We’re leaving on a jet plane…….

2/6/2006

We arrived here in Arrequipa (Southern Peru) via the overnight bus from Cusco last Saturday morning (29/5). 

The guide books rave about Arrequipa and the ‘fine examples of colonial architechture’ however, the reality is, with the exception of the main square and Cathedral (which are pretty impressive), this place isn’t in the same bracket as Newcastle’s Quayside!

The real reason for visiting Arrequipa is that it is the perfect jumping off point for treks into the Colca Canyon – the 2nd deepest canyon in the world (the deepest is also in this region) and almost twice as deep as the grand canyon!  Colca is also famed as one of the best places to view the biggest bird in the world, no, not Bella Emberg, but the Andean Condor.

We booked a 3 day trek with a local guide, who we were due to meet early on Tuesday (30/5) morning.  We arranged an early breakfast at our hostel, and were sitting out on the roof terrace at about 5.30am, enjoying a brew of Coca tea, when the table began to shake.  We looked at each other a bit confused, as the shaking continued and spread to the whole building.  As the shaking subsided, the hostel owner appeared laughing violently at our scared expressions, he took great pleasure in informing us that we had just experienced an Earth tremor!  Aparrently they happen here all the time, not very re-assuring as the city is build on the slopes of a huge Volcano!  It was a pretty scary feeling, a real Earth quake must be terrifying.

After the excitement, we took a local bus with our guide, and fellow trekker Johan (a bona fide Jerman – don’t worry, we didn’t mention the war!) for 5 hours to a small town in the canyon where we were served up a lunch of empanadas.  From here we began the 4 hour, 1,500m decent to the bottom of the canyon.

After a couple of hours, just as Charlotte and I were begining to feel the pain from the Inca trail the previous week, our guide spotted a snake on the path ahead.  As we reached for our camera, the guide launched himself at the snake and grabbed it by the tail before proudly showing it off to us.  He offered us the chance to hold it, which we would have gladly passed on, but unfortunately Johan jumped at the chance.  Not wanting to be outdone, I also posed for photos with the snake, and for some inexplicable reason, decided to drape it around my neck.  Ok, it was only about a metre long, but for a man terriffied of wasps this was a fairly brave act (we will publish the photos to prove it!). 

We expected the guide to let the snake go at this point, however he set off for the final hour to camp with it still in hand.  When we asked him why he continued to hold it, he informed us that he planned to skin it and use the ‘fat’ to tie around his sore knee during the night to ease the pain….when in Rome….  Charlotte later also found the confidence to pose with the snake, just minutes before it met it’s untimely end.

We arrived at camp just before sunset, which was for the best as the local village we stayed in had no electricity.  We were shown to our ‘room’ which consisted of some bamboo caines tied together and some foliage drapped across the top, suddenly thoughts of the unfortunate snakes brothers and sisters came rushing into mind!  We were served a dinner of vegetables and rice, all produced our traded for by the local family we stayed with.  When the sun dissapeared behind the slopes of the canyon it became so dark you could not even see your hand in front of your face.  We headed to bed at approx 7pm, and surprisingly slept right through till sunrise.

The next day we headed along the base of the canyon and arrived at an ‘oasis’ where several groups on similar trips met up for lunch and a swim in a natural (cold) pool.  I donned my Barcelona shorts as bathers, and to my delight struck up conversation with some lads from North London, who turned out to be Gooners.  How I enjoyed re-living the details of the champions league final with them!

In the afternoon we began the hard work of climbing back out of the canyon to the samll town where we started…this was really hard work and both Charlotte and I struggled big time in the 30+ degree temperatures.  We did finally make it, and after dinner and a beer to celebrate we once again hit the sack really early.

Unfortunately, during the night, Charlotte felt a bit under the weather, not sure if this was the food or the exersion of the trek, but she bravely soldiered on and got up for our breakfast at 6am the following morning.

We left town on a local bus to head for Cruz de la Condor at 6.30am.  This is the best place in the canyon to view the condors as they rise from their nests in the canyon on the early morning thermals. 

Unfortunatley we were not the only people with this plan.  The bus quickly filled with tourists, before the entire population of the town also attempted to get on (so they could sell their wares to the massed tourists at the viewing point).  The only way to describe the scene is by imagining a tube at rush hour in central london (ok, with a few more peruvians), the oldest, worst bus that used to take you on your first school trips, a road straight from post shock and awe Baghdad, and shear drops on one side into a 3,000m deep canyon.  Not much fun, especially for Charlotte who was not feeling her best!

When we arrived at our destination, it all became worthwhile, we waited for an hour or so, as the sun came out, and the temperature rose, so did the Condors!  It really was an amazing site, groups of these huge birds, some with wingspans of 9ft, began circling up out of the canyon.  They seemed oblivious to the groups of tourists perched at the top of the canyon, furiously taking photos, and passed litterally only a couple of feet overhead.  Now, I would never class myself as the bird spotting type (well, not since I was a young lad out on the drink in Whitley Bay), but this was a truly incredible experience!

After a couple of hours and about a dozen condors had passed, we jumped back on the bus and headed back to Arrequipa on Thursday afternoon. 

Our next move is to catch the bus to Puno and Lake Titticaca, before heading into Bolivia.  At the moment we are just relaxing in Arrequipa until Cahrlotte is fully recovered (no need to worry Shirl, she is ok!). 

We will probably leave on Sunday morning, which happens to be the day the Peruvians go to the polls to vote in their next President.  It is strange being in a foriegn country at election time, we have seen marches through the streets in favour of the 2 different candidates.  From what I can gather, the choice is between a right wing former army gerneral who despises the US, and a former president from 10 years ago, who was axed amid allegations of corruption and 1000% inflation, still, it could be worse, Tony Blair could be standing!

Tags: Colca Canyon, Peru

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