Canyon del Colca

There at last! The night was very chilly and even the thick blankets weren't enough. We had to turn on the heat to high. In June! And can I just say that stepping on the tiled bathroom floor at 6am was not an experience I wanted to repeat. Yet it did happen again many times on the trip....

The next part of our tour was to drive up the second deepest canyon in the world to the Cruz del Condor--a place where the warm up drafts are the draw for dozens of condors on a clear day. Keep in mind that up close, condors are kinda ugly creatures. Not something you would ever call cute. But to see them soar around the canyon was amazing. Gave me goosebumps. It is a very silent place so as not to scare the birds. Even if you whisper too close to other people, they will shush you.

This is our entire group sitting under the cross. Our guide, Flavio, is the one towards the middle wearing red. And the other person wearing red is our driver. The other thing that we saw on our way up the canyon road, and concentrated at the top, was the colorful vendors. It was fun to look at the merchandise and I was really happy to buy things up here in the mountains. Sure you can find most of these items in big cities like Cuzco and Lima. But when you buy it in the small towns, you are supporting those people. And most of them rely on tourism for a living. The other bonus was that the items were cheaper--even without bargaining. Just look at the face of the little cowboy...how could you not buy something from him?