Vale la Pena!

I arrived in Arequipa, a cute city in Southern Peru, and immediately booked a 3-day trekking tour through Colca Canyon, the world´s largest canyon! In spanish they say "vale la pena" for things that are difficult, but worth of the effort. This trek was definately that...

The Central plaza in Arequipa

Colca Valley-From the bus window on the way to the start of the trek.An indigenous woman in Cabanoconde, our starting point.Off we go!My group for the trek.
Peeking over the edge at 3191m down! It´s going to be a long climb back up on the 3rd day!

You just can´t keep me off of the big rocks!


There were tons of different kinds of cactuses everywhere!After a long day of hiking down the canyon, I couldn´t have asked for a cuter place to spend the night!

Day 2: Walking through the bottom of the canyon and visiting some off the traditional villages that live 3000 meters below grocery stores, buses and movie theaters...

Once agin, we get to stay in fabulous little huts! This one even had a pool! They had the cutest little bunch of animals at the huts we stayed at the second day! A baby donkey...And an alpaca! I was with two Belgium guys and we could not decide if Alpacas spit like llamas. They do. This photo must have been the last straw for the alpaca because right after it was taken, he started spitting on everyone. The worst casualities were a Portuguese guy and the baby donkey.This tree contains a hallucinogenic flower that lasts for 3 days! Much stronger than the more famous San Pedro cactus, which lasts for 3 hours.

Day 3: Not really any pictures from this one. We woke up at 2:30 in the morning (which was very strange for my biological clock because I normally go to BED at this time) and made the ARDUOUS 3 hour hike back up the canyon. We climbed 1200 meters straight up the side of the canyon! I really, really struggled on this one. I know I keep saying this everytime I do another hike. But this is now the NEW "Hardest Hike of My Life."

Please note how excited we are to be at the top. The girl squatting next to me is one of the top 10 runners in Australia. And she said it was hard...so I don´t feel so bad. But then again, everytime I was sucking air and felt like I wanted to jump off the edge of the canyon to make it all go away...she seemed like she was just going for an afternoon stroll. We also made it up just in time to see the sun rise over the mountains. If you have never seen this, mark it on your list of things to do before you die. It is AMAZING.

Sarah on the bus. Exhausted. Hungry. Freezing
Back in town for some breakfast.

Then we were off to soak in some nearby thermal springs. Which was heaven sent after the morning´s hike. Then another short drive to Cruz del Condor to watch the Condors! I did see a few of these GIGANTIC birds, but didn´t get any pictures :(
The indigenous people of Colca Canyon. They have the most colorful and detailed dress of any of the indigenous people I have seen so far on my trip.