{"id":11759,"date":"2018-05-08T06:18:12","date_gmt":"2018-05-07T20:18:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ourpangaea.net\/?p=11759"},"modified":"2018-05-08T06:18:12","modified_gmt":"2018-05-07T20:18:12","slug":"colca-canyon-and-lake-titicaca","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ourpangaea.net\/?p=11759","title":{"rendered":"Colca Canyon and Lake Titicaca"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Tramp stops for a good view of the Three Canyons park we drove through<\/p><\/div>\n

One of the joys of travel are the surprises, big and small, that occur every day when you are visiting new places.\u00a0 And Peru, probably more than any other country we\u2019ve been to, has been full of surprises.\u00a0 For instance, who knew that the principal tree in Peru, even up to 4,000 metres, is the good ol\u2019 Aussie gum tree.\u00a0 We also didn\u2019t know that the Peruvian coast is one long, deep and desolate desert, by some reckoning the driest desert on earth.\u00a0 We also thought the Andes would be a long string of jagged snow-capped peaks with beautiful glaciers.\u00a0 Well, those do exist but most of the high-altitude areas we\u2019ve visited are green rolling open plains.\u00a0 We love those kinds of surprises!<\/p>\n

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A mother wraps up her baby and escorts her daughter to school in a high altitude village<\/p><\/div>\n

We left the land of the Incas \u2013 in itself a wonderful surprise \u2013 and crossed the high plains to Colca Canyon, said to be one of the deepest canyons in the world (twice as deep as the Grand Canyon!).\u00a0 To get there involved climbing up onto the high Andean plains, camping at 4,340 metres and spending virtually all the following day above 4,000 metres.\u00a0 As our GPS led us slightly astray it included an unexpected and spectacular visit to the Three Canyons area which was a highlight of the day.<\/p>\n

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A couple of families live and work together at over 4,000 metres – a tough existence<\/p><\/div>\n

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The stunning scenery of the Three Canyons area caught us by surprise<\/p><\/div>\n

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A young woman goes about her business – it would be fantastic to speak her local Quecha language and hear more about her life<\/p><\/div>\n

Away from canyons the vast horizon-stretching plains were stunningly beautiful, open rolling hills, clear cold creeks running everywhere, mixed herds of llamas, alpacas, sheep and even some cattle shepherded by men and women in traditional dress who spend their whole lives minding their small herds in these remote open pastures.<\/p>\n

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Washing day brings all the mothers and children down to the river<\/p><\/div>\n

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Llamas and alpacas are the only animals that can live at these high altitudes and they are vital for the lives of those people who live up there<\/p><\/div>\n

But the roads were atrocious, single dirt tracks, deep washouts, long muddy sections, uncertain water crossings and bone-jarring potholes.\u00a0 Travel was slow going but we did finish the day driving on the south rim of the famed Colca Canyon, taking in the views of the deep cut in mother earth caused by the Colca River and camping at one of the lookouts for the condors which nest in the cliffs and soar on the winds that flow through the deep chasms.<\/p>\n

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Hang on a second guys, Tramp wants to get through<\/p><\/div>\n

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Colca Canyon is said to be one of the deepest in the world – it started out more modestly but still featured some great views<\/p><\/div>\n

In the morning we moved down to the prime viewing platform under a perfect blue sky and watched with awe as these majestic condors used the thermal air currents of the canyon to float below, around and above us.\u00a0 This was great stuff, the dramatic deep canyon as a background, the condors floating by us without a care in the world, at one stage as many as 20 of them in the air or perched nearby.\u00a0 We struggled to drag ourselves away after an hour and a half.<\/p>\n

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A juvenile condor rests on a nearby rock and surveys the scene<\/p><\/div>\n

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A mature adult – recognisable with their distinctive black and white colours – and a juvenile soar through the air below us<\/p><\/div>\n

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This handsome guy was just as curious about us as we were about him<\/p><\/div>\n

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Condor hunter – Julie looks out at the scene below us – we spent almost two hours watching these majestic birds cruising around us<\/p><\/div>\n

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One of the great curiosities of Peru is the different styles of women’s hats in the different regions – we hadn’t seen this one before<\/p><\/div>\n

The road north to the city of Puna on the shores of Lake Titicaca started with a climb up and over the mountains, reaching a numbing height of 4,910 metres (16,100 feet), our highest point on this trip.\u00a0 From this saddle we could see numerous snow-capped peaks over 6,000 metres and wild vicunas roaming about. Our GPS then led us astray again, directing us to negotiate some diabolical dirt tracks in an uber-remote area and making a couple tricky river crossings.\u00a0 But we loved crossing the beautiful high plains, cursed our GPS and laughed at our good fortune for being there.<\/p>\n

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Tramp takes a breather after climbing over a pass of 4,900 metres<\/p><\/div>\n

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We’re all smiles on the high pass even if we are short on breath<\/p><\/div>\n

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The GPS did us a favour by taking us on some crazy tracks so we could experience rough roads and fascinating remote scenery<\/p><\/div>\n

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One more photo of these alpacas because they are too cute to pass up<\/p><\/div>\n

Puna is the major town on Lake Titicaca, the largest navigable lake in the world at 3,800 metres (12,500 feet).\u00a0 Amongst other things the lake is famous for the unique and fascinating lives of the indigenous people living on some of its islands.\u00a0 The next morning we had to organise a oil and filter change for Tramp in a local pseudo-garage before catching a ferry to the island of Uros.<\/p>\n

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Not up to Ford standard – Tramp needed an oil change and a local mechanic was happy to crawl underneath and help us out<\/p><\/div>\n

Calling Uros an island is a bit of a stretch because the people who live there actually live on floating islands made of the reed that is so prevalent in the shallows of the lake. \u00a0Not only are their islands made of reed but also their houses, furniture, boats and almost everything else.\u00a0 These people, who have lived on the islands for 500 years, have forged out a unique but somewhat harsh life as fishermen who traded with the mainland.\u00a0 Today they also host tourists and sell handicrafts.<\/p>\n

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Uros is actually a series of floating islands made of reed strapped together where people live in their reed huts<\/p><\/div>\n

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Everything seemed to be made of this highly durable reed – even large boats and attractions for the tourists – which they harvest in the lake<\/p><\/div>\n

We visited a couple of islands of the Uros group and enjoyed the afternoon out on the water.\u00a0 I mean after all, it is Lake Titicaca, the skies were blue, the distant mountains were covered in snow and we didn\u2019t have to sleep in a damp floating reed house that night.\u00a0 Instead we motored eastward along the coast of the lake and camped at the public pier of a small town called Juli.<\/p>\n

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The women of one village wait to greet us as we pull into their little island<\/p><\/div>\n

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This woman invited us into her home which was only big enough for a small bed, a cooking area and space for us to sit down on her reed floor<\/p><\/div>\n

Our time in Peru had come to an end.\u00a0 We enjoyed the diversity of this country with its long coastal desert, great beaches, stunning mountains, terrible roads and fascinating culture.\u00a0 Of course the highlight of our visit was famous Machu Picchu which lived up to all its expectations but we also enjoyed Lake Titicaca, the Nazca Lines, the Corillera Blancas and Colca Canyon.\u00a0 It was also a return trip for me which was fun and a bit of nostalgia.\u00a0 Peru has its issues, that\u2019s for sure, but it is definitely a top drawer place to visit and we relished every moment.<\/p>\n

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The market of a little mountain village featured mainly different types of corn and a couple other grains<\/p><\/div>\n

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One of the joys of travel are the surprises, big and small, that occur every day when you are visiting new places.\u00a0 And Peru, probably more than any other country we\u2019ve been to, has been full of surprises.\u00a0 For instance, who knew that the principal tree in Peru, even up to 4,000 metres, is the good ol\u2019 Aussie gum tree.\u00a0 We also didn\u2019t know that the Peruvian coast is one …<\/span> Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11772,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[45],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11759","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-peru"],"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.ourpangaea.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/DSC_1014.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ourpangaea.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11759","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ourpangaea.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ourpangaea.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ourpangaea.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ourpangaea.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11759"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.ourpangaea.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11759\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11792,"href":"https:\/\/www.ourpangaea.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11759\/revisions\/11792"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ourpangaea.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/11772"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ourpangaea.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11759"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ourpangaea.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11759"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ourpangaea.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11759"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}