Arequipa to Colca Valley

On Saturday morning, April 9th, we got up at 6 am, had a cold shower since the water heater was apparently turned off, finished packing and were in the dining room for breakfast by 7 am. When we checked out, we left my big pack in storage until we got back. We had already arranged for 3 more nights on our return Sunday night, at 100 soles per night ($40 CA).
Our Colca Canyon guide arrived promptly at 7:30 and we loaded into a nice 30 person or so bus. It took another 3/4 of an hour to pick up other tourists from different hotels. Traffic was busy as usual so it took almost another hour to get to the north edge of the city. There, we stopped at a little shop to use the washroom and to buy a package of coca leaves (3 soles) for altitude sickness. At the edge of town, we stopped to take pictures of the volcanos. Arequipa is surrounded by several volcanos, some of which are active. Volcanic eruptions, earthquakes and resulting landslides are facts of life here.
From Arequipa, we climbed for a couple of hours up to the high plateau. The 2 lane road is paved but very winding with tight curves and numerous crosses marking deadly accidents. There are lots of trucks and buses and everyone drives as fast as possible. In Arequipa it's very common to see taxis, especially, that have lots of dents from minor accidents.
As we got to higher elevation, our guide showed everyone how to chew coca leaves. You take 6 or 7 leaves, chew them for about 10 minutes, add a little bit of black gooey mint tasting stuff sold with the coca to make it taste less bitter and swallow the saliva. Eventually, your tongue starts to feel a little numb. You spit out the residue of the leaves and that's it. Any energizing effect is very mild but apparently it helps with the altitude.
As we entered a national wildlife preserve, we saw our first vicuñas. Vicuñas are about the size and shape of the white-tailed deer we have at home. Beautiful creatures.
We drove a long way on the high plateau. At one point we stopped where an alpaca herder and his 2 sons were tending their herd. We were allowed to mingle in with the alpacas, which were quite tame, and take pictures. Alpacas and llamas look very similar. The easy way to tell them apart is to look at the tails. Llama tails stick up and then down at the tip. Alpaca tails just hang down. As we left, we gave the 2 little boys of the herder a small tip. They appeared to be very poor but hardy people.
We climbed even higher until we reached the maximum elevation of the road: 4,910 metres (over 16,000 feet), where there was a small monument. Not much grows at that elevation. There is a low round plant that grows only from 4,500 to 5,500 metres. It looks like a moss on a rock but it's actually a plant that can grow to about 30 centimetres high. It's not fluffy but rather very hard. It grows only 1 millimetre per year and apparently lives for several thousand years.
By about 1:30 in the afternoon we reached the little town of Chivay, the biggest town in the Colca Valley. We dropped off most of our group there, while 8 of us went on to the Killawasi Lodge in the village of Yanque. Our friends Bob and Germaine had been here a few weeks ago and recommended it to us. It's in a very pastoral location near the Colca River. Our room was one of about 4 in a separate building. The room and bathroom were very clean and nicely decorated. We had our own little patio where we sat later for happy hour. Ever resourceful, we had brought water, wine and a couple of cans of beer with us.
After a very late lunch of alpaca burgers (15 soles or $6 CA each) in the lodge restaurant, we went for a walk along the edge of the river gorge nearby. Despite the numbers of tourists visiting the Colca Canyon, life in Yanque seems to go on as it has for a long time. The first inhabitants here, long before the Incas or Spaniards, built terraced fields along the river to make flatter spots to farm. They used little caves in the cliffs (colcas) to store grain. They blocked the mouths of the little caves with stones to create granaries. On our Grand Canyon rafting trip a few years ago, we saw the same type of granaries created by the ancient native groups there. The colcas are no longer used but the terraced fields are still farmed. The farmers grow many different varieties of quinoa, potatoes and lots of other crops. They get only one harvest per year. The fields are passed down through inheritance for many generations.
Eventually, it was time for happy hour on our deck. In the lodge restaurant, there are always bowls of coca leaves and an urn of hot water to make coca tea. We started with some of that before enjoying some wine and beer. Eventually, we were driven inside by a thunderstorm and cold wind. We cranked up the electric heat in our room and were so tired and full from the alpaca burgers that we didn't even venture out for dinner. Another successful day.