Colca Canyon Trip..

Trip started somewhat eventfully as our alarm didnt go off..and we were woken up by the hostel receptionist at 3.10..having been supposed to leave at 3.00! So a bit of a rush.. but got the minibus ok.. sleepily met our guide Pepe, a really upbeat friendly peruvian, originally from Lima, but living sometimes in the Canyon, who had great english..and the only other person on our tour.. a very 'interesting'(perhaps more in his opinion than ours) German traveller we codenamed 'Damien'(a strategy that was working well allowing us to vent our frustrations about him as gaeilge.. until I accidentally addressed him as Damien in conversation...!)

Arrived into Chivay, the main town at the opening of the Canyon around 7am.. had breakfast in a small local hostel.. eggs and toast..and black coffee! delicious! Continued on then until we reached El Condor Pasa.. the viewpoint for the famous Condors which are something of a symbol of the Canyon. Seen just two Condors during our 40 minute stop..but they were most definately impressive.. perhaps most of all to the hoards of American tourists who, cameras in hand, chased their every move when they approached and called out, very loudly, for them to come nearer for a picture!

After El Condor Pasa, we moved to the point where we were to start our trek down into the Canyon.. loaded on the suncream, and put on our hats.. and were briefed by Pepe on the plans for the day. The village we were to arrive in for lunch seemed barely visible from the height of our starting point.. and the paths down looked decidedly small.. which was doing nothing to steady my nerves (similar to Pepe's advice about holding our hands out to halt passing mules incase they knocked into us!). Paths did appear slightly more steady once we were on them however..and we really need not have feared as experienced walker Damien was continually on hand to offer advice!! Pepe was contiinually upbeat and entertaining..listening to his mp3 and singing rock music at the top of his voice as he descended.. even playing very expressive air guitar when he had to pause and wait for us to catch up!

Our first stop for information was beside two of the three types of cactus growing in abundance throughout the Canyon.. where Pepe explained to us the sedative and hallucinogenic effects of the San Pedro cactus(apparantely '1000 times stronger than marjuana') and then in detail explained to us the procedure if we cared to try some.. advice which was somewhat wasted on me and Cass!

We continued down into the Canyon for a further 3 hours.. spectacular views.. like nothing either of us had ever seen before, landscape that was at some points dry and barren, at some points green and luscious.. I was pretty nervous for the final hour.. Let the fear take hold unfortunately and poor Pepe was a bit lost when confronted by a few tears! Thankfully Cass and I had set the pace, and kept it together until we arrived at the rope bridge which crossed the river at the bottom of the Canyon, which was a more welcome sight than we had expected from the top of the canyon..if only for the fact it was a completely flat surface!!

We had lunch in a small village at the bottom of the Canyon, San Juan de Cuccho, by now we were in the heart of a green area we could never have envisaged from our viewpoint at the top of the canyon.. Surrounded by Eucalyptus, Apple, Peach and Avocado trees we had an amazing lunch, soup with pasta, followed by what seems to be a very common dish of rice, meat with peppers and onions, and chips.. the Peruvian 3 in 1! We relaxed in the village for a bit, met some other travellers.. of different ages from different places.. Most people on the tour were staying the night in this village..

After this we moved to the village where we would spend the night..Cocnsirhua.. At first glance it was very different from the village we had just left.. we arrived at a house.well a cluster of buildings really surrounding a dry sandy yard with a large tree in the middle.. There was a work area (wash basin, chopping area etc) around the tree aound which the family seemed to operate..the yard seemed to be their living area.. Then a small stone room with a wood roof which was their kitchen/eating area. We had dinner here, soup again followed by egg fried sweet potato with rice which the family cooked over a fire. After dinner we had a beer and spent some time talking to our guide Pepe, and spending time with the family.. Pepe telling us everyhting about Peruvian life.. its advantages and its faults..a really honest and interesting account.. Four generations of this family lived in this area..Great grandparents, grandparents, parents and teenage children. We slept in another stone building.. comfortable beds if very different to the norm for us.

In the morning we had breakfast, and set off for the Oasis. These few hours were some of the best of our trip, as we visited the local school, the local meedical centre.. and a local museum about Canyon life on the way.. We arrived at the school first..treats in hand.. The school seemed to be similarly resourced to any in Ireland.. although with only 15 children in the school one teacher was teaching all 6 grades.. The children were the same as kids anywhere..excited to see someone new.. and really excited when we showed them Ireland on the map! As always there was one very enthusiastic child.. curious to know did we have animals in Ireland(and surprized to find we dont eat our guinea pigs!) The medical centre was interesting..as Pepe explained the Canyon people dont suffer from heart disease or cancer..rather the main problem is tending to the pregnant women around the canyon.. as the medical centre is for so many villages, so distant from each other.. Pepe did explain though, that since the introduction of electricity to the canyon 2 years previous tv and dvd were making education easier.. And changing outlooks on lifestyle..

After a relatively ok walk, we had lunch at the Oasis at the bottom of the Canyon.. comparable to a tropical paradise.. swimming pools, palm trees, sunshine, good food. Many tours stay here the night, but we were glad to be making the ascent in the cool of the evening rather than the next days early morning sun.. So, we left the Oasis around 3 and began the trek up the Canyon. New difficulties presented at this part of the trek.. thankfully the paths were wider, and so the fear I had on the descent subsided somewhat.. However, 4 hours of constant ascent provided a physical challenge..especially as we were combatting the change in altitude, making it more difficult to breathe.

We managed however (thanks to some serious perseverance, lots of water and an amazing walking stick!) and were seriously grateful when we arrived at the hotel we were to stay in that night ..never have comfy beds and hot showers felt so good!

The next day was our last, and consisted mainly of the trip back to Arequipa.. with some stops at a local market and at the hot springs near Chivay (not that we needed too much warming up in the 1 o clock sunshine..) and at 4900m to see the surrounding volcanoes. We had a buffet luch in Chivay, where we tasted lots of local food, including Llama.. which was very good!

Arrived back in Arequipa, ready to take our night bus to Cusco.. ready for some serious relaxation before our next trek, the Inca Trail, starting Nov 24th...