Chivay, Peru

​26th August – 28^th August 2017

We left the hotel in Arequipa at 1, with a few people still nursing their hangovers. I got two seats to myself for the first time on this leg of the trip, even if I did have to go backwards. Rianne gave us the information for the next couple of days and told us that luckily the drive was only 162km to Chivay. After a couple of hours driving, we stopped on the roadside to see some pequeñas, some small llama type animal. We were quite high up at this point (over 4000m) and some people were starting to feel the altitude (especially the newer people on the truck).

We drove a bit further and had to stop again because Claire felt sick; the hangover and altitude didn’t mix well for her. David gave her some oxygen and we set back off. We then had another quick break for the toilet and a chance to fill our water (because David didn’t want any more sick people) before carrying on a bit further. We had one final stop with only 33km to go; it was 4910m above sea level and was a pretty viewpoint of two of the volcanoes we saw yesterday (Chachani and Misti).

After a very quick photo stop, we carried on to the hotel, watching the sun set as we drove. We arrived in Chivay at around 5.45 (after one more stop for Claire) and checked into our hotel – I was sharing with Phoebe this time (I quite like mixing it up every time because you get to learn about everyone’s lives).

We had some chill time before going out for dinner. Rianne advised that we went out in small groups to dinner because it’s a small place and restaurants probably wouldn’t be able to serve us all or we would have to wait a while if they did seat us. I went down to reception and a few others were there. They were ready to go out for dinner, so we decided to go out then. We wandered into the square, which was quite small. In the square there was a parade going on – it was the farmers celebrating because the land was ready to be seeded, apparently. We looked at the restaurants on offer before deciding on a place. I had asparagus soup, which was nice, followed by spaghetti Bolognese with a very questionable meat, so I just ate the pasta. After dinner, we walked back to the hotel and got an early night, ready for an early start!

The alarm went off at 5am, but I really struggled to get myself out of bed. I eventually did though and got myself ready for the day. Breakfast was at 5.30, but it was far too early for me to eat much, so I nibbled on my bread roll and eggs (the only thing South Americans actually serve for breakfast).

We were met by our guide for the tour (Luis) in the hotel at 6.15 and we got in the truck and started driving. The drive was just under 2 hours in total, but we had a few photo stops along the way looking into Colca valley.

Luis gave us lots of information along the way about the valley, the canyon and the condor birds. Colca valley is full of lots of different farm lands and has been for many years. Luis talked briefly about this time of year for farmers and how they use the leftovers from last year’s harvest and burn it, using the ashes to spread for the new seeds. He said that the farmers didn’t realise it until the internet came around but their crops are 100% organic because they use this instead of insecticides or pesticides. The valley was first used to grow quinoa and years ago it was very cheap to buy (2 soles 50, for 1kg). Since other countries picked up on quinoa and started to spread it worldwide, the prices increased to about 20 soles per kilogram. Regulations have since been put in place though, so that the price shouldn’t be higher than 10-12 soles.

The valley is also used to grow potatoes. In Peru alone, there are over 4200 different kinds of potato, but they cannot all be found in the Colca valley. The farmers also grow different types of beans and corn.

There used to be two different tribes that lived in the valley. You could tell which tribe a person belonged to by looking at the shape of their head. If a person’s head was long and thin, it belonged to one tribe and if it was short and fat, it belonged to the other. The shape of the head was not a natural thing. It happened over the period of time where the parents squashed their baby’s head to the correct shape. For the long and thin head, they would wrap a leather band around their forehead and squeeze it tight. If the parents wanted a short and fat head, they would put a heavy object on their child’s head and bind that around under their chin. Each process would last until the child was 18-20 years old. This stopped in recent years when the parents were eventually told to stop and told they would be punished if they didn’t.

Luis then explained about the Sabancaya volcano that we could see. It is an active volcano which release ash clouds frequently throughout the day. He said that if the volcano erupted while we were in the canyon, we would have no chance of survival – this did not fill me with confidence as we were almost there. He said it hasn’t erupted in a while and according to calculations, it could go anytime – I was lucky to escape in one piece by the sounds of it.

Although he was bluntly honest, Luis was the funniest tour guide we have had so far. He would do actions and sound effects each time he was telling us something and he was full of information.

Next, he explained about the canyon itself. It is 4160m deep at its deepest point but we didn’t go there as it was an extra 6 hour drive and then a 9 hour hike, so we didn’t have the time. Colca canyon is the 3^rd deepest in the world (followed by one in China and one in India). The part of the canyon that we went to was 1100m deep and was the part where the condors lived.

On the way, Luis kept testing the temperature outside by stroking the window (at one point it was -1 apparently) and he thought we would have a 66% chance of seeing condors because they like the heat and some wind (it helps them to fly high). He explained that condors are one of the biggest birds in the world: their average wingspan is 3 metres and 20 cm (although the biggest reported is 4 metres 10cm); females weigh between 9 and 13 kg and males weigh between 14 and 15 kg. This is why they need the heat to help them rise and the wind to help them glide through the air. Condors will not be seen between November and December because it is mating season. In January they lay one egg, which needs incubating by both the mother and the father. Once the egg has hatched, the baby needs feeding for 7 months and can leave its parents after 1 year. Once the condor is 4 years old, it develops a white collar, which it keeps until it is 8 years old. When it is 8, the colours change from brown feathers to full black and white feathers. They can mate as soon as they have the white collar and usually live until they are 85 years old.

In Peru, there is currently no research into why condors are the way they are, even though the Colca Canyon is the best place to see them in the Andes. Luis hopes that this will change over time, as research is done in Chile, Argentina, Ecuador and Colombia currently.

We arrived at the canyon and could either get out and do a mini hike to the viewpoint, or stay in the truck and get a lift there. Most of us got out to do the hike because we arrived at 8am and Luis said they don’t usually come out until 9.30-10.

We did the hike (which wasn’t really a hike) but on the way could start to see some condors flying about. I think this surprised Luis, as he told us we needed to get a move on if we wanted to see them.

We arrived at 8.30 and there were two viewing points; we came in at the lower one. Luis told us that on a typical day there’s a 15% chance to see them from the lower viewing point and 85% from the top, but he thought today would be different because it wasn’t that warm, so they would stay lower. We stood at the lower point, but they started to come out and were getting quite high, so me and Naomi decided to go to the higher viewing point. We were quite lucky because we found a gap (it was packed) and managed to sit on the wall.

We had to wait a while but eventually the condors came out and there were loads of them. They flew very high and got quite close to our heads. I tried to take some photos but they just don’t reflect what we saw – it was amazing!

After we had watched the condor show (which lasted a lot longer than Luis said it would), we walked back to the truck – it was about 10 o’clock by this time.

Back at the truck, it was my turn for the roof seats again – they were opened earlier in the day, but because I had already had a turn, I let others go first which worked in my favour because it was a lot warmer by this time. I sat up on the front row this time, with Naomi, Emilia and Loes – it was so much nicer when it was warm! We were up on the seats for quite a while before having a photo stop with a beautiful view of the valley.

Getting back on the truck after the photo stop, we went back on the roof seats. Rianne shouted ‘amigos’ and we all responded ‘si’.  A few minutes down the road, Luis counted us and realised we were missing one – Claire hadn’t got back on the bus. Rianne pulled over and Dan ran back to get her. Naomi was her amigo and was now very worried Claire would be mad. When she arrived at the truck, she thought it was ‘hilarious’ – only Claire could think something like that was hilarious, although she had written in the whatsapp group that we had left her and wanted us to go back. It’s a very good job Luis noticed when he did.

We carried on in the roof seats a little longer, going through a tunnel which was very cool. We had to stop just after the tunnel and get down off the roof seats because the roads weren’t suitable. Luis told us that we were going to stop in a little village called Makka Makka but Rianne wasn’t aware of this and drove straight through the village by mistake, but that was okay because most of us were hungry!

We got back to Chivay and had a buffet lunch included. We turned up at a restaurant called ‘Mistituis’ and when we walked in, there was a long table set out for us all to sit on. We grabbed our plates and could help ourselves to the buffet on offer. There was a large range of food, but I just stuck to salad type foods. I did have a few mini cakes for dessert though.

From the restaurant, I walked back to the hotel. It wasn’t very far; it was literally one block to the main square which isn’t very far back to the hotel. I dropped some things off out of my bag and then went back out for a wander. It was a Sunday, so not much was open, but there wasn’t very much in Chivay anyway. I walked around a market type thing that I found and then wandered into the main square. I sat by the fountain for a bit, but the wind was blowing the water onto me, so I left that and went back to the hotel.

Back at the hotel, I grabbed my laptop and cameras and went back out with Naomi and Hayley to a café. We sat down and I ordered a drink and then decided to get my laptop out and sort my photos. I sat there for a while, whilst I sipped my drink, until my laptop ran out of battery. I wasn’t near a plug socket, so I paid up and left. I went back to the square to see if there was another café I fancied going in to, but there wasn’t, so I went back to the hotel.

I then spent the rest of the afternoon sat in the hotel, having some time to myself and sorting my photos out – it was a good way to spend the afternoon after an early start.

A few of us met and went out for dinner around 6.30ish. We went back to the same restaurant again but the man that served us wouldn’t give us the set menu because apparently it’s a morning menu – we must have got lucky the night before!

We walked back to the hotel and all went straight to our rooms. considering I hadn’t napped all day (which is unusual for me on this trip), I wasn’t particularly tired! I went to sleep around 10, ready for an early-ish start.

Chivay was a small but pretty village. There wasn’t much to do but it was nice to visit and worth a stop to see the canyon and the condor birds. One full day was enough though, now it’s time for a home-stay in Raqchi!

To travel is to live, Katie x