The landscape near Siguas is astonishing. The area is a complete desert, but all along the river valleys there are lush green farms with cows grazing and alfalfa growing. Lula grew up helping with chores on her family's farm until she reached middle school when she moved to Arequipa. At that time, the town only had a primary school, so her parents sent her to live with her aunt in Arequipa while she attended school. She ended up staying there to complete her education. She later met Max and moved with him to different countries around the world, such as Germany, Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Serbia. It was amazing to think of what different world she's experienced in her lifetime.
Here's a picture of one of Lula's closest family members (and Chad's new buddy), her dog Picolito :)
The Colca Canyon (deeper than the Grand Canyon!) Our last weekend in Arequipa, we went on an excursion to one of the area’s most famous tourist destinations… Colca Canyon. Many tour companies organize tours to visit the towns of the canyon and hikes to the bottom of the canyon, but we, always money-conscious and up for an adventure, decided to take the trip on our own.
As it turns out, we had a sort of tour guide. Sabina, the housekeeper for Max and Lula, is from a small village in the canyon called Maca. Her 19 year old daughter Lizeth volunteered to go with us. We took a four hour bus to Maca. Getting off the bus, we visited with the locals:
Chad's thought at this moment, "Hey llama, watch that mouth. If you spit on me ... !"
We knew that big head of Chad's was good for something!
Just kidding! A couple of people in town take advantage of the flow of tourists to make a bit of money showing off their well-trained animals.
Here's a picture of Lizeth and Kari relaxing outside of her grandparents' house:
Lizeth’s grandparents still live in the town, but unfortunately, we didn’t get to meet them because they were out working on their land. They raise chickens and pigs and grow corn and alfalfa on their plots. We walked with Lizeth to one of the plots to see if we could find her grandparents. It was about a one and a half hour walk to their field, which is a really long way for one to walk after harvesting the fields!! Here's us walking to the fields:
Along the way, we were fascinated by the alpacas and mules and also by the irrigation of the fields, which are terraced. The terracing system dates all of the way back to the Incan times and is still very much in practice. There’s a water reservoir at the top of the hill. When someone wants to water their crops they have to go to the top to open the water flow, and it flows down the hill and through the beds to water the plants. When they don’t want any more water, they block the flow by building up mud or by using a rock. There’s no such thing as commercial farming around here!
After spending the day in Maca, we took the evening bus to Cabanaconde. We spent the night in a hostel there, and Lizeth met us in the morning for our hike down into the canyon. It was actually the first time to the bottom of the Canyon for Lizeth as well.
The canyon is approximately 1200 meters down from Cabanaconde, and believe us, the trail is LONG and winding. When we started, we couldn't even see the bottom of the canyon:
It slowly came into view:
Then we could see more:
The canyon is very much a desert with lots of cacti. A side note about the cacti—there are small little insects that feed off them. These parasites are harvested because the liquid that comes out of them when they’re smashed is used to make ink. Who knew?!
Finally, after 2 hours, we made it to the bottom of the canyon - to an OASIS!
The floor of the valley is like landing on another planet. It’s very green and lush with plants and even palm trees, and also there are a couple of hostels with pools and snack bars perfect for a dip and a drink. Both of these were very refreshing after the hot and sweaty descent into the canyon.
After our legs were rested and we were refreshed, we had to do the inevitable… hike back out of the canyon!!! Lizeth and Kari were obviously very excited about this:
Here's the climb out of the canyon that loomed overhead: 
Hiking up 1200 meters (almost 4000 feet) took quite a bit more strength and persistence than the way down. After a hot and sweaty three and a half hours we reached Cabanaconde in time for some roasted chicken and a huge bottle of water. Ahhh! We made it (but were in no shape for a photo ;))
The next morning we woke up and took an early bus to Cruz del Condor (Cross of the Condor). Every morning the condors leave their nests in the canyon walls to go find food. We, the good tourists, were there and ready with camera in hand. A tremendous sense of awe and tranquility take over when seeing these huge (up to four feet wingspan) graceful birds gliding on the breezes of the canyon. Here's us awaiting:
We took the next bus to the town of Chivay for some relaxation and consolation for our sore legs from the previous day's incredible feat. A perfect reward was the town's healing volcanic hot springs.
Before we left town, we also visited the cemetery. A cemetery on vacation? Yes. It was Day of the Dead, November 1st, which is day when people throughout Latin America commemorate the lives of their deceased family members by visiting their graves. Day of the Dead corresponds to the Catholic All Saint's Day and is the mixture of the indigenous religion with the Catholic traditions. Families all visit the graveyard together and have a picnic there. They bring the favorite food and drinks of their loved ones to the cemetery and they decorate their graves. It’s an interesting sight with balloons, crepe paper, food and even bands playing lively music. I took a couple of photos and made a short video.
These are called "Coronas" or crowns to decorate the graves of loved ones
Celebrating the dead from Chad Carson on Vimeo.
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