The plan was to only create one post on Peru but as our travels within Peru progressed it soon became obvious this would be difficult, so here is Peru Part 1., Lima to Colca Canyon.
By the map below you can see our route and the prime destinations we stopped at during this part of our Peruvian travels.
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| Key destinations in Peru during Part 1. of our travels |
Lima
We had flown into Lima Airport a few times this trip on the way to somewhere else, each time, this city of 10+M, seemed grimy and dull.
This time, when flying in from Bogota Colombia, we were staying in Lima as the start of our visit through Peru and its almost 33M population. Again it still appeared grimy, with a dull grey sky and what looked like layers of thick dust atop the buildings near the airport at least.
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| Flight from Bogota, Colombia to Lima, Peru |
Our Spanish only speaking driver greeted and hurried us to his car, but before we left the airport gates, insisted through gesture we lock both our rear doors, the front ones had already been locked. Hmmmm, we thought!
We soon knew why as we entered the seething mess of traffic going every which way, each driver trying to bluff their way in front of someone else. We naturally did the same and it was a little bewildering because some bluffs were more aggressive than others.
We only had a one-night stay in a suburb called Miraflores, reputed as being very safe in this cauldron of a city. Indeed, Miraflores was a very pleasant area compared to how our entry to Lima started and it wasn’t long before we were out and about exploring it.
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| Public space artwork within Miraflores |
Our son Callan had stressed we enjoy one of Lima’s very good reputations… good food, so we did and he was right. Lima has a disproportionate number of very innovative, high quality restaurants to choose from.
Our guide met us next morning and we started a city tour of both Miraflores and Lima, starting at an ancient massive mud brick pyramid like temple called Huaca Pucllana.
Its about 500m in length, 200m in width and 22m in height, is being restored and was built around 500AD. Being a religious and administrative centre, it was used amongst other things, for human sacrifices to the gods by the local Lima culture.
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| Small section of Huaca Pucliana 'pyramid' built using mud bricks 1,500+ years ago |
Whilst in Miraflores, we learned that Lima is misty/cloudy very often due to the influence of the Humbolt current on the city, bringing cold water to its shores from Antarctica. The constant cloud however brings little rain and hence the reason so many buildings from the air look dusty.
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| Mist over ocean around Miraflores caused by Humbolt current |
Soon we were in the heart of the original colonial area of Lima city, visiting a few of the old churches, one with incredible timber work in it, before venturing down into the catacombs where ~70,000 people are believed buried, bones and skulls stored neatly throughout.
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| Incredible timber decorations in one of Lima's prime churches |
Lima has a nicer ‘heart’ than our first impressions suggested when we finally reached the main square with its beautiful 300-year-old fountain at its centre.
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| Section of main square in Lima |
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| Old colonial buildings in central Lima |
Paracas
Our time in Lima was soon over and we boarded a Cruz Del Sur bus to travel south along the Peruvian coast. South America is renowned for its comfortable long distance buses and it proved a great way to really see the countryside, especially in Peru.
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| These buses are very comfortable to travel in |
For a start, most of the countryside we saw is typically VERY barren, no trees, grass, shrubs… nothing. There is plenty of dull brown dirt, mountains and rock and people living near the highway in small, rustic timber shacks. Might sound a little boring to you but it wasn’t.
Occasionally we would descend down along a very windy section of highway from the dusty dry plateau towards a riverbed and would almost be shocked to see lush green market gardens full of vegetables, before then climbing back up to the dry, barren countryside.
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| Descending into the occasional lush valleys from the barren plateaus |
After a 4hr bus trip we pulled into Paracas located right on the coast and unfortunately, our transfer wasn’t there. We discovered our hotel was only a few hundred metres away, so we walked to it instead and checked in, a very embarrassed driver turning up about 15mins later.
The hotel was massive with a huge pool, great room with views to the ocean and many boats bobbing out the front of our window. Next day we learned why we were really here whilst in a queue with a few hundred other people, all waiting to board their allocated speedboats.
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| View from our room in Paracas overlooking the pool and beyond |
Soon on a boat we headed out to sea, our first stop being the mysterious prehistoric geoglyph, Paracas Candelabra, estimated to have been created in at least 200BC if not earlier. It is 40cm deep, with rocks placed either side of the ‘carving’ into hardened soil and is up to 200m tall. Impressive… even if under gloomy skies.
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| Style of boat used to visit the scenery off Paracas |
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| The massive 2,200+ yr old Paracas Candelabra geoglyph |
Off again we sped further out to sea until we saw massive numbers of birds congregating together and diving into the water to feed. We soon saw where the constant stream of birds were coming from, our destination, Ballestas Islands, a national reserve for wildlife as well as a collection area for guano (shit).
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| A few birds flying out from the islands to feed |
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| typical landscape of one of the islands |
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| Birds, birds and more birds still on one of the islands |
These islands are home for 1,500 species of birds and a large number of sea lions.
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| Pretty laid back sea lions |
There were certainly a LOT of birds on the islands, probably millions of them and some of the stand out species were:
Humboldt Penguins
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| A group of Humbolt penguins heading down to the ocean |
Peruvian Pelican
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| Preening Peruvian pelican |
Guanay Cormorant
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| A few Guanay cormorants |
Red Legged Cormorant
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| Quite rare Red Legged Cormorant |
Peruvian Booby
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| Peruvian Boobies |
Inca Tern
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| Inca Tern |
It was a staggering display of huge numbers of birds either heading to sea to feed or looking after babies… quite amazing.
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| More birds going off to feed |
As soon as we reached back to the shore we were rushed back to the bus depot to catch another comfortable bus, this time a 3hr trip with our destination this time being Nazca.
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| Some of the local fishing fleet |
Nazca
Early next morning we were meant to be picked up at 7am, but this was delayed due to foggy weather, so we had to wait patiently for a few hours till it lifted enough for us to make our way to Nazca Airport and our 30 min flight over the famous Nazca lines.
When it was time to board the little single engine Cessna, due to my size, in smaller planes they usually put me up front.
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| Our plane for the flight over the Nazca lines |
This time, Rob and I had to squeeze into the back 2 seats of the plane, a somewhat robust lady in the hip department taking the seats closer to the front after she had managed to finally prize her way through the entry door.
With cameras and faces squeezed up next to the windows and flying at only 500m above the ground, it was fairly easy to see each of the famous geoglyphs in the still dull skies, banking left then right, so each side of the plane could get good views over each of them.
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| Our actual flight path over Nazca lines, including when we circled individual geoglyphs |
Was worth both the wait and effort to finally get to see them!
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| Man on the side of a mountain |
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| Hummingbird |
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| More interesting Nazca Line shapes |
Arequipa
12 hours later we arrived into a city called Arequipa, were taken to our hotel and finally got to sleep around 3:30am, very tired indeed.
At 9:00am our guide arrived to start a tour of this city, which sits at 2,335m above sea level, starting with a viewpoint overlooking a fertile valley along a river.
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| Fertile valley in Arequipa |
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| One of the volcanoes near Arequipa |
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| New species of hummingbird we saw in Arequipa |
It was built primarily out of white volcanic rock of which there is abundance in Arequipa and the colour of the rock was so glary for monastery inhabitants, the buildings were painted in bright colours.
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| Various scenes from within the De Samta Clara monastery |
300-400 people lived here at its height and the average life span of its occupants was ~40yrs… it was a strict and very disciplined life.
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| Kitchen facilities |
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| Open air laundry where clothes washed by hand |
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| Cathedral in the main square |
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| More of the historical and elegant buildings of Aewquipa |
Colca Canyon
It was an interesting 4 hr drive leaving Arequipa to the town of Chivay, first having to circle Pichu Pich volcano and then starting to climb constantly in altitude.
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| 4,000m altitude plateau on way Chivay with Pichu Pics volcano in distance |
The countryside was barren with short brown grasses covering it, which was popular with small groups of vicuña, lamas and alpacas grazing contently next to the road.
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| Group of vicuña |
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| Grazing lama |
Nearing Chivay was an observation point most tourist vehicles stopped at, including ours, at an altitude of 4,919m, the highest we had certainly reached, and in the distance could be seen Sabancaya volcano erupting and belching smoke high into the sky.
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| Scenery at almost 5,000m above sea level |
We had been driving for a while on a high plateau and to reach Chivay had to descend down a steep stunning zig-zag road, reaching an adobe style hotel for our overnight stay.
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| The drive down from the plateau ti Chivay |
Next morning on the way to Colca Canyon, we visited a few small villages perched in the valleys, witnessing dancing by young people in traditional dress and visiting a few very old churches.
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| Young local dancers in traditional dress |
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| More active Sabancaya volcano which almost destroyed the village years prior |
Most villages were also surrounded by large and impressive 500-700 year old terraces built by the Incas and used for growing food, some still in use.
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| Ancient Inca terraces still exist |
So the time had come to visit Colca Canyon itself, one of the deepest canyons in the world at 3,270m and not massively wide, which made for some spectacular views.
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| Looking down into Colca Canyon |
Well we were in luck when we spotted some flying along the edge of the canyon, so we parked the vehicle and walked about 1km to reach their location. It was very windy which meant great flying conditions for the 20-30 condors in this location.
It was fantastic to see them sitting about 20m from us on the edge, a combination of adult and juvenile birds before launching themselves off the edge of the cliff and catching the wind to soar effortlessly back and forth below us.
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| Adult condor doing what they do best, soaring on the winds |
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| Juvenile condor |
Other condors were resting together; some stretching their huge wings and a few were engaged in mating. It was a fabulous privilege to be in their company!
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| Resting condors perched on the edge of Colca Canyon |
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| A condor stretches its huge wings |
Eventually we had to drag ourselves away and make the drive back to Arequipa, very satisfied at what we had seen during the entirety of this visit to Colca Canyon.
After a very pleasant night back in Arequipa, it was an early morning start and a trip to the airport for the beginning of Part 2. of our Peru travels and something I had personally been keen to see for 40+ years, so until that post… go well!
CLICK HERE - More photos of Peru Part 1. Lima to Colca Canyon
CLICK HERE - More photos of Peru Part 1. Lima to Colca Canyon
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