It’s hard to believe that we have been on the road for 7 weeks! With all of the many places we have visited I would have to say Colca Canyon is one of the top locations. It is beautiful! A mixture of terraces, walking paths in the mountains, volcanoes, and steep rock faces...the scenery doesn’t get old!

We took a three day, two night tour from Arequipa to Yanque which included the highest elevation to date, 4900m, some llamas & alpacas, a few vicuña and some pretty amazing landscape. We stayed at the Killawasi Lodge...a little oasis in the dusty town of Yanque...that sits on the canyon edge and looks at the Uyo Uyo ruins. On our second day we relaxed, walked into town where we met some school children on the way back from their outdoor play. They were all red faced and still playing with their soccer ball in the street, laughing and joking with each other...a quick “hello” to us - as they like to practice English and they were swepted through the gates by their teacher. I love walking by the schools in the various towns and cities, as they are brightly painted, some with children’s handprints, have lots of outdoor play space, and include all three levels of school kids. They are usually decked out in full uniform, or gym uniform, which includes coats and sun hats. Another interesting sight on our walk was a volcano, Sabancaya, that was throwing some ash (no worries mom...all good). We were obviously tourists at that point as we walked toward the edge of town to get a better look...LOL! Just before our hike in the canyon two other couples arrived...from Ottawa...what are the odds. One of them is a firefighter, and knows Tom & Dave. The hike took us across a Canadian build bridge to Uyo Uyo and down to the base of the canyon before walking back up to the lodge for another fantastic meal.

On our last day we went to Cruz Del Condor to hopefully get a glimpse ... which we did, just 5 minutes before getting back on the bus. Both condors were juveniles as they didn’t have their white tipped wings yet. Hopping back on the bus for a few more stops at some awesome lookouts we made our way back to Arequipa.