Colca Canyon

We just got back from a two day adventure in the Colca Canyon, which is right outside of Arequipa. We stayed in the town of Chivay, which is in a valley surrounded by incredible green peaks and rivers. The drive there was so beautiful, we could see five or so of the snow-covered volcanoes and all the green mountains studded with villages, and vicuñas!! These are like llamas but wild, and they are so cute! We also saw a llama that had only been born a few hours before, and it walked very awkwardly, like it was an insect with long legs that it had to unfold. So cute!! The people of the valley have formed terraces in the mountain so that the water coming down from the melting snow will channel itself across and water all of their crops, so all of the hills and mountains have these stone walls and terraces across them, it is so incredible. To think of how much work went into doing all of this...wow.
Our tour group was so great, both the things we did and all of the people who we met. Our tour guide, Gladys, was the sweetest woman who spoke Spanish very slowly and then also translated into English using hand motions to help get the point across. She reminded me a lot of our relative in Slovenija, Paula.
The people on the tour were fantastic too--we met Daniel from Lima, Anders from the Basque region of Spain, Mauricio from Mexico city, Alex from Sydney, Lucy and Lindsey from London, and Yoshi from Japan. We all had a great time together, on the bus and around all the sites, and hopefully we´ll be able to see them all again, somewhere in the world!
It was a Sunday, but it was also a religous holiday for the Quechua people and we went to one of their parties, one which had been going on for quite awhile. Men and women, old and young, were falling down drunk. Really. There were huge pots of chicken and rice soup, which everyone ate with their hands, and the band was playing brass instuments, which we did not expect (we have seen a lot of woodwind instruments, drums and guitars). Everyone was in their full Quechua dress of bright colors and skirts and hats, and everyone wanted us to dance with them. One older woman fell in love with Anders and formed a human blockade so that we couldn´t leave unless he came back to stay with her, and she was strong!!
We hiked up to see some of the terraces, and we were surprised at how many different species of cactus there were all over the place. There is so much agriculture in the soil that naturally provides for cactus? After the sunset we went to the hot springs and bathed in the outdoor pools under the stars--the night was clear and it was so beautiful, but then freezing when we had to get out!!
At five the next morning we hopped in the bus and went to this spot in the canyon where we hoped to see wild condors. Gladys told us that she usually only sees about 5 on a good day--we saw over 20!! The filled the sky above us, the canyon below, and also perched on rocks nearby. Their wingspan is 3 meters across--they are huge!! They never flap their wings, they just glide in the wind tearing through the canyon, and they can defy gravity so easily, using their tails as rudders. It was so incredible. The juveniles are a brownish color, while the adults have white backs and besides a collar of white around their necks, they are all black. It was so amazing to see so many of them, and so close!!
Now we are in Cuzco, aclimatizing. We are at 3300 meters, and so far we haven´t had any problems with the altitude. We have been hanging out all day with Anders, and hopefully we will meet Mauricio when he gets back from Machu Picchu, if we have not left on our hike yet. We are going to be staying with Tammy, a girl who I went to elementary school with and played AYSO soccer with--we ran into her on the street here in Cuzco!! She is teaching English here for a few months before she goes to grad school in EE at UCSB, where Annie is also going in the fall. Small world, no??