Colca

Some people think only of Colca Canyon when “Colca” is mentioned.  Our guide dissuaded us of this, explaining that Colca refers to the canyon, a valley, and a river.

We took a tour from Arequipa.  On the way we went through Reserva Nacional Salinas – Aguada Blancas which contains a vicuña protection zone.  There are four camelids in South America: llama, alpaca, vicuña, and guanaco.  The first two were domesticated thousands of years ago.  The latter two are wild, but the guanaco is only found in the southern part of the continent and is not in Peru.  The mountains in this area are filled with alpaca and llama farmers.  They are spread out, and tend to situate around the many springs.  It seemed very exotic to us, but I suspect a cattle ranch in Wyoming would seem as exotic to Peruvians.

We spent the late afternoon and evening in Chivay, a town in the Colca Valley.  We experienced the thermal springs and had dinner with folkloric music and dancing.  The next morning we took off early for the Condor Crossing for viewing of the condors.  They are mostly seen in early morning as they take the thermals to rise in the canyon.  Given that they are one of the largest flying birds (wingspan of 10.5 feet and weight of 25 – 33 pounds) in the world, this makes sense.

Though we had to stand and wait for about 1.5 hours, we did see birds.  There were Black-chested Buzzard Eagles, Mountain Caracaras, and yes, Andean Condors.  On the way back we stopped at several panoramic sites.  It was all quite stunning.

We transferred to a van on the way back to go to Puno.  Turns out we were the only people on the van, so we had a private tour.  We did go past Lago Lagunillas, home to a flock of Chilean flamingos.

Click on any picture for the slideshow view:

Condor Crossing

Condor Crossing

Wild Vicuña with Misti Volcano in Background

Condor Crossing

Condor in Flight

Alpaca and Llama herd

Beautiful Scene

Condor Crossing

Baby Llama with Indigenous Family

Black-chested Buzzard Eagle

Panorama of Colca Valley

I’d never seen this flower before

Look at the Size of That Flute

Condor Crossing

Baby Llama

Inside Church in Small Village – (those Spaniards knew how to knock the wind out of other religions and show their power)

Looking Down at Chivay

Condor Crossing

Lago Lagunilla

Andean Condor

Panorama of Colca Valley

Condor Crossing

Chilean Flamingos

Llamas and Alpacas (lighter color, shorter, more fur)

Juvenile Andean Condor

Condor

Outside of church

Indigenous Women Selling Their Wares

Wild Vicuña