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Colca Canyon, Peru |
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This morning we were heading into the high country and Colca Canyon. We had been sipping on Cocoa Tea ever since Cusco to help mitigate the effects of the altitude. Today, in anticipation of spending two days between 10,000 and 16,000 feet up, I decided to purchase some cocoa leaves at a local convenience store. The leaves come in little plastic baggies with a bit of "starter ash". Our guide, Robert, showed me how to snip off a bit of ash, wrap the cocoa leaves securely around it and place the "chaw" between my cheek and gums. Once moist I could squeeze the chaw with my cheek thus causing the ash to scratch the leaves and release the cocoa juices that acts as a stimulant to reduce the effects of altitude sickness.
I must note at this point that chewing cocoa leaves does not make you high. Many of the locals chew it as an aid to soothe an upset stomach or as a panacea promoting general well being hence it is sold just about everywhere. As I mentioned earlier, most hotels offer complimentary Cocoa Tea in their lobbies for visitors not used to the altitude. Apparently it works but I would not recommend drinking it before bedtime because it is a stimulant like caffeine and will keep you up when you should be down.
The highest mountain pass we crossed was in the vicinity of 17,000 feet above sea level. The mountain peaks in the distance with permanent glaciers are well in excess of 20,000 feet. The air is rarefied crisp and clear. The landscape is barren for the most part but since we are close to the equater there is vegetation albeit sparce above 16,000 feet where the hearty vicuna thrive with little threat of predators.
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Occasionally we saw what looked like a rabbit or prairie dog dash across the road or dart between bushes and rocks. Robert explained that it was a Vischa, a mammal of the rodent family that is quite common in the higher elevations of this mountainous region. They were too quick for me to get a good photo of one as we sped by but the close-up photo on the link shows that it looks like a long tailed rabbit.
Alpaca grazed at altitudes around 12,500 feet. We saw several women along the road who appeared to be tending these herds. At altitudes between 12,500 and 16,500 we saw herds of wildvicuna roaming the vast wilderness feeding on low clumps of vegetation. Vicuna wool is very fine and soft. They are the smallest of the guanaca, llama, alpaca and vicuna family of camels. Their hair or wool is so extremely fine and slow growing that they can only be shorn once every three years making clothing made of their wool extremely expensive. ($600.00 for a simple vicuna scarf.)
In the middle of this wilderness is a roadside rest where vendors from distant villages come to sell their homespun wares. The small stacks of rocks at the rest stop are made by travellers who make a wish on them according to Robert. Whether true or not I joined the thousands of other pilgrims and made a stack of my own to wish on. The sun is intense at this altitude but the wind has a definite chill so I took the opportunity to purchase a baby alpaca scarf from this vendor. It kept me warm for the rest of our visit to the Canyon.
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About four hours after we left Arequipa we reached the town of Chivay where Robert contacted his home office and brought us news of a possible strike in the Colca Canyon area. Locals at many popular tourist destinations planned to protest not getting their fair share of tourist dollars for upkeep maintenance of their towns and roads. In Peru tourist dollars are collected by the central government and spent primarily in urban areas. After travelling about two hours on a four lane divided highway and another two hours on a dusty pothole ridden side road we could see the point the locals were trying to make. If the strike were actaully to happen we could be stranded in the canyon for a few days. Robert gave us the choice of heading straight to the canyon this evening when the chances of seeing a condor was not as great as in the morning or taking a chance that the strike would not happen and go to the canyon in the morning. We agreed to think about it over lunch at our hotel in the nearby town of Coporaque, La Casa de Mama Yacchi.
La Casa de Mama Yacchi is a lovely place surrounded by mountains. We checked in and had some time to explore the grounds while the staff put out the buffet lunch. The soups and barbequed alpaca were our favorites. During lunch we agreed to err on the side of safety and go directly to the canyon this evening. We also took bathing suits and towels for a visit to the thermal springs should we get word that the strike was off. We were prepared with options and good spirits.
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The road from Chivay into the Canyon proper was even worse than the road from the divided highway to Chivay. This was nothing more than bunch of potholes connected by rocks. There is a major fault line running through the canyon and small earthquaks are common and actively shifting the road and landscape. Tourist traffic, commercial traffic as well as local farmers driving their flocks and herds use this same road making it quite treacherous. Fortunately our driver knew every inch of the road and when to drive on the right side, left side or middle.
We entered the Colca Canyon where it is wide with many precolumbian terraces that the locals still farm. In the center photo we can see a carved rock showing the terraces across the River. The Colca River begins high up in the Andes, winds through the canyon floor on its way to the Pacific. The views across the valley show the effects of landslides and faults within the canyon.
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At last we arrived at Cruz del Condor. There were only a handful of people at the visitor's area since the best time to see the Condors is the early morning. These folks like us were travelling either independently or in very small groups like us (six in our minivan). We found a perch on the rock walls near the edge of the canyon and waited to see if a condor would soar in our direction.
At this point the canyon is much more narrow and has very steep walls. From our perch we could look down into the depths which several people found quite dizzying. The condors make their nests within the safety of these steep cliffs.
We did not have to wait very long when silently in the clear sky above a huge black bird silently glided by. It was quite high but even to my naked eye I was impressed by the size of this bird. Several others also sailed over our heads heading to their nests after a day of scavaging. This was not the closeup views we had hoped for but there was still the possibility that we could return to the canyon in the morning for another chance to see these magnificent birds.
After an hour or so when the sun was getting low we got back in the van and returned to La Casa Mama Yacchi. On our return the road was full of shepherds driving their flocks back to their homes. Avoiding the flocks and the potholes required a very skilled alert driver. It also underscored the protester's point that tourist dollars were needed to repair the roads that the increasing number of tourists use.
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BAD NEWS: By the time we got back the staff at Mama Yacchi had alread received word that the strike was on and the roads would be blocked sometime this evening. With that in mind they had prepared another buffet for dinner rather than have people order off the menu to save time in case we wanted to return to Arequipa. Not only did the six of us want to avoid getting caught up in the strike, our drivers offered space in the van to anybody else who wanted transportation to Arequipa. The Lodge provided blankets and beverages for the cold dark ride over the mountains. You can just imagine how cold is gets at night above 16,000 feet.
This was a very long day for us but an even longer day for Robert and our driver who looked after not only our well being but other travellers who might get stranded by circumstances beyond their control. We hastily bounced along the dusty road hoping that we would make it to the main highway before our way was blocked by protesters. We kept our fingers crossed and sighed a huge sigh of relief when we reached the main highway without incident. There was no sign of unrest of any sort during our four hour "escape" from Colca Canyon. In fact we started to doubt that a strike was ever really planned. However, when we saw the Headlines and Photos of the strike in the Arequipa Newspapers, we knew how fortunate we were to be in the good hands of Inkaland and 4Star South America. Those photos are in the next section: Arequipa.
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