The canyon

Well, I got back last night around 9 pm from our trip out to Colca Canyon. It was a great trip...although it could have been longer. We left Arequipa around 2pm on Friday and after stopping at many different places along the way, made it to Yanque around 7:30pm. After checking in we ate a yummy dinner of alapca in different forms. Some had a grilled steak while others had it mixed into different things. After dinner half of us decided to go try out the sauna...it was wonderful! It made me feel like I was back in Pucallpa. Nice and hot and very humid! A few of us really liked it...the others prefered the hot tubs. After we were all done in the sauna and hot tub, we gathered in our room with the guys to play cards. We played a game called "Up and Down the River" which is lots of fun and kept us busy until about midnight when we finally finished and decided it was time for bed.

The next morning we all got up and had breakfast between 8 and 8:30am. Most of the group wanted to go on a hike to see some pre-inca ruins and visit the hotsprings. Pam and I decided to stay back at the hotel and get massages. I am glad that I stayed because everyone said the trail was pretty rough in spots...I don't think I would have made it. Once everyone got back around 12:45pm we decided to quickly order lunch there at the hotel and take it with us in the bus to see the rest of the canyon. Well, the quick part didn't work out so well. We waited about an hour for our food and so got a late start on our drive out to the Cruz del Condor. Finally we got on our way out to see the condors. It is so amazing to drive through mountains and see all the beauty that God created. We got to the Cruz del Condor and only saw 4 condors...very far away. Oh well, if I ever go back I will have to remember to get up early in the morning and go see them when they fly farther up. Even still...it was amazing to see and I am very glad that I went. Our trip back was full of singing in the bus and some resting. It was a full day and definitely made for sleeping well in my bed here in Arequipa. You never really appreciate something like your bed until you are gone from it for a while. I have tons of pictures from the trip and so I decided to just make an album on Picasa and you all can go look at them there if you want to. Those of you who don't want to...you are missing some amazing pictures! http://picasaweb.google.com/christileber/ColcaCanyon02?authkey=cd67qxHtnDs