Leaving Puno

Day 13: We left Puno and Lake Titicaca to drive to Colca Canyon.

Peru Ranchland

We drove through many miles of Peruvian ranchland.

Llamas and Alpacas

Here, there were large herds of both alpacas and llamas.

Mirador Lagunillas

We were at very high altitude in the Andes at our stop at Mirador Lagunillas (Lagunillas Lookout) to use the restroom––at 4,413 meters (14,478 feet).

Vicuna

Vicuna run free here. Vicuna are wild camelids that live in the high Andes. They are protected from poachers by game wardens but a chaccu of herding, capturing, and shearing once a year is conducted to shear their wool.

Rock Sculptures

At another rest stop were these rock sculptures made by the shepherds for good luck. There were thousands of these sculptures here.

Mountain Roads

A view of the mountain roads that we were driving the way to our hotel in Colca.

I have put my photos of our drive from Puno to Colca Canyon on a slideshow. Go to http://www.peggysphotos.com/puno–to–colca–canyon/ (Slide Shows, South America, Peru, Colca Canyon, “Puno to Colca Canyon”).

On Our Way to Colca Canyon

Day 14: We had to take a detour from our hotel in Colca to reach Colca Canyon as there was a landside blocking the regular road. But we ran into a big problem on the detour––construction material blocking our bus from driving through a village. Our bus driver, our tour manager, and a good number of my tour mates helped clear enough of the material so our bus could travel on.

Colca Canyon

We reached the dramatic Colca Canyon. The canyon was formed by the Colca River. The canyon has a depth of 10,730 feet (3,270 m), making it one of the deepest canyons in the world. Grand Canyon has a depth of 6,093 feet (1,857 m).

Cruz del Condor

We stopped at Cruz del Condor (Cross of the Condor) to view the Andean condors that fly around in the canyon in the early morning and late afternoon.

Condors Flying–MOVIE

A movie of the condors flying around.

Maca Church

People have lived in the Colca Canyon since pre–Inca times and there are a number of villages in the canyon. The Spanish colonized this area and built churches such as this restored church in the small village of Maca.

Maca Painted Sculptures

On each corner of the Maca village square were painted sculptures of women dressed to perform local dances.

Maca Painted Sculptures

This was the most unusual of the sculptures. I thought it portrayed a village woman who had rescued a downed airman by carrying him on his back. No, it portrays a village dance in which wives carry their husbands on their backs.

Erupting Volcano

We ate lunch in Colca Canyon and we were treated to seeing a volcano erupting not too far away. Nothing to be nervous about as we were told that this volcano erupts many times during the day.

Colca Lodge

Back to our hotel, which turned out to be a short ride from the canyon as the landslide had been cleared up. The Colca Lodge was the nicest hotel that we stayed at in the nicest location and it also had a hot spring.

I have put my photos of Colca Canyon on a slideshow. Go to http://www.peggysphotos.com/colca–canyon/ (Slide Shows, South America, Peru, Colca Canyon, “Colca Canyon”).