• Peru, Bolivia & Easter Island
    The children dance before school
    Parents didn't approve of girls and boys mixing so boys dressed as girls to hang out with them.At Colca Canyon2Terrace farmsThe section of the Canyon where it's most likely to spot some condors1Yes!Spotted at a distanceSoaringThree meter wingspan7A juvenile condor, more brown than black1Cactus fruitSampling a Colca Sour made with cactus juiceMany women of the Andes wear traditional clothes as their regular wardrobeBenches outside the marketAnother hatDeep frying, some sort of pastryHauling home their purchases3Note the ceilingIt's made from plastic water bottlesThe market has everything from apparel to hardware and electronicsAlpaca meat. We've seen it on virtually every menu here in the Andes and had it for lunch todaySpotted as we walked back to our hotel

    Colca Canyon and Condors

    February 7 in Peru ⋅ ☁️ 4 °C

    Today was a big day. We set out at 6:30 a.m. and stopped in a small town of about 1,000 to watch children dance. The children from the mountains come to the town square and perform traditional dances in order to raise money for their school to buy new equipment. It was incredible.

    From there, we carried on to the big event of the day: the Colca Canyon, the second deepest Canyon in the world and twice as deep as the Grand Canyon. And to hopefully see some condors. Condors are scavenger birds that are huge with a wingspan of three meters. They glide as opposed to flapping their wings to fly. They use thermal air to lift them skyward.

    Our guide Victor explained that there were never any guarantees that we would actually see them soar. We were extremely fortunate and saw a number of them at a distance and some quite close. It was thrilling.

    After spending a few hours doing that we headed to lunch in another small town but had a drink before hand. The local specialty is called a Colca Sour, a take on the Pisco Sour but it’s made with cactus juice. It was quite tasty.

    After lunch, we returned to our hotel just as it began to rain and relaxed, having gotten up so early. In the early evening, we set out to the town square and explore the town market.    Read more