DAY 7: CHIVAY

This morning we set off to the Colca Canyon!

Our first stop was at a market where we got some coca leaves!!!! We had to chew about 10 leaves mixed with some powder from a rock that came with it. At the beginning it tasted really bad and I just wanted to spit it out but my willingness not to get sick was stronger so I kept chewing. After a couple of minutes my tongue became numb and I asked if that was ok and our local said "that means it's working"... 

Here's Sam with her coca leaves:

The scenery from Arequipa to chivay was beautiful!

Rocky Mountains surrounded us by all sides. We saw many kinds of cacti and even the Peruvian national animal, vicuña!!!

Our local tour guide went into details about the 4 kinds of animals we were going to see during this trip, they are all in the alpaca-ish family: vicuña, guanaco, llama, and alpaca.

Vicuñas are now protected by the government and it's supposedly very expensive to get any type of clothing made with it (compared to alpaca.)

While on route we made several stops to look at the wild vicuñas living around the area.

Then we passed an enclosed circle of alpacas and llamas owned by a family from the area. When the lady with the alpacas saw our bus stopping she starting jumping of happiness... Super cute! In exchange for a llama selfie we gave the family some food. The funniest thing about the llamas is that they spit up so it was hilarious to see people getting spit by the llama. After a little we were all screaming "it's gonna spit" and moved out of the way.

Here I am! (This picture cost me a whole loaf of bread!!!!!! Haha)

The guide explained that llamas are good for transportation but not for wool or eating. On the other hand, the alpacas are used for their wools and also for food! They make alpaca steak, burgers, sausages etc 

We made a quick stop at the "Mirador de Los Andes" where we could see many of the Volcanos in la cordillera de Los Andes.

We finally arrived in Chivay in time for lunch... And I tried a bite of alpaca!!!!! it was very soft and not very chewy... Not so bad! Haha

Chivay is literally in the middle of nowhere! For hours we drove through valleys where the only thing we could see were more mountains ahead of us. Then, we started going down the mountain and very far away we could appreciate a little town. 

After lunch we had some free time before going to the hot springs so I decided to go for a little town stroll on my own.

The first thing I noticed was a woman sitting on the street with a pile of grains. She would get a bowl full of it, lift it, and then let the grains drop down on the mat. I had no idea what she was doing so I asked her and she gave me the funniest look ever and said "ES QUINOA" in a tone that sounded more like "don't you know it's quinoa?!?!?" She just missed the "DUH!" at the end of the sentence. I find it beautiful to be able to witness something new and be able to have a conversation with people like her. She explained how the quinoa separates from the husk (don't know if that's the appropriate word) and stays on the stop and then she scoops it out.

I kept walking towards the plaza de armas and was able to see many women wearing the traditional dresses. The downtown is also very beautiful.

In the late afternoon we all went to the natural hot springs by the Colca River. 

In order to get to the springs we had to cross a wooden bridge... That part was fun, although a little scary!

I am not a big fan of public pools so I decided to skip the hot springs (it brought memories of the DISGUSTING hot springs in Budapest! Yuk!!) Instead I decided to go on a walk an explore around the springs and I am so glad I did!

I walked along the river and then saw a bridge with a sign that said "Alpaca Ranch." I followed the sign and entered a very fancy resort/ spa! All the people were walking in white robes, enjoying their private hot spring bath. I thought twice about really going into the "GUEST ONLY" ranch but I said "what the heck! The worst that can happen is that they tell me I can't be there" (and since I speak Spanish I know for a fact that I can get away with it anyway!)

What I saw there was SO BEAUTIFUL!!! the alpacas were so super cute!!!! I just kept hoping that they wouldn't kick me out! 

They had the alpaca Suri, which has long rasta wool.

Then they had Alpaca Huacayo, the regular looking ones.

And finally, some llamas (not a good picture)

I was so excited! These animals are so cute! I felt so lucky to have found this place and seen the Alpacas! After taking way too many pictures I went back to find the group and took a picture of them in the hot spring :-)