Chivay

We left Arequipa at about 7 ready for our short drive to the next destination of Chivay. Breakfast was once again buffet style and we left promptly heading up into the mountains. En route we stopped to get some pictures of some wild llamas and these closely related llama things which I can't remember the name of. Apparently they were a protected species. The pass we drove over went over 4900m and when we made it to the top we got out for some pictures. It was very nippy up top though and it even tried to snow! We even stopped off at this cafe prior which sold various different coco teas and handicrafts.

We arrived into Chivay by lunchtime and after unpacking we were effectively given the afternoon as free time. There was the option to go to the nearby hot springs, although I instead went solo and went to what is debatably the highest Irish Bar in the world. La Paz and Cusco also claim this title as the one in Chivay is not Irish owned, but Chivay is the highest. I managed to watch the football here and see Southampton reach the semi finals of the cup by beating Arsenal, even if the commentary was in Spanish and I was the only person in the pub. It's always cool when hear the commentator just gooooooooaaaaalllll when they score.

After the pub I went back to the hotel and relaxed, despite the wifi being awful. Instead of going out for dinner in the evening, Chivay has a sizable street food area so I opted for the local cuisines instead of eating out. It was very nice. I then just spent the evening relaxing, although with a 5am start the next morning I typically couldn't sleep until like midnight.

The rural town of Chivay is the gateway to the magnificent Colca Canyon. Boasting some of the most spectacular mountain scenery in Peru, the
Colca Canyon is famous as being one of the best places in the world to spot the mighty Andean Condor, one of the largest birds in the world with a wingspan of around 2.5m. We left to try and see this bird at 6am after an early breakfast, stopping en route at various viewpoints to see the canyon. The drive was pretty special, and it was nice to once again have the roof seats open for even better views of the canyon.

We eventually stopped to go for a short walk along the edge of the canyon and try and spot the condor. The walk was pretty spectacular in scenery but we didn't see the bird. We did finish at these viewpoints though to try and spot the bird from there. It took a while but we were eventually treated to the sight of one, all be it from quite a distance. We left by 11 and started driving back towards Chivay, stopping at a few more viewpoints on the way back, and also a small village where we saw some llamas and eagles on display.

When back in Chivay we went to buffet restaurant which was nice and serving 3 courses including a really nice strawberry cheesecake. The afternoon was then free time to relax, so I did just that. We did however have an earthquake. I was just sitting there in a chair and it started shaking along with lights, only for a few seconds but it stopped me from what I was doing. It felt really weird. Afterwards I went to watch the sunset and the nearby volcano which had been spewing ash since we arrived was billowing a lot more ash out than normal. The sunset was spectacular though!

After the events and finding out it was a 6.3 magnitude earthquake with the epicentre about 200km away, I went out for dinner at this local Andean restaurant where I had the alpaca which was very good. It was literally a whole family plus me! I then had an early night with another 5am start planned for the following morning.