It was an early start today (1st August), leaving Verlinga at 5.30 am to get to the canyon edge before dawn to make the descent back to the car. The grass looked particularly golden as the sun rose over the mountain top giving us a great excuse to stop for a few minutes to take some photographs as walking, even down hill, at 2500m is hard work, although nowhere near as hard as the upwards ascent during the hottest part of the day yesterday!
We drove back along the same road as the previous day but with the morning light the red in the rocks was even more pronounced.
By 8 am we had finally arrived back in Cotahausi town and had breakfast with a local family. Their baby Lucia took a particular liking to us and they insisted on taking a photo with us and giving us extra food: some strange looking orange fruits which were rather tasty :-)
After breakfast we continued on along the winding dirt track roads gradually climbing higher and higher reaching around 3500m. We stopped frequently as there were children by the side of the road waiting for food from the occasional passer-by. We had fortunately stocked up on sweets and fruit!
Farming llamas is the main way of life in this area of Arequipa and we saw lots and lots of them along with the occasional pack of wild alpaca (vi cuna).
For lunch we arrived in a small town where school had just finished. Mining keeps most of the locals in this town in work. The company buys clothes for the children and has built schools and play areas.
After lunch we checked into our hostel in Andagua. This was going to be our coldest night yet. There was no heating and at 3700m it's quite cold!
After dinner we went for a walk up one of the 8 volcanoes in the area which is part of El Valle de los Volcanes. At the base of the volcano was the remains of an ancient Wari city estimated to be around 1000 years old.
From the ground it looked like a few abandoned huts with cacti growing in them. From above its full extent could be admired, stretching out into the distance, the edge marked by the change from black to gold.
On our ascent up the volcano, now both more acclimatised to the altitude, we became a local tourist attraction with a holidaying Peruvian family wanting to take their picture with us.
When we finally reached the top, having discovered an ancient tomb complete with skulls and broken pottery scattered across the path we settled down to watch the sun set. To our surprise two condors flew directly overhead making their way home. Not many condors live in that area so this was quite a treat!
We then made our way down the volcano in the half light, seeing night flowering cacti as we went down, returning to our icy cold room ready to start another day.
No comments:
Post a Comment