Condors at Colca

Colca canyon is supposed to be the deepest canyon in the world, deeper even than the Grand Canyon. Although it lacks the glamour of its Arizona counterpart, the Colca valley is truly spectacular and renowned for watching condors up, close, and personal.

From Arequipa to Chivay, we made our journey up to a height of 5000 meters in a van stuffed with twelve people. Our guide Cesar was a character. Ever since our travels in Turkey, we've instinctively developed a distrust for all those that start their sentence with "Friends". We just flinched every time Cesar addressed us as "friends". The van had an international flavor to it: French, Chilean, Peruvian, Portuguese, and Brit. On the road we introduced ourselves and talked about what we were hoping to get out of the trip. Nagesh was really eager to see the condors.


The drive to Chivay - the city of love - meandered through the Andean range with lunar landscapes and volcanic peaks rising upto 6000 meters. We stopped off at several vistas speckled with herds of Llamas, Vicunas, and Alpacas. Alpacas are the cute ones, Vicunas shy and slender whose wool is the finest and most expensive, while the Llamas are known to be the proud brats.


Early in the day our guide lost some of his audience when he got into an argument with a fellow traveler who used the term "Indian" generically to describe native Peruvians. Through the rest of the journey we were sniggering in the back like kids in a classroom whenever Cesar spoke. His favorite pastime was to ask "Senorita Rita" if she had "alguna pregunta" (any question). Enroute we drove past the peak Mismi where the Amazon is born. It's so amazing how a stream of melting ice turns into the mighty Amazon before joining the Atlantic.


At 5000 meters, we were intrigued by unique configurations of tapering rocks stacked on either sides of the highway. As soon as we heard that these piles were built for good luck, we promptly assembled our own little tower. There’s something about this place that we shall carry in our hearts forever. The air at this altitude was thin and crisp. Cesar distributed handfuls of coca leaves to help us along. Some chose to stick it to their foreheads, Nagesh chewed his leaves like paan and swallowed them despite instructions to the contrary from Cesar (he survived!), and Kavita simply tucked hers away in a notebook as a memento of this wonderful trip.

Chivay is a dusty town with little to talk about. Later that afternoon, we headed to the local hot springs set outdoors amidst the splendors of nature. The day came to an end with dinner at a local restaurant accompanied by a traditional dance show.

It was condor country bright and early next morning. We passed several Inca terraces still in use for farming. And then…Colca canyon stretched out beyond our deepest imagination. The Condor cross was swarming not with condors but with tourists perched precariously over the rim for one glimpse of the mighty bird. In the Incan pyramid of life, the condor signifies the highest order, closest to God.

The condor cross structurally creates a wind tunnel conducive to the condor’s flight. But where were the birds? After admiring the emptiness of the canyon for a good half-hour, we were rewarded by the most graceful swoop of a majestic condor. With its wing length spanning a colossal six feet, the bird performed a fly-by to a cheering audience. It's a miracle that Nagesh did not fall into the canyon trying to capture every flap on his camera.


There was something soulful about this experience. We tied up the day with a fifteen minute meditation in worship and quiet contemplation of God's creations.