Colca Canyon

The Blues at Colca Canyon...(thank god for shades!!)

Colca Valley .....and......a Condor over Colca Canyon

We went from Arequipa over the mountains (4,910m at the highest point) to Colca Canyon. We felt a bit breathless and light headed with the altitude, but we were given the old Inca remedy of coca leaf tea and also coca leaves to chew on (you can buy them from the newsagents !!). We don´t know if it worked or if it was psycho sematic, but we felt better, so that´s the main thing. We stayed over, in a town called Chivay...which was bloody freezing !!! Luckily our bed had about 10 Llama hair blankets which kept us warm, but also kept us pinned to the bed, because they were so heavy. We both woke up, at about 3am, with pressure on our chest...it felt like Beni (our old cat) had come back from the grave and was sitting on us...but it was a combination of the altitude and the blankets. We felt a bit better after some deep breaths.

Next morning (at 6am) we went to Colca Valley which is an amazing sight, with terracing right down the valley and then onto Colca Canyon to see the condors which nest in the canyon. We were very lucky as we were told we might only see one or two (if any), but in fact saw about 20 in total, along with some eagles. Conditions must have perfect

Beni and Jeni hit Arequipa

Beni and Jeni at the Plaza Mayor, Arequipa

The Nazca Lines

The Astronaut

The Monkey

The Spider

The Hummingbird

We went to Nasca to see the Nasca lines. These are HUGE pictures drawn in the desert dating back to Inca times. We had a flight booked (in a plane that was like a car with wings - 4 seats including the pilots), and flew out over the desert. Debo did not feel too good as the plane keep banking to the left and right, but was okay after it touched back down, or we should say bounced down. Nobody knows exactly how they were drawn to such details, but they were pretty amazing and the pictures don´t really do them justice.

Forbidden land

The forbidden land....enticing tourists with its coloured houses and mystical cross on top of the hill

We went down to the river and saw a big cross in the distance. When we looked over, we saw this hill (with the cross on top) with loads of coloured houses on it. It all looked very pretty. We were warned though, by the guy in the hostel, not to cross over the river though, or if we did, not to take anything valuable. We heeded his advice (especially with our track record) and took pictures from afar.

(See....we are learning)

Cambio de Guardar

Main Square in Lima

(with a slight police presence...so there is no funny business)

Went into Lima central today (in a little crazy minibus, that you have to jump on - and off!!). Went to the main square and saw a few of the sights in and around. We were wondering why there were police armoured cars there....and then saw some riot police going up the street. Oh oh....it´s all goin to kick off, we thought. But no, at 12 noon every day, there is the changing of the guards at the government palace. What a waste of money: Riot police, water cannons, security guards and all for a couple of bands coming out and playing "El Condor Pasa (If I could) - by Simon and Garfunkel.....then some guards doing some weird lunge style ,marching. All very strange. Got the tourists attention though !!

We only stayed for a wee bit, then braved the crazy minibus back to Miraflores (it´s a bargain at 1.60 soles - about 20p for a 30 minute white knuckle ride!!!)

Landed in Peru

Walk 4 blocks and this is our view!!

Our exit out of Argentina went very smoothly. When we checked in the girl at check-in told us to go and see immigrations, who simply stamped our departure tax form. We paid the cashola and that was it. The flight was very good. Great food and we got to watch Happy Feet. On arriving in Peru, we showed the police report as we did not have an entrance or exit stamp for Argentina, all okay. We left customs to a see of people all waving cards with peoples names on them and we finally found our guy....Debora (h missing) Blue in huge black letters. He took us to his car and we drove through the streets of Lima in the pitch black at 100 miles per hour. He went down this really windy road to the beach, and that is when we thought we were for the broth pot, but this was the road to Miraflores (district of Lima). We passed loads of police and a hugh black van with all the police officers in black with only their eyes showing.....Yikkeeesss. Not sure what or who they were looking for but in a strange kind of way it was re-assuring. Miraflores is beautiful and we are 4 blocks away from the beach...Again loads of police, so I think there may be a personal secruity problem. They all have big guns too. We have booked a trip that will take us 2 weeks. Leaving Lima tomorrow to Nazca, then Arquipa, then onto Cusco to see Machu Piccu, then Lake Titicaca, then onto La Paz Bolivia. The price includes our accomodation and tours. It was a bit more expensive than we thought, but the chances of us coming back to Peru are slim, so it will all be worth it.

Mozie.....it is so full of blue blood.......

It´s almost royalty !!!

This little so and so had a nice feast - as you can see. The Blue blood did it no good though, it was too heavy to fly away when the "swat of doom" hit it. At least it had a quality last meal !!

We´re sick of mozzies !!