The three-day trek into Colca canyon was another tour with an early morning start. The bus picked us up around 3 am, but contrary to the geyser visit in San Pedro, this company provided us with pillows and blankets, so I had another three hours of sleep in the bus.
After breakfast, our first stop was a viewpoint called Cruz del Condor. The views into the canyon from up there were spectacular:
And, in addition, we got to see condors circling overhead. This is a male condor, recognizable by the white scarf he is wearing:
After that, we started our 1100m descent into the canyon. One of the first things we saw, on the other side of the canyon, was the village Cosñirhua, where we were going to spend the night.
During the descent, the guide explained a lot about the plants in the canyon. This, for example, is the San Pedro cactus.
It is known in Peru for the strong hallucinogenic substance that can be produced from it - apparently it is much stronger than marihuana and perfectly legal here.
More fantastic views followed on the way down, and every new curve brought a new perspective:
After a while, we could catch a glimpse of a bridge far, far down in the canyon. That's where we had to go to cross the river. Can you see it?
Although the pure downhill walking was quite hard - my legs felt a little like pudding afterwards - the views made up for the hardship:
And then, after two and a half hours, we finally arrived on the other side of the canyon!
There we got to admire the wonderful rock formations that must have been right next to our path on the descent:
Then, just as we walked into our lodgings for the night, it started to rain heavily. Perfect timing!
After breakfast, our first stop was a viewpoint called Cruz del Condor. The views into the canyon from up there were spectacular:
And, in addition, we got to see condors circling overhead. This is a male condor, recognizable by the white scarf he is wearing:
After that, we started our 1100m descent into the canyon. One of the first things we saw, on the other side of the canyon, was the village Cosñirhua, where we were going to spend the night.
During the descent, the guide explained a lot about the plants in the canyon. This, for example, is the San Pedro cactus.
It is known in Peru for the strong hallucinogenic substance that can be produced from it - apparently it is much stronger than marihuana and perfectly legal here.
More fantastic views followed on the way down, and every new curve brought a new perspective:
After a while, we could catch a glimpse of a bridge far, far down in the canyon. That's where we had to go to cross the river. Can you see it?
Although the pure downhill walking was quite hard - my legs felt a little like pudding afterwards - the views made up for the hardship:
And then, after two and a half hours, we finally arrived on the other side of the canyon!
There we got to admire the wonderful rock formations that must have been right next to our path on the descent:
Then, just as we walked into our lodgings for the night, it started to rain heavily. Perfect timing!
