Very Tardy Peru...days 1-2

So after hearing it from...oh...everyone that we (I) haven't posted Peru pictures from our trip in October and I'm going to lose all of my oh-so-loyal followers, I thought I would take a baby step and put up pictures from our first Peru Stop-Over...Colca Canyon. I wanted to wait and photoshop them up for y'all...but I'm a bit too lazy lately.

We had 4 separate cities/locations within Peru to hit in our 10 days there (yes, we were crazy), because we wanted to see EVERYTHING, and I couldn't get a ton of time off of work. I now wish that I would have quit my job and just stayed there for 3 months, like all of our Aussie friends did.

So local #1 - Colca Canyon. Why Colca? It's the "Grand Canyon of South America" up in the Andes, and is the last habitat of the nearly extinct Andean Condor. We flew into Arequipa, which is one of the larger cities in Peru. We then took a tour bus up the canyon and were able to see quite a bit of the local flavor along the way.

Our hostel was gorgeous with historic, local color reflective of the city and the Spanish influences.

We headed up on the canyon and were greeted at each of our outlook stops by local merchants. I fell in love with the little chicas who were selling souvenirs, I wanted to bring one of them home!

We met llamas with pink bangs and ear piercing..it reminded me of our friend Cecilia from Columbia...

As we continued up to the Colca Canyon, we went through many cities that date back to before the Incas. In this particular city, gold and copper were found in the hills about 5 years ago, and prospectors came out to purchase the lands and turn the city into a mining town. They offered the villagers a good sum of money for their lands, enough to get them out of living in poverty.

The villagers came together and decided that, although they were living in huts without plumbing and electricity, they would continue to live the way of their ancestors, and continue to live simple lives without the influence of outside evils. Wow - talk about impressive decisions.

When I tried to take a picture of this woman from the front, she hit behind her skirt. These women wear 6-12 skirts, for warmth and to enhance their "womanly" figure.

A night and a day later, we made it up to the viewing point for the Condors. The valley was spectacular, but because of the narrowness and depth of the canyon, I couldn't get a good picture showing the entire thing. But here's an idea of the beauty of the area.

And at the canyon, a ways up into the Andes. We're at an elevation of about 12,000 feet.

So we perched up on a ledge, and watched for about 1 hour, and finally were rewarded with a condor sighting. Look close - you can see it in the middle flying away from me - try to zoom in...it's hard to imagine, but it has a wing span of up to 10 feet, and it's head looks like a vulture.