The world's deepest canyon.

The Andean Condor in the wild.
It was an absolute privilege being there to see the Condor flying nearby I guess it doesn't get bigger than this.
The Andean Condor is the largest flying bird in the world with a wing-span of up to 3.2 meters and weight up
to 15 kg. It's only found in the Andes of South America, It's a scavenger, it nest at elevations of up to 5000m and
females only reproduce once every two years .

For the Incas the Condor was a sacred bird.
They can live up to 100 years in captivity.
They mate for life but that only applies to the males because if the female dies the male will take a high fly and dive to
his death, where as if the male dies the female will find a younger replacement.
Go you girls!

The Colca Canyon.
The deepest canyon in the world. It's located 160 km north/west of Arequipa. At 4160m depth it's more than
twice as deep as the Grand Canyon in the USA and we were about to feel every meter in our legs, knees, calves,
ankles, back, thighs, shoulders, heaps, etc. etc. etc.

Day 1.  1,200 meters down the canyon.

The Colca Canyon is about 100 km long and set among volcanoes.
It's geologically young at 100 million years when it started to cut into a bed of volcanic rocks
along a major fault in the Earth's crust.

Louise's Knee started to give up near the base of the hill.

By the end of the day she had both knees wrapped up and on top of her super hero donkey.
We were proud of her to get as far as she did with two busted knees.

The camp kitchen was the only warm place to be at San Juan de Chuchu.
The lady at the kitchen told me that all their supplies were carried by mules from a nearby
town 4 hours away.

Day 2, along the base of the canyon

Day 2 was the easiest of all.

We found some cochinilla (cactus beetle) that has been widely used by the locals as a natural colorant
for textiles, ceramics and even cosmetics for thousands of years. Absolutely non toxic and no animal testing.

Crossing one of the many small towns along the way.

No matter how small the town is, it will always have a church.

Typical hat from the Cabanas people.

Typical hat from the Collagua people.
The Collaguas and the Cabanas people are decedents from two different ethnic groups,
they lived in opposite sides of the Colca canyon and for hundreds of years they were
forbidden to mix with each other and even had an unconventional war, only until recently 
they had a declared peace treaty. 

The rivers flow a lot more during the rainy season

Day 3.  9 km walking but 1,100m straight up and we were one man down.
Early morning start and no breakfast. We were told it was to avoid altitude sickness.

Madeline was having doubts on whether she was going to make it or not.

Louise caught up to us on the way up on her ambulance mule.

Madeline was looking a lot brighter near the top of the mountain but we still had another hour to go,
she power on in pain but did not complain.

Arriving in the town of Cabanaconde. Notice the two ladies on the left wearing different types of hats
The one on the left is a Collaguan and the other is a Cabanan.

The 3 of us with Norma our trekking guide. She was very knowledgeable. 

Postcard with a vicuna and an eagle.

At the hot springs near the town of Chivay.
The town of Chivay is one of the closest towns to the Mismi Glacier which is  known as the birth place  of
the Amazon river.

We could hardly walk.

Maddy was dog tired.

Llamas near the national reserved of Salinas y Aguada Blanca.

Fallen victim to the Canyon.
Adios Aussie shoes, I guess they not made for Colca canyon conditions.

Recovering.
According to the original plan we were supposed to go to the town of Puno but we changed  our plan at the last
minute and went to Cuzco instead looking for some rest and relaxation and a place for Maddy to catch up with
school.