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!
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.
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