 | watchdogtimer |  | Southern Peru |  | Canyon Country |
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May 10 2007, 06:34 AM
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Cabanaconde, Peru
Come to think of it Colca and Grand aren´t in the same weight class (in a good way). Colca may be twice as deep, but is totally different terrain. Colca doesn´t have the amazing stratification of rock layers; rather it´s covered in greenery up to suprising altitudes. There´s also no concept of rims here. The canyon runs east west just like the Grand Canyon, but it slopes from the very start with no defined rim.
The town most folks descend from is Cabanaconde (around 11,000 ft). We arrived there on a rickety bus, grabbed some food and water and dropped into the canyon. We hiked hard for a few hours and reached our first camp by dark. The tiny villages at the bottom are so quaint they´d make tough guys gag. So simple and quotidian, you envy how close they are to nature. The inhabitants are by large self sustaining, but we did see a few trekking to Cabanaconde to sell their goods. They were the kindest folk, always curious about your roots, and telling you about their roots as well. One man on the way back up was proud to live in his village of a handful of people. Home of cocao and mineral water, he said. The canyon is their home, and I can´t imagine a life where going to the store requires ascending thousands of meters. The coolest part is that we found out what we do in 3hrs of hard hiking (granted we have large packs and they don´t but anyways) they do in 1. At that point I guess I wouldn´t think too much of the difficulty of canyon life, but getting there would be a nightmare, unless you start training as a baby on your mother´s back.
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No coca leaves?
Written by MemoCallahan 21 months ago
Maybe they don't have many coca trees growing in the deserts or canyons, but I thought that's what everyone did when they went to Peru, see Machu Picchu and eat coca leaves. Did they alpaca taste like chicken?
Re: No coca leaves?
Written by protik 21 months ago
That's how they make it down the canyon in 1 hour. Any pictures Tom ? Thanks for the writeups. Stop using words like quotidian. Enjoy the rest of your travels and have a safe trip back home. - Pro