Canyon del Colca

Sidney and I departed the Bolivia June 29th and made our way to the Canon del Colca which is about 5 hours from Arequipa, Peru. It took us a whole day and a half to reach the canyon by bus and required us to spend one sketchy night in a hostel near the bus station in Arequipa. Let's just leave the details about our sketchy night out and say we were happy to arrive safely at the canyon.
We hadn't actually planned on traveling to Arequipa or the canyon initially but kept hearing that it was worth seeing so decided to head blindly in that direction.  We met some kind Americans on the bus who took sometime over lunch to show us some of the sights to see on a map.

With their information and the bus ride into the canyon we quickly found ourselves in a pickle. There was so much we wanted to do and not quite enough time if we wanted to make it to Cusco and do a trek and see Machu Pichu.  Luckily, I chose my travel partner well, Sidney sat down with the map and with some help from the locals planned everything we wanted into 2.5 days.

Before I elaborate on our two day adventure I should desctibe the drive into one of the deepest canyons in the world. The views were breath taking. I don't think I had ever seen such a sight but it may have been comparable to the Grand Canyon for Sidney.  The canyon edges had been terraced to trap melting water from the volcanoes  by the locals over the last 2000 years. It made for millions of little puzzle pieces making layers upon layers into the depths of the canyon. My favorite part about this affect is how natural it still seemed...it is hard to believe that humans have impacted the land for so long in fact when walking deep into the canyon it is easy to forget people have been around.

Day 1:
So when we arrived at the Canyon on June 30th we headed to pachamamba a highly regarded hostel which offered us unbiased advice for our trip. We quickly packed our sling bags with water, tooth brush, camera and bathing suits and headed off for the night leaving the rest of our possessions at the hostel. Packing light allowed us to walk the first days recommended 5 hour walk in 3.5 hours. It was a steep hike down into the canyon often walking only meters from the edge. Along with the views of the canyon and surrounding mountains we got to enjoy geysers on our way down.  We luckily reached the river at the bottom and our little hostel in a small town called Llahuar  before dark which meant we were able to sit in the hot springs and watch the stars emerge. It was so peaceful listening to the roar of the canyon, star gazing at the unknown southern constellations,  while dipping my toes into the steamy water.

That evening we enjoyed a delishes cream of corn soup and spaghetti with only our new American friends and 3 other travellors. I was so famished I can't tell if the soup was amazing because I was hungry or if it was just creamy goodness. Sidney has taken to sharing her meals with me since I think she can tell how hungry I am and she swears she is full. All I know is was greatful for the extra portion of spaghetti that night.

We packed it in pretty early that night since we were getting up at 6 to eat breakfast and start hiking plus we were a little sleep deprived from the night before.
Day 2:

We awoke to Roosters at 6 am. Well actually the roosters started at 5 but we stayed in bed until 6 when we knew breakfast would be available. I was stoked to have pancakes...well only 2...not quite as hardy of a breakfast as I was hoping for but they were a treat. I am looking forward to pancake breakfasts with papa bear once I am home again though. 

Anyways, we were on the road around 7 and again had a estimated 5 hour journey ahead of us to the Oasis. We walked up hill for about an hour and a half on a thick dusty road (no joke it was several inches of dust that could have made a beach) winding our way back up the canyon before the ground became level. We spent another hour or so walking along before the trailed dove down again to the level of the river.

It was here where the trail dipped down again that Sidney and I shared a bonding moment unlike any we have had yet. Keep in mind Sidney has been with me through a lot...In the last 3 years. Anyways, nature called that morning and as the trail dipped down into the canyon I had to pee like a race horse. I have a natural fear and angst of peeing and pooping as you know from my previous blog in nature. I mean I shouldn't the donkeys clearly do it (often this was the marking of our trail) and so do the birds but I just couldn't quite calculate how to ensure I wouldn't pee on myself or have the wind blow it onto me. So Sidney the big little sister (as her older sister Jesse-she calls her) stepped up and said "here watch my form" and I did. She is a  natural pee-er in nature. I then took form and adjusted as instructed and peed in the exact same spot to ensure things went smoothly. Sweet sweet success!!! Of course we had a really good laugh before we continued on.

We reached the oasis at around 10:30 luckily before the canyon was getting to hot and in under our estimated time.  The oasis was a beautiful resort like area with several hostels looking into the canyon with pools to swim in. We spent the next 3 hours dipping in the pool, hanging in hammocks, and eating lunch waiting until 2 before we would finish the estimated 3 hour straight up climb out of the canyon. Well that isn't exactly the truth...The oasis part went more like this for me:

step 1: dunk in pool to cool off
step 2: sit poolside to dry enough to move into the shade to enjoy hammock
step 3: sit on hammock
step 4: fall out of hammock stereotypically
step 5: look dumbfounded now covered in mud while Sidney cries with laughter
step 6: rinse all the mud off
step 7: sit pool side embarrassed as I warm up again
step 8: attempt hammock again with success
step 9 : do not dare to move before lunch is prepared in case one should fall out of said hammock again.

Wow this is turning into a long post. Anyways at 2 we headed up the steep canyon working ourselves out of the intense heat with water. I was pleasantly surprised as I was expecting the climb to be deadly as when we looked across the canyon at our path it was a steep zig zagged path up one of the deepest canyons in the world...and don't get me wrong it was a challenge but I was just relieved to know that I would be able to make it out of the canyon by foot and not by donkey or helicopter. We were able to complete the climb in 2.5 hours and were exhausted by the time we reached the top.

It is a remarkable feeling to conquer your fear of the unknown. Setting off I was worried about getting lost or hurt in the canyon or just being to tired to continue but I survived and the experience, views and memories from the 2 days was well worth it.

Day 3:
Because this post is so long already I will just quickly mention that we arose on day 3 at 5:30 to catch a 6:30 bus so we would be able to see Condors which are  known to fly in the morning in one area of the park. They are the largest flying birds with a 3 ft wing span and they come within 10 to 20 meters of the viewing area. It was really neat to watch 8 condors soar the sky's over the canyon.

That ladies and gentlemen is how Sidney and I crammed a ton of canyon adventure into 2.5 days. It was hard to leave since there was so much more to do but Machu Pichu is calling!