Struggled out of bed at 2:00 am and hung around near the hostal entrance for my minivan. It finally came at 2:40 and joined a bunch of terribly sleepy (naturally) vanmates. We drowsily drove in darkness for 3 hours to breakfast at Chivay – the main town near Colca canyon. Realised how spectacular the scenery was on the way back to Arequipa in the afternoon. After a sleepy round of introductions, we headed up along the canyon. The canyon here is only around 1500m deep – it looked deep enough for me! The drive to the condor viewing point, Cruz de Condor, was a mad rush as a convoy of minivans hurtled along the edge of the canyon, jostling to get there before the others. We reached Cruz de Condor at 8am and found about a hundred other tourists and a line of vendors selling peanuts, corn, ponchos and tacky plastic condors.
Nothing much happened for an hour or so as a 100 pair of eyes anxiously kept vigil. It was pleasant though in the crisp morning air of the mountains and there were eagles, sparrows and some small fork-tailed birds gliding around. Seeing them really does make you realise birds were meant to fly – they almost seemed deliriously happy swooping and being lifted up high by the airstreams. And then, when people were dejectedly beginning to pack their cameras, a condor made an appearance – and it seemed almost like it was putting on a show for us! A bit on the Andean condor – it is the largest bird in the world with a wingspan of 3m. 
It is so heavy that it cannot lift itself off the ground. So it often perches on ridges and crannies high up in the Andes and uses air currents to lift itself off. The Cruz de Condor is home to a family of condors who make an appearance in the early morning (9am is early for me!) taking advantage of the heat thermals at that time of the day. Our thespian literally circled us and came closer and closer till he was virtually right over our heads. It was magnificent to watch. The condor is sacred to Inkas, by the way. Together with the puma and the snake, it forms the chakana, the Inka cross that depicts the three tiers of Inka life; the higher world, this world and the lower world (devlok, earth and patal!).
The drive back to Arequipa was spectacular; a twisting mountain road surrounded by volcanoes. We also passed Ampato – where they found the frozen mummies of 3 children sacrificed to her by the Inkas. 
One of them was the famous Juanita – Ice Maiden, a 12 year old whose body was preserved by the inaccessible snows atop Ampato for 500 years until a nearby volcano erupted in 1995; its ash melting the snow away and exposing the bodies. Juanita is preserved in a museum down in Arequipa. The mountains and volcanoes around here are the cradles of the river systems that eventually become the Amazon some 1000km north-east.
Struggled out of bed at 
Nothing much happened for an hour or so as a 100 pair of eyes anxiously kept vigil. It was pleasant though in the crisp morning air of the mountains and there were eagles, sparrows and some small fork-tailed birds gliding around. Seeing them really does make you realise birds were meant to fly – they almost seemed deliriously happy swooping and being lifted up high by the airstreams. And then, when people were dejectedly beginning to pack their cameras, a condor made an appearance – and it seemed almost like it was putting on a show for us! A bit on the Andean condor – it is the largest bird in the world with a wingspan of 3m. 
It is so heavy that it cannot lift itself off the ground. So it often perches on ridges and crannies high up in the 
One of them was the famous Juanita – Ice Maiden, a 12 year old whose body was preserved by the inaccessible snows atop Ampato for 500 years until a nearby volcano erupted in 1995; its ash melting the snow away and exposing the bodies. Juanita is preserved in a museum down in 
1 comment:
Moulee,
Thanks for posting the link to this blog to the IIM-A group. I might be one of the few (that you referred to in your post) that browsed a majority of the pics you posted. Loved the pics - now enjoyed reading the blog (what little I have read thus far). Will return when time permits. I have admired your documentation of the trip - thanks for sharing.
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