Colca Canyon

Sunday 1 May
FAST FACTS (for the benefit of Richard who I think by now has researched it anyway):

The Colca Canyon is a geological formation created by erosion from the Colca River over thousands of years. It reaches depths of 4160 meters and is more than 120 kilometers long. This was confirmed in 2005 when an expedition led by the Polish researcher Andrew Pietowski performed several measurements using GPS. This makes the Colca Canyon the deepest canyon in the world and approximately twice as deep as the Grand Canyon. This canyon is part of the volcanic chain of the western Andes, where there are spectacular views volcanoes such as Hualca Hualca, Ampato and Sabancaya.

It is also popularly known as “The Kingdom of the Condor”.

The Colca Valley is named after a word of Quechua origin meaning 'barn', which was, in ancient times, designated as the warehouse where corn surplus was stored for the unforeseeable droughts.

So we were up at 5 a.m. for an early departure to see condors. We had breakfast with a pretty sunrise.

Lovely morning.

First stop is the main plaza in town where a traditional dance is underway - called the Wititi dance.

We drive to Colca Valley past villages with textile-like fields of different colours and terraces. The Colca Valley is very agricultural mainly from Aug to April. There are 30 varieties of corn, 2000 varieties of potatoes, broad beans, alfalfa, onions, quinoa; guinea pig are raised; and yoghurt and cheese are made; plus herding of alpacas and sheep.

At the condor viewpoint are heaps of Andean condors (vultur gryphus) which is endangered - it is the biggest flying bird in the world (maximum wingspan of 3.3 m). I'll spare you the dozens of photos I took.

Nearby, I had some yummy chirimoya icecream from a roadside stall; we had seen this fruit in the market in Chivay yesterday. Best part was the walk back along the edge of the canyon (I was a bit ‘over’    condors ...)



We stopped at the old river town of Maca on the way back to Chivay. Here, the flow of the Colca River increases dramatically and spills into the valley. It is here that the Colca Canyon actually starts. Maca is located at the bottom of Sabancaya volcano which is still active and there have been many earthquakes here. The Catholic church has been rebuilt many times.



We drive out the way we came in to the place where we had the Inka Mate yesterday - at Pati Wasi - stopping before this at a point where the road passes through the crater called Chucura.

So: 4 hours to Puno!

We pass a truck broken down - changing a tyre or a wheel; taxi parked nearby - probably brought the wheel from somewhere; entire lane of the road blocked. 

The road is 'straight as a die' here.

Countryside mostly undulating: greens, yellows, browns pierced every now and then by little streams; isolated farms fenced off with stone walls. Great grey and white clouds loom over distant hills.

We stop at Lago Lagunillas which at 4,444 m is the highest lake in the world (Titicaca is the highest navigable lake) and we stop to see Chilean flamingos.

We drive through a dramatic landscape of rocky outcrops, the slopes beneath covered in pampas grasses. Would love to spend more time here ...

Through Juliaca we crawl through the centre of this fairly large city, through narrow streets crowded with people; it is Sunday, and I guess people are out enjoying themselves.

And we arrive into a very chilly Puno at 6:30 p.m. - we decide to eat our snacks rather than go out as we don't know our way around and there are only certain parts of Puno that apparently are safe for travellers.