It was a long, crowded and bumpy bus-ride to Cobanaconde in the mountains, at the top of the canyon, and after a tasty lunch we set off down into the canyon. The path was dizzyingly steep and very gravelly and it took a good 3 hours to get to the bottom, often having to make way for the mules and locals who were coming up the other way. After another hour or so we arrived at a tiny little village, with about 6 houses, one of which was where we stayed the night.....in what was basically a little cattle shed with a bed in it...and a resident scorpion!! It was very cold at night and we had to sleep in 2 layers of clothes but when we woke up in the morning and looked out of our window (no glass, just bars), the view of the canyon was simply breathtaking!!
After an outdoor breakfast, we set off walking again, lots of up-hills and downs and amazing views. By lunchtime we arrived at a little "oasis" village at the other end of the canyon and we spent a couple of hours relaxing by a natural swimming pool with a waterfall and gazing up at the long and windy path up the side of the canyon, wondering how on earth our achey legs would carry us up there.....
....but we made the climb of 1300m and hit the top in 2 & 1/2 hours! Absolutely exhausted, but a great sense of achievement, especially as we had seen many other tourists being carried up by mules. Spent another chilly night in Cabanaconde (where we saw a dog actually eating a dead cat) and in the morning headed off early to Cruz del Condor, to see the magnificent birds soar through the canyon just metres away from us. Ben, with his binos, was in his element!!
On the way back to Arequipa, we made a lunchtime stop at the hot-springs in Chivay, where we soaked our tired and weary limbs and drank beers in the sunshine. It was a perfect end to a fantastic trip.
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