Into the Canyon

Today (31st July) we entered Cotahausi canyon. At 3500m deep, it's the deepest in the world.

We continued along from the village for a couple of hours along increasingly narrow, winding dirt tracks until we reached the stop for our first walk of the day to Sipia waterfall. Just before we started out on the walk we looked back at the road we had just driven along and saw a cloud of dust from rock slide!

Sipia waterfall has 4 tiers and drops for more than 100m. During our walk we only encountered 1 other family, local Peruvians on holiday - they were the same family who were staying in our hostel.

Less than 5 percent of tourists that visit Arequipa come this far, we haven't seen another international tourist since we left Arequipa on our first day which made the journey feel much more special.

The Peruvian family seemed to be quite a forgetful lot as they not only left their camera case behind at the waterfall (which we had to run after them to give back to them) but they also left their teddy at the hostel. So we now have an extra passenger who goes by the name of Minny Mouse! The guide will give it back because they live in the same town as her.

After another hour of driving, past another forest of cacti, we arrived at the end of the road and had to make a 350m ascent up the canyon by foot to reach the village of Verlinga where we are staying tonight.

When we got to the village we went for a walk around, looking for fruit on the local farms and ending up at the edge of the village for sunset looking out into the canyon.

Our host family have lived in this house for generations and are the local wine makers. So before dinner we went to his wine store and sampled some of his 1 year old wines and boy were they strong!

After dinner we sat on the balcony and looked at the night sky - the Milky Way was clearly visible. The perfect end to a perfect day.

Above the Clouds

Well today's (30th July) been full of excitement. Firstly the ATM swallowed one of our cards as there was a power cut mid-transaction which didn't set the day off to a great start but we have spares so not a major problem. Slightly annoyed we set off on our 5 day trek into canyon territory and our first foray at altitude.

We started at around 2500m and slowly climbed throughout the day to over 4000m but that's skipping to the end of the day.

In the morning we visited the Toro Muerto petroglyphs. Strewn across the desert in the canyon are huge rocks from a volcanic eruption around 1000 years ago. On the rocks are carvings which are estimated to be 800 years old. Cats, llama, alpacas, foxes and people carved into around 5000 very large rocks. They were carved by migrating people on their annual journey from the mountain lake to the sea. Our favourite was a drawing that looked remarkably like the Cheshire cat.

In the afternoon we passed a forest of cacti whilst continuing up and up until we were above the clouds, a most beautiful sight.

It was here that our second exciting event happened - we got a puncture. But not any old puncture, one that flattens the tire of a land Rover in less than 5 minutes! So, on this narrow mountain road a new tyre had to be put on.

On we went, on to a narrow dirt road on the side of the canyon with our driver travelling a little too enthusiastically for comfort, but we're still alive...just.

After an couple of hours driving up the narrow road there was a loud crash and something that felt like the wheel falling off. My guess was remarkably accurate with the wheel rolling off the side off the road and the bumper ending up in a tree! Fortunately we weren't at the edge of canyon when this happened and the wheel was easily recovered by Stu.

Unfortunately this meant we didn't get to see the mountain lake but instead got to see the southern sky with absolutely no light pollution, with Saturn and Jupiter both clearly visible along with a satellite tracking across the sky.

After another two hours of slightly slower driving in the dark and regular pauses (to check the wheel was still there!) we arrived at our hostal around 9 pm. Shattered and a little worst for wear from the windy roads and the altitude we went straight to bed.

The Lines

After more than 24 hours of flights and then an 8 hour bus journey we finally arrived in Nazca yesterday.

Today we visited Cahuachi, a pre-Incan city covering more than 24 sq km. The ride there was like a rollercoaster, the car swaying side to side as we drove along the 25km dirt track.

Strewn beside the road were the remains of humans, skulls and bones picked clean by the birds then bleached white by the sun. In the past this area was a hot zone for gangs who carried out executions here and didn't try to hide their victims.

This afternoon we flew over the Nazca lines. We somehow managed to get upgraded, flying in a private plane and our trip lasting twice as long as it should! The astronaut was particularly cool waving up at us from the ground!

Tonight we are off to Arequipa on a 9 hour overnight bus ride then straight onto the world's two deepest canyons.

Almost Time To Go

We're all packed and ready to go and this post is my first test.

Hopefully I'll get enough internet access whilst I'm out there to add to it further!

Photos will be as-shot with no editing bar the occasional crop.  When I get back I'll try organising the blog so it looks better but the app is limited and can only put photos at the end of an entry.

Looking forward to the journey ahead!