one, smaller James Flamingo among the bunch! Yes, the trifecta! 

From left to right: James, Andean, and Chilean Flamingos!

Check out all the alpacas, llamas and vicunas along the edge of the salt flats!

As soon as we left the salt flats and started to made our way back down the mountains, we spotted a young Mountain Caracara perched just off the road!

On the way home, we stopped in the town of Chiguata for a few minutes of birding along the road, and then one more stop just a little further where we came across a shepherd moving her sheep. This turned out to be a great birding spot.

One of the first birds we came across was a Plumbeous Rail! It was just a blur, but Juan played a call and two ran out into the open! We spent quite a bit of time watching this striking Yellow-billed Tit-Tyrant. 

Black-throated Flowerpiercer (above)       Black Metaltail (below)

The next day we were leaving for a trip to Colca Canyon, so Juan spent a lot of time during the drive back giving me tips on where to stop along the drive to pick up specific birds. Super helpful!

At the end of the day, we'd found 48 species, and I'd picked up 29 lifers! Great day!