Colca Canyon & Lake Titicaca

Moving On: Colca Canyon is more than twice as deep as Grand Canyon. We had to see how it compares. 

The drive from Arequipa passes through the high plains of Peru. Highlights of the route were:

• Views of Volcano Sabancaya which has been active for a year. 
• Our first encounters with the ever so cute vicuña, wild members of the camelloid family.
• Crossing a pass that is at a mere 16,108 ft. We definitely felt the "high". At 16,000 feet Pat felt like she was floating on air, truly. I think they call that lightheaded but the description is apt. Previously our high was around 12,000 feet. 

About Vicunas: They have not been domesticated. The are elegant looking with the most gorgeous eyes. They hair is highly valued but they have little and are only sheared once every two years. So vicuna items are rare & extremely pricey…so we’ve heard. So far we haven’t seen any. They all have basically the same markings and their hair color is so consistent that they commonly refer to the color as "vicuna".

Pat on top of the world, more or less...

A major source of income for Peru is minerals. 
This is a train transporting copper.

After descending to a mere 11,500 ft we arrived at Chivay, nearly at the floor of the canyon. Chivay is the major town in the area and the first one vistors get to experience. We explored the market and had fun observing the many statues of folk dancers in a few of the many cultures that the represent.  Chivay, at an elevation of 12,000 ft is a farming community. The lower terraces are used for agriculture (corn, quinoa, barley, beans) while the higher ones are for livestock raising, principally alpacas and llamas, with some sheep and dairy cattle as well.

Strangely during our visit to Colca Canyon,  the altitude felt normal for us (although San Miguel is around 6,400 feet).

Chivay Town and the terraced fields surrounding it.

The benches in Chivay reflect the colorful hats worn by the local ladies.

One of numerous statues of dancers in Chivay 
& towns throughout Colca Canyon

Potatoes, about 4 inches long - I'd say they are tubers but I wouldn't
have imagined these were potatoes. Whatever they are,. they are tasty.  

From Chivay we moved on to Hotel KIlliwasi in Yanque. The best places to stay in the area are pretty much self-contained oasises with activities (hikes and a visit to the nearby thermal springs) and one of the better restaurants in the area. We were quite pleased with the restaurant at KIlliwasi (thankfully because we celebrated Pat's birthday and our anniversary there.)

While the day was quite delightful temperature-wise, the temperature dropped rapidly after sunset and we were glad to have gloves and ear muffs for the walk to dinner. 

Trout for dinner on Pat's Birthday (Pat's was with a garlic cream sauce
and Bill's was "a la plancha". ie grilled)

The next morning we were off to see Andean Condors in flight. After a few stops to view the canyon along the way, we arrived at Cruz del Condor. Our guide said we would likely be at the Condor overlook for 1.5 hours.  A good estimate since we arrived at 8:30 and while a few condors arrived within a half-hour, more arrived around 9:45  and provided an arial show. Well worth the wait.  Note: Andean condors have a wingspan up to 10-1/2 feet, Body Length‎ of ‎3-4 feet, and weigh up to 33 pounds.

A female condor perched and posed for us

A stop along the way where a baby llama and a local posed with Pat

After a few more stops to view and photograph the canyon, and a light lunch, we were back at our hotel to work on our blog, photos and have a little rest. 

FYI: A quick web search indicates that the Grand Canyon is 1 mile/5280 deep and 277 miles long. The Colca Canyon is 9,824 feet deep and 43 miles long. In our opinion, the red color and more obvious depth of the Grand Canyon makes it more striking visually. It is easy to overlook the depth of the Colca Canyon because you become aware of it gradually (since much of Colca Canyon hides behind the terraced fields and the expanse of the base which harbors multiple villages).

Other Notable features of Colca Canyon: The towering mountains that define it. The terraced hillsides where current and past cultures have taken advantage of the varying micro climates of the terraces for raising a variety of crops. The sheer vastness with the small villages and towns sprawling across bottom. The native Andean Condors gliding through the air in search of food. And the attire of the locals - many still dress in traditional wear. 

Next stop: Puno on Lake Titicaca, on the border with Bolivia. Lake Titicaca is one of South America's largest lakes and the world’s highest navigable body of water. To get there we retraced much of our drive to Colca before making the turn to Puno. We stopped in Juliaca to change guides, the new one being more expert on Puno. Our new guide took us to visit pre-Inca ruins called chullpas (funerary towers) in Sillustani. The Colla people buried their elite in these giant cylindrical tombs, some up to 40 feet. Many archeologists consider this complex stonemasonry superior to Inca engineering although once the Colla's we conquered by the Incas, the towers became literally more polished. 

Six or more chullpas (funerary towers) 

From Sillustani we moved on to nearby Puno. We randomly chose to eat at La Casona that night and were seated in a quiet alcove with a window onto the street. Partway into our meal, we realized that a parade / procession was coming. It turns out that Puno is known as the Folkloric Center of Peru. And we were treated to a celebration of the Laykakota people./ (The Laykakota area is home to the silver mines that led to the founding of Puno town.) The procession included the image of the Virgin escorted by many troops of dancers.

Dancers seen from our window at dinner in PUno

In the morning we proceeded down to our hotel dock to board our boat for a tour of the Peruvian side of Lake Titicaca.  Lake Titicaca is the highest navigable lake in the world (elevation 12,507 ft / 3812 m). We were off to visit the "floating islands”. These islands are made by taking 3 foot deep chunks of root mass from a native reed, binding them together and covering them with as much as another 3 ft of layers of reeds placed at angles. The reeds on top need to be refreshed frequently and are a bit tricky to walk on as they can be slippery. 

A view of one of the floating islands.

Our first stop was at La Isla Kamisaraki where we visited with a family and learned about the history of the islands and how/when islands are created. It seems to take a minimum of 4 family groups (not necessarily related) and the resources to build the island. 

We bought some local woven items and enjoyed our time with the children (mostly taking pictures). 

Local lady embroidering a wall hanging

Then they took us via reed boat to visit a nearby island.

We were pleased to see these potatoes being freeze dried (frozen over night
and then squeezed to release the liquid.  Once fully dried they can last for years.

Our next stop was the Island of Taquile, approximately an hour away by power boat. We started our exploration of the island with a 1 hour hike to the top (there is a half hour option), no steps (the “old” way was about 500 steps). It gave us an interesting view of local life that is dominated by tourism in the dry season and agriculture in the rainy season. Tourism helps consume the agricultural output while providing income for the locals. 

Look carefully at the hinges on this gate.
Sandals made of tire treads now repurposed once again.

Taquile is noted for it's knitting...ALL done by men.  

The colors and patterns of the hats indicates the marital status
and sex of the wearer.

On the way back to our hotel, we saw a boat carrying more reeds for maintenance of the floating island.

The next day, we were off to Bolivia. On our final stop in Peru, we looked out over the many fishing weirs. In recent years the Lake was stocked with trout (rainbow trout and lake trout) from Canada.

Our next update will be on Bolivia.