El Condor Pasa
But this pain was acquired in a rather spectacular way. I am recovering from a two day treck in the Colca canyon. Not your regular little canyon, but the 3rd deepest in the world - an impressive 4160 meters from top to bottom, over twice as much as the Grand Canyon.
Ok, so we didn't start straight at the top, but we still traversed 20 kilometres in 11 hours. Not an impressive turn of speed, unless one takes into account that we walked 1,5 kilometres downhill to the river and then the same back up again. And that, dear friends, is quite a walk. The scenery was, for lack of a less hackneyed word, stunning. My leg muscles are, for lack of a better word, stunned. I'm starting to wonder if the half of our group that decided to take donkeys up the mountain on the second day instead of trekking wasn't onto something.
Our humble abode for the night was down by the river at "the oasis", a collection of thermal pools with attached accommodation. After the days trials, a hot tub was not a bad place to be!
But the scenery wasn't the only attraction. Colca canyon has a colony of 48 condors and is one of the best places for viewing these huge birds. The wing span of the adult bird is 3 meters and the feathers black and white, whereas the young birds only have a punu 2,5 meter wing span and maroon and white plumes. Adulthood comes to a condor at the age of 20. And in case you're wondering (as I was) how long condors live, the answ er is 70-90 years.
As we were descending into the canyon, someone cried condor and as I lifted my gaze, there was one huge fellow gliding directly over me and only 10 away! That's a sight that I won't forget in a hurry. After that we had several glorious sightings, but - as the song says - it's never as good as the first time.
I seem to be obsessed with birds these days. Other feathered friends on this trip included several pet eagles (which for a reasonable price would have been perched on my head for a photo shoot) and some pink flamingos wading through a roadside pool.
Also heards and heards of alpacca, which I have now not only admired, but ended up eating a couple of times, since alpacca is one of the more commonly available meats here. (Warning, it may be safest to keep all fluffy and cuddly pets far from me in future!)
Oh, and in a footnote to my last posting: Coca really does work for altitude sickness!
But I was doing it all wrong the first time I tried. You don't just chew up coca leaves grimacing at the bitter taste, then swallow. You chew the leaves just a little, and stick them under your lip - like snuff. There the coca will gradually release its calming juices. Even more efficient is to put coca leaves in your tea. This allowes for maximum impact and also tastes rather delicious.
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