PERU: The Colca Canyon and Condors

The Colca Valley and Colca Canyon in southern Peru are about 160 km northwest of Arequipa. 

They follow the Colca River as it cuts through the Andes.

The Colca Valley is a green ribbon surrounded by high volcanic mountains, with villages, farms, and huge agricultural terraces carved into the hillsides.

Many of these terraces were built by pre-Inca peoples and many are still farmed today.

The terraces were solutions for growing crops at high altitude, controlling water, and preventing erosion. People are still farming the same mountain terraces that their ancestors created hundreds of years before the Spanish arrived.

Colca has deep valleys, green farmland, snow-capped peaks and tiny villages clinging to the mountainsides.

 

The air is crisp in early April, which is fall in the southern hemisphere.

The valley gradually narrows and becomes the Colca Canyon, where the river has cut deeply into volcanic rock.

The Colca Canyon is among the deepest canyons in the world. Some sections have a steep and rugged drop more than 3,200–3,400 metres (10,500–11,000 ft) from the high rim down to the river. For comparison, the Grand Canyon is about 1,800 metres (6,000 ft) deep at its deepest point from the rim down to the Colorado River. 

This provides perfect conditions for the condor to thrive. The Andean condor is one of the largest flying birds in the world and is a symbol of the Andes. At Colca Canyon, they are famous because they glide along the canyon walls using rising warm air currents (called thermals), often appearing to float without flapping their wings. 

After jockeying for a position in the viewing area, I finally nestled (pun intended) in an almost perfect spot and I was able to watch a perch where the condors would come in for a rest.

I am not generally into birds, BUT, we got SO lucky with a lot of condors showing off for us. Actually, there were 13 of them! It was honestly so exciting to watch.

The problem with having a great perch, and tons of condors soaring around, is that I get so excited and take a LOT of pictures, and then have to spend the rest of the day and evening editing 867 pictures.

How many condors can you count perched on the rock?

The brown ones are the young ones and require more rest stops. 

Some Cocktail Parry Trivia to impress people: Condor wingspans can reach around 3–3.3 metres (10–11 feet). For comparison, the American bald eagle wingspan is about 1.8–2.3 m  (about 6–7.5 ft.) So an Andean condor can have a wingspan about 50% wider than a bald eagle. 

They are scavengers, feeding mainly on dead animals rather than hunting.

They can live 50 to 70 or more years in the wild.

They mate for life and usually raise one chick every couple of years.

They are important in Andean cultures. Many Indigenous groups saw the condor as a connection between the earthly world and the spiritual world because it flies so high.

We feel very fortunate because we had great weather and saw so many condors.

You should feel extra grateful that I was able to cull my photos and show just the best! 

(Or so I think.)