June 08, 2010

Peru: Colca Canyon Condors

We hiked along the canyon while waiting for the condors to begin hunting from "Cruz del Condor".  Andean Condors are vultures and scavengers, but they prefer larger prey such as dead cows and beached marine mammals.  At over 10 feet, they have the largest wingspan of any land bird (exceeded only by the Wandering Albatross and Dalmatian Pelican sea birds)


We thought they were magnificent and spent several happy hours watching them soar from beneath our view point (we were almost 4,000 feet above the canyon floor) to above our heads. 

 On our drive back to Arequipa, we saw this woman herding her llamas...
 ... and little girls leading their alpacas.

Our hotel (Casa Andina) in Arequipa was delightful and well-situated.

1 comment:

A Tale of Two Cities said...

That must have been an amazing trip. Wow!