We are safely back in Arequipa after an eventful and amazing three days trekking the Andes.

We woke up on saturday morning early for our 7:45am pick up and for the first time of the trip there was stomach ache to deal with. Hayley was not feeling at all well, not even touching her breakfast which was a sure sign things were not ok. Anyway we got into the van and met our tour leader Elias and then went round picking up the rest of our group, first Martin from Holland then a British couple James and Adele and last but not least Doug and Rachel from Santa Barbara,USA. We set off and travelled into the countryside, stopping to see some animals and then a small hike to see a lovely bit of mountain scenery. I cant remember the names but we climbed steadily rising to the highest point which was at 4000 ft, about the same height as Mont Blanc. The air was v thin up there and everyone found it hard to breath and all developed headaches except Doug who we later found out had climbed to 26,000ft on Everest some years ago! From the highest point we could see the ring of volcanoes that surrounds Arequipa and the source of the Amazon. Hayley meanwhile was únfortunately not feeling any better.

We spent the rest of the day touring through the most spectacular scenery, huge valleys and high mountains capped with snow on a scale i have never seen before. We arrived at about 6pm into CabanaCondes, a small village at the top of the Colca Canyon which we were trekking down the following day. Hayley had got no better and had still not eaten....

That night was mostly spent with H being v ill and when we woke the following morning there was no chance of her trekking down to the bottom of the canyon. Given the size of the room and width of the bathroom door we got to know each other a little better. Poor Hayley really was ever so ill and was not impressed when i declined to spoon her after her 7th trip to the toilet..if you had heard what i did you would have thought twice too. The lengths she would go to to avoid staying in a tent for the night did surprise me but it was not nice for her. In the morning after some umming and arring Hayley said I should go without her as it would be a shame for us both to miss out.

I set out with the rest of the group and we walked down hill over rocks and a very steep and quite slippery trail, it took us about three hrs to reach the bottom stopping on the way to admire the scenery and spotting a couple of Condors gliding below us. At the bottom was an oasis with two thermal spring pools and where our camp site was. Some of the group went off for another walk in the afternoon whilst i caught up on a few zzz?s. We ate early as we were to get up at 3:45am in order to get back to the top of the canyon in time to go the a viewing point to watch Condors.

Sleep was fitful, interupted mainly by a horse eating grass very noisily about a yard from our tents..some of the group thought it was me snoring...

We got up and started walking in the dark! Torch in one hand trekking pole in the other..The pace was quick and the slope steep and after about 30 minutes i realised this was not going to be as easy as i thought.. At various stages i seriously doubted a) my sanity and b) my chances of making it up to the top..Anyway after the toughest 2hrs 20minutes physically of my life we were at the top..most groups do it in between 3 and 4hrs so i was pleased if knackered.

Even more pleasing was the sight of H waiting at the top ,resplendent in her pink woolly hat with side bits and tassles..Thankfully she was feeling a bit better,,although still not really eating..

Next we went to a lookout where in the morning you can see Condors heading out for a days hunting. We were nearing the point when to our left a Condor rose from the valley to be eye level with us all in the van where it stayed for what seemed like ages but in reality was probably only a few seconds..impossible to describe really but typically none of us had our cameras out so much like the Pandas in the kitkat advert, you will have to take our word for it. We sped up to the point and were treated to perhaps over 15 Condors circling close and far from us with the Andes as a backdrop.

This for me was the highlight of the trip so far, one already full of highlights. We carried on the touring for the rest of the day stopping for a swim in a hot spring and lunch before arriving back to Arequipa at about 5pm. Apart from Hayley being ill it was an amazing trip with a great group of people including two Americans who weren't obnoxious!!

Yesterday evening we watched someone eating guinea pig...think we may give it a miss having seen the claws and eyes still on it...H is back eating again and also singing, a sure sign that she is well again.

Adios!