Colca Canyon

After contemplating whether I would ever attempt a trek again in my life after the Inca Trek, I somehow found myself on another one, only a few weeks later. This time the boy and I were tackling Colca Canyon, an incredibly impressive Canyon (twice the depth of the Grand Canyon in the United States) in the region Caylloma of Arequipa. Our journey began at 3 in the morning when we got picked up to drive a few hours to Chivay. We had a quick breakfast then headed off to the top of the Canyon to see the Condors. The Condor is the second largest bird in the world with a wingspan of 3.2 meters. They absolutely soar in between the cliffs of the canyons, traversing hundred of meters in seconds. This incredibly graceful animal is the national symbol of Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, and plays an important part in the folklore and mythology of the Andean regions. Many South Americans, especially indigenous cultures, believe the condor is part of the trinity that makes up the symbol of the three lives, the past, present and future. In Andean mythology the Condor represents the future as it is associated with the sun diety and is believed to be the ruler of the upper world. This majestic bird is considered a symbol of power and health and it is believed that the bones and organs of the Condor possessed medicinal power. Unfortunately this sometimes lead to the hunting and killing of the Condor and this, along with environmental destruction and secondary poisoning from consuming carcasses killed by hunters, has unfortunately resulted in the great bird now being classified as near threatened by the IUCN. 

After watching the magnificent Condors we hopped back on the bus for a short ride to the peak of the Canyon where we were going to start our decent. We started at 3, 290m above sea level and had three hours to descend to the river at the bottom of the Canyon and start our way up the other side. We plodded along at first, stopping for the guide to tell us stories, to take photos and to pet a random dog that had decided to trek along with us. It wasn't physically hard but it was barren, dusty, slow going with steep barely-there trails covered in gravel the entire way down, definitely no cloud forest. I fell on my ass a few times which, along with inhaling dust in the hot sun, didn't put me in the best mood. We reached the bottom where a river carved its way inbetween the gorge and realized just how enormous the canyon was as we gazed up at the towering walls of rock. And then realized we had to climb back out, over 1000m. Luckily we only climbed for about half an hour before having lunch at a cosy little house set on a patch of green in the shadows of the canyon. We then continued on, jumping across little streams, going from tall green grass and shady trees to hot, dusty and dry riverbeds in a single step, all gradually making our way uphill. The landscape changed drastically and dramatically and just when I thought it couldn't get much more surreal we stumbled across a football (soccer for us Australians) match that was being played by locals in the middle of a desert area about halfway up the canyon. The locals had to reach this cleared area by horse or mule, so isolated it was, and being a Sunday they had all gathered atop this peak to spend their day watching football and catching up with friends as family. We went from feeling like crazy gringos, the only type who would attempt to trek the canyon, to feeling very naive as we stumbled across an entire community eching out a living in this other world. After our astonishment had subsided we continued on to where we were staying that night, an oasis. The boy took shortcuts, pretending to be some kind of mountain goat, jumping down the sides of cliffs as we descended down to the oasis. And it was literally an oasis. I rounded the corner on the hot, dusty gravel path and was greeted with  lush green inviting trees, flowering bushes and shaded grass all set beside a roaring clear blue river. I imagine it was almost like the garden of Eden, a natural paradise set against the stark white rock of the canyon. Needless to say we basically ran the last 20 minutes to our new paradise and jumped straight in the freezing cold pool. It was delicious. After relaxing our aching legs and blistered feet we treated ourselves to a well deserved beer, a tasty dinner and a long sleep after talking about how to tackle the 1000m descent in the required 3 hours the next morning. 

Our sleep was cut short as we decided the earlier start the better and we were up at 4am to catch the first rays of the day and start the walk out of the canyon. It was slow going as I had developed a nasty chest infection which made breathing, especially with the cold and the altitude, difficult. More than once I glared enviously at the gringos who were taking horses or mules out of the canyon but at one thought of the berating I would have received from the boy I ensured that my dignity would remain intact and I gingerly climbed out of the canyon to welcoming applause. We did it! And when we stopped to catch our breath we were rewarded with the most beautiful sight. Perched on the lip of the canyon with the sun still rising in the background we marveled in awe at this magnificent place, a sanctuary for condors, of pockets of paradise, of tiny communities that gathered to celebrate each other and their incredible existence in a land of unparalleled uniqueness that they call home.