We're Not Descending?

After breakfast at our hotel, Colca Tours picked us up around 6:30 am. We were on our way to the Colca Valley, famous for the Andean Condors and Colca Canyon - said to be bigger than the Grand Canyon!

Our transfer guide's name was Roger and our driver was Francisco. Both were jokesters and had fun chatting with us. They especially enjoyed teasing Caitlin. On our way to the transfer point, we stopped at a lookout to see a Lake called Lagunitas and then another spot to see llamas, alpacas, and flamingos. Here's a picture of us at Lagunitas:

Our transfer spot was a rest stop where we joined a tour group coming from Arequipa. The whole ride was about 5 hours and included more stops to see llamas and sheep. We learned about the colonial settlements. The scenery reminded me of Patagonia where I visited last year with Amanda. It was all pampas and plains, with short shrubbery.

We ascended to at least 4,910 meters which is about 3 miles! We were all short of breath and I experienced my first pins and needles symptom. We had all hoped Puno would be the highest altitude, but alas we were still ascending! Here's Mary Ann showing us the altitude and a picture of me pointing out Chivay:

We descended to Chivay, the gateway to Colca Canyon, to have a buffet lunch and then went to a town called Coporaque, to go on a hour walk where we learned more about pre-Incans, Incans, and colonial life. Also, we could see the volcanos Misti and Chachani and the Rio Colca which is the origin of the Amazon. Here are some pictures of us on our windy walk:

Afterwards, we went to the hot springs of La Calera, where they pumped the water to pools. We wished we could stay longer as it was soothing to our legs after our many days of walking / hiking and we enjoyed the sunset. Here are some pictures of us in the pool including a selfie:

We headed to our hotel called Colca Llaqta in Chivay which had cute duplex rooms. After washing up, we headed down to the Plaza de Armas and had dinner at Cabanas. It included the typical fare we've become accustomed to. I had a quinoa soup, chicken with Andean herbs, and a peach as part of the price fixe. We all shared Cusqueña beers as it was Mary Ann's last night in Peru! After dinner, we headed back to rest for our 5 am wake up call to see the Andean Condors of Colca Canyon!