Colca Canyon is home to giant condors

THE drive into the Colca Canyon is often compared to an Andean massage.
I think the comparison far from fair.
My massage at the luxury Orient Express Las Casitas del Colca spa was nothing like the bump-and-grinding my body endured on the road trip from the hotel to the condor-viewing area at Cruz del Condor.
While the getting there was torture, the end result was worth it.
The condors with wing spans of up to 3.2m are the main reason overseas visitors come to the Colca Valley, about 160km northwest of Arequipa.
The day for condor watching starts early. The giants of the sky ride the morning thermals from the base of the Colca Canyon, twice as deep as America’s Grand Canyon, skyward.
If you are not there by 8am, you are liable to miss the show.
In Peru everyone has a guide from solo travellers to large groups. Some are good. Some are bad. And some can make the difference between good and spectacular. But more on that later.
On the morning I visited the Cruz del Condor I witnessed one of the funniest guide-client interactions ever. A young American woman was giving her guide the rounds of the kitchen because they had arrived a little late and all the best viewing positions had been taken.
She was relentless in her attack. Not stopping for breath as her level of rage boiled.
Just as she was about to explode, her guide raised a hand and pointed back over the angry woman’s shoulder. There it was a condor in full flight. Crisis resolved.

Condors glide to the heavens

Hundreds of tourists come every morning to stand on the edge of the cliff and wait for the condors to glide toward the heavens.
There are signs that warn people about the dangers of getting too close to the cliff edge, but everyone seems comfortable completely ignoring them.
One woman squeezes past me and stumbles as she steps over the danger sign. She falls, but grabs a rock just in time. She takes a seat, legs dangling over the edge, and gets her camera ready for action.
The Andean condor is the national symbol of Peru. It weighs up to 15kg and when it does appear you can’t help but exhale and emit a little “ooh” followed by the odd “aah”.
These carnivores are mainly black, but have a distinctive white collar and they can live to about 75 years.
My Abercrombie & Kent guide Grace signals that it is time to go. I reluctantly agree. I’ve seen only five or six birds good, but I was expecting more.
We drive down the road a bit. She stops the van and asks me to walk with her to another viewing point about 2km below the rest of the crowd. We are alone, well almost.
Within minutes six condors are close by.
Then a mature male and a juvenile male dart back and forth about 20m above us.

The difference between good and great

Private guide, private audience with the condors. It was the difference between good and spectacular.
The Las Casitas del Colca is a stunning parcel of luxury in a remote part of the world.
All the rooms are individual casitas, so privacy is assured. I am in No.13, which is the furthest from the main building where all the meals are served.
It is fine going down the hill, but it is still early on in the trip and I’m struggling with the altitude.
I gasp for air as I walk up the hill and at night I can’t sleep because I feel as if I’m going to suffocate. My internet diagnosis says that I should be right in three to four days. Now that’s really helpful.
Here’s the best advice I could find for coping with altitude sickness, something that it seems you can’t avoid drink no alcohol, eat light evening meals before 7pm and drink three litres of water a day.

The author travelled with Abercrombie & Kent.