Up early and into a gravel ride to get to the coca canyon in time to
see the Condors catching the thermal to get out of the canyon to go looking for
their breakfast. Also the early start was to be in front of the buses due to
the dusty nature of the road. We were riding off at about 6.30 after an early
breakfast. The road was abut 60km of gravel to the viewing spot for the birds,
and had a few challenges on the way. Generally it was a good surface for gravel
however there was a couple of spots that it became a bit rougher and more
challenging with it reducing to single lane, rutted and loose. There was one
spot that caught me out, a rough area of decent, that was fine and controlled
with engine breaking, I thought I was through the worst and changed up gear and
let the bike accelerate, only to see a rutted gutter just ahead. Needing to
slow down, I applied a bit of back break (for those that have not ridden two
wheels on loose surfaces, the back one is the only one that can be used safely
as applying the front break is usually followed shortly after with the bike
lying on the ground along with rider). Unfortunately I applied a bit too much
of the back break locking the wheel and stalling the engine. No worried, just
release the break and let the wheel restart the engine, problem solved right?
No the surface was loose gravel and sand and the wheel had insufficient purchase
to restart the engine, so instead I continued my descent with the rear wheel
locked up, leading to some quick sideways action from the bike first to the
left and next to the right, before the wheel found purchase and cranked the
engine. Where is the go pro camera when you need it, although it probably
didn’t look anywhere near as spectacular as it felt? Next obstacle that we had
been warned about was one km tunnel. Two ways but not entirely two lanes! We
could see the other side of the road so the instructions were to watch out for
any oncoming traffic and not to enter if there was any one coming. We looked
clear so in we went. There was really only one lane clear with the sides
consisting of deep bull dust, not really conducive to upright riding. Thankfully
we met no one and continued without delay. The valley narrowed and deepened as
we traveled downstream. The valley around where we stayed consisted of hundreds
of terraces that were made before Pre-Inca. Apparently the Inca also used and
improved these terraces with irrigation and of course walls. They were
particularly good at stacking stones, and textiles. These terraces eventually narrowed
and finally disappeared as the country become too steep even for the Inca.
We came to the end of the gravel and pulled up at the viewing
platforms for the Condor. There were a few people their. We found a vendor who
was selling coffee from a flask, which was a welcomed warm up as we all got a
bit cold on the bikes, despite three layers of Merino, full liners, and winter
gloves. Being a wild animal there is no guarantee of seeing the Condor, and
they only fly if the thermals are working. Geert warned us several times that
we may not see them, and failed to accept my prediction that we would as there
would be good thermals, based on nothing more than a feeling in my water, and a
sense of optimism. On cue once we finished our Coffee and had sensation back in
our camera trigger fingers, the first Condor came into view at the lower edge
of the canyon! I told yak Geert.
Colca canyon is the deepest canyon in the world at 3000m? Deep. “The
condor is the biggest bird in the world” Geert informed us. “What about the
Albatross, that has the biggest wing span?” said Hax, “that doesn’t count” said
Geert. “What about the pelican, isn’t that the heaviest?” said Harry. I thought
the Ostrich is pretty big too, but sensing Geert’s humor fading, thought better
than to mention this one. Poor old Geert, he should know by now he is guiding a
bunch of smart Asses. We didn’t push the issue. Google later filled the gaps,
confirming that the condor is the largest land based bird of flight. Whichever
way you look at it it’s a beauty, very large and very graceful to watch soaring
in the thermals. There were two adults and one juvenile, identifiable by the
brown feathers, as opposed to the adults black and white colours. Geert had us
set up at an excellent spot, and as hoped the juvenile landed for a rest on the
rock not far from where we were watching, giving us a good view up close. Yes
they are a big bird.
We spent about an hour and a half watching the Condors flying, during
which a steady increase in numbers of buses and tourists arrived. In the last
15 minutes or so they had moved on, and it seemed a good time to get back down
the road before any buses started heading down the road again. Back down the
shingle road saw no incidents with me being much more careful of the gear
changes and back break use. We stopped for a few photos in the valley, looking
back at the canyon land and across the valley opt the pre-Inca terraces. We
headed into Chive to fuel up, a dog cam e across my path and did not seem to
hear me coming, which lead to an emergency braking episode and a near miss, by
a few centimeters only. Geert later told me I should have accelerated and put
my weight back to run the dog down! Hmm, I think the braking is the reflex I
will stick with.
Back up the winding road to 4910m altitude. Enjoyed riding this road
the other way, with a rapid climb to the maximum altitude of the trip once
more. Lots of corners, with the extra thrill of a few unpredictable potholes
and mid corner gravel. We stopped at the top once aging to soak up the view of
the seven visible volcanoes. I did a jog across the road, up the bank and
headed for the higher peak however this was just showing off for the camera as
I did not have that much breath at just under 5000m. Back on the bikes and down
the other side to the same lunch spot.
At lunchtime Geert told us that he has a bad reputation for never
bringing the same number of riders back to the Peru motors hotel. With 80km to
go into Arequipa, we thought that this information was a bit premature! We rode
round the volcano Chachani initially on a plateau that had numerous Vicunas on
it, then a gradual winding decent down to the lowland altitude of 2000m in Arequipa.
After Geert’s warning at lunchtime, I was in no rush to pass vehicles on this
road, and consequently followed a bus with a terrible lean presumably secondary
to shot shocks. On every right hand corner it appeared that the bus was on the
verge of toppling over. I think the occupants must have been feeling pretty
queasy.
As we rode into Arequipa it struck me how much more confident we are
on these conditions now after three weeks of riding in these cities. We are
more confident in the push and shove give way rules (or lack there off) and are
trusting that as we push and shove no one is going to hit us (not yet anyway).
We fuelled up and then rode the bikes to the Peru Motors workshop where they
are to get there post tour fix up. They no longer look like the pristine bikes that
we started on, not only covered in dirt, but with a few bumps and bruises and
in the case of Harrys bike with slightly shorter Hero knobs.
We headed out for a celebratory dinner with the three amigos, Geert
and his girlfriend, who had fairly limited English but is a proud Peruvian,
having a disagreement with the waiter about his recommendation of wine as he
said the Argentinian wine was better than the Peruvian wine! We had the Peruvian
wine.
What a great trip we have had. Glad that Geert didn’t mention the
poor return rate of his customers until the last day. It has been a trip of superlatives:
the driest desert in the world, the largest salt plane, the most dangerous
road, the highest navigable lake, the massive alte Plano, and the deepest
canyon with the largest bird. We have ridden over the highest sealed pass
(according to Geert, how has looked for evidence of higher to no avail) and
spent a prolonged period of time at an altitude that is commonly associated
with altitude sickness. We have been surprised by the road quality, and had
expected more off road, although none of us are complaining, as it would have
been very difficult to cover the ground without these excellent roads. Great
fun riding, interesting environment and culture and good company. The bikes
have been good to ride, but a bit disappointing with how frequently things have
been falling off them. Unlike the Australia trip where I was happy not to get
on the bike again for a few weeks, I do not fell this way yet, and would be
quiet happy to continue Oh well back to reality, looking forward to getting
back to the family and routine.
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