Friday, September 18, 1998

After what anyone would consider a very late night (4am), it was not at all pleasurable to hear my alarm clock go off at 7:30. I dressed quickly, cleaned up the room, made sure my friends were awake, and had Magnus check on Annette and Robert who somehow locked Magnus out of his room...

A quick breakfast, and I felt surprisingly good. For some reason, I couldn't stop singing "I Just Called To Say I Love You" all morning. It's a great karaoke song!

Our guide for the Canyon de Colca, Daniel, arrived at 8:30 -- on time. We quickly settled into the van with four upper class Peruvians, three seventeen year old Chileans, Daniel, and our driver Alejandro. Before we were even out of Lima, Annette was sound asleep. Amazing.

Daniel, in almost perfect English, explained that we'd be travelling from 2400m in Arequipa to 4800m over a pass in the Andes and then down to 3400m to the Canyon de Colca. He advised each of us to take a altitude tablet, and we all obliged.

Just outside Arequipa, the road turned to dirt and the dust was so strong when another car would pass that I felt like I would choke to death. Annette slept. Magnus looked horrible. I listened to Frank Sinatra on the walkman and enjoyed the scenery.

We stoppeed at a meadow with a grazing herd of Alpaca llamas. We stopped to watch a sacred animal to the Incas known as Vicunya. We stopped at a church to get a Daniel-led lesson on Inca architecture. At each stop, I was very happy to see our new friends Craig, Melanie, and Paul from different tours. We compared stories from last night -- and boy were there stories. A particularly brutal teasing of Annette took place over an excellent lunch by all of us... Excellent lunch consisted of my first taste of Alpaca -- quite excellent red meat! A band consisting of a 11 year old pan floutist, a 7 year old ukelele player, and a 3 year old drummer played Indian music for us the entire lunch -- they were quite talented.

Vicunya, Alpaca Llamas, Annette at 4500m (top of the Andean pass, Inca Terracing, Local Indian Children

After arriving at our hotel for the evening at around 7, we all took off for the volcanically heated hot springs. I was somewhat disappointed with the facilities, but then again I was expecting something like the La Fortuna Hot Springs in Costa Rica. This was basically a swimming pool full of lukewarm water and 150 tourists. Craig inspired a chicken fight with two Belgian girls -- and despite my poor record in Club Med Sonora Bay, I came through like a champ this time.

A quick dinner and we all went out for a quick beer at the local disco. We were all zonked, so it was quite an early night at 10:30. The Valley of the Condors awaited in the morning and we all needed sleep for our 5:30 wake up call the next morning.

Bandito. Bandito. Melanie. Me. Magnus. Craig. Bandito. Annette.

Inca Church, Daniel the guide, Inca Terracing

Saturday, September 19, 1998

5:30 came very quickly. Even more quickly than it should have, really. Magnus set his alarm for 5:00 instead and woke everyone up before he realized his mistake. He'll pay for that...

The two hour ride to the Valley of the Condors was extremely scenic. The Colca Canyon is the deepest canyon in the world -- over 3400 meters of almost straight down between volcanoes, all spectacularly terraced by the Incas some 1300 years ago.

Montage of the Valley of the Condors

We arrived at the Valley of the Condors and set out for some bird watching. A few eagles passed overhead, but no condors. And then, out of nowhere, came the 10 ft wingspan Condor, one of the most endangered species in the world. They are only able to fly in a strong wind and thermally active area, thus the Andes are one of their only habitats. A pair of them circled very, very close overhead and then drifted into the distance. It was spectacular.

Bird Watching, Eagle, Valley of the Condors, Cross of the Condors

Condor flying through the canyon, Condor overhead, Me in the Valley

We made friends with the Chileans on the way back to Arequipa. They invited me to come to Santiago and visit. We decided to form a band when I was there called "El Alto y de tres Banditos" (The Tall One and the Three Bandits). I'm still trying to convince them to play only Frank Sinatra -- they want to play Beastie Boys and AC/DC -- can we find a compromise?

We all slept the majority of the 6 hours back to Arequipa -- a quick nap, shower, and then off to dinner and then drinks at the Blues Bar again with Paul, Craig, Melanie, the Three Banditos, Magnus and Annette. We were a little slow getting going, but a stop at Dady O's for a little Karaoke put everyone into a good mood. Around midnight, we all left for another club. The live band there was incredible, and it was packed with hundreds of locals. Once again, we were rock stars, until almost 3am. An almost tearful goodbye to Craig and Melanie who I really came to adore punctuated a very fun evening. Last seen, the Three Banditos has somehow managed to dance with the three best looking Peruvian girls I've ever seen -- hey, guys, send me the details!