It´s been a while since last we wrote, but fear not, we are alive and reasonably well (apart from the expected dodgy bellies and the altitude side effects!).
We are now part of a group of 12 and so far have travelled from Lima, through Pisco, Nazca and Arequipa, arriving back there today after a side trip to the Colca Canyon.

We got off to a bit of a slow start as the advice concerning Lima was ´Careful where you travel as it´s quite dangerous in places´ and for Pisco: ´Don´t leave the hotel´! Things picked up on the way to Nazca though. We stopped at some giant sand dunes where Rob had a chance to ride a dune buggy and go sandboarding. Then, at Nazca, we took a plane for 5 and flew over the Nazca lines. You can see all kinds of shapes and animals; huge figures drawn in the sand (some over a kilometre) - and noone has ever worked out where they´ve come from and who drew them. Or if they did, they´re not telling. The plane made most of us feel pretty ropey as it was very small and kept turning round and round the lines so we could get a good view. We managed to hold onto our breakfasts thankfully.

Since then things have got better and better! Arequipa (´the white city´) is beautiful and we enjoyed feeling safe walking around, seeing the sights and getting to know the group. The next day we took a bus to the Colca Canyon, reaching heights of up to 4900m along the way. We had some Coca tea to help with the altitude and saw mountains, llamas, alpacas and snow along the way. Arriving in our amazing hotel, with resident llama (watch out, he spits!), we were allocated a room with a view and a half. As the night drew in and the valley got colder and colder, we settled around the fire, drinking hot chocolates and playing Yahtzee (!).

This morning, we took a bus to the Colca Canyon for some spectacular views - seeing the rare Andean condors as well, which was a bonus, as there´s only 48 in the area. The Canyon is at 3600m altitude and we could look down to the river below and feel even dizzier than we had before. The area was so picturesque, with snow-capped mountains and grassy meadows all in the same vista - absolutely fantastic.

Now we´re preparing ourselves to fly to Cuzco - from where we´ll begin our trek to Macchu Picchu. So far so good Peru!