Flat Lands to Mountains High

Today we traveled to Colca Valley, a distance of about 120 miles in total but we scaled up to 16,000 feet in altitude. Much of the day consisted of beautiful scenic views of the Salinas-Aguada Biancas National Reserve, which is a protected zone for the four camelids of Peru: the llama, alpaca, vicuña, and guanaco. We mostly saw vicuña, the petit of the four that are very graceful, short-haired, with a reddish coat, and alpaca, the shorter, softer version of a llama. Alpaca and baby alpaca wool are the popular, super soft fabrics used in many Peruvian fabrics; vicuña is the cashmere of the camelids, costing $1,000 or more for a scarf – we’ll be sticking to alpaca.

Alpaca grazing in the lowlands of the Salinas-Aguadas Biancas National Reserve

Zona de Vicunas! A sweater with their wool can go for thousands of dollars!

About an hour into our drive today Spencer and Kathy started hearing an odd noise coming from the back of the car. It sounded like a flat tire…bathump bathump bathump…but the car wasn’t driving any differently. Finally the sound was so loud that our faithful driver, Alfonso, pulled over. Sure enough, a flat tire. MacLucker Misadventure Numero Tres. We spent the next hour hanging out on the side of the road, in the Andean plains, massive semis flying by us, searching for rocks to make the car jack tall enough to get the tire off.

The rest of the day went swimmingly. We took a midmorning tea break at a middle-of-nowhere rest stop, enjoying a triple tea with coca leaves (not cocaine) and other medicinal herbs to help us with the altitude. And the shopping continued! At about midday we reached the highest drivable point in the area, at 16,000 feet, where the Andeans place rock structures as submission and respect to the apus. This spot is considered very religious as it is so close to the gods. Liz, of course, made her own rock structure for the apus with the hope of them guiding us through a safe trip.

We had lunch in Chivay, the largest town in the Colca Valley, enjoying a wonderful buffet of Peruvian cuisine: rocoto relleno, alpaca saltado (PETA, sorry, but we had to try it), different soups, vegetables, MASSIVE corn on the cob (the kernels are as big as a nickel!), and river trout. Spencer also introduced us to chicha morada (a refreshing drink made from purple corn). We spent the next hour or so shopping in the local market, as Mary was given a “medicinal” cure for her pained feet…we’ll see if it works. We experienced the meat (they leave nothing to your imagination) and produce market, with an incredible variety of fruits and veggies (there are hundreds of varieties of corn and thousands of potatoes-Peruvians will proudly remind you that the potato was first domesticated in Peru).

A little shake of this, a little drop of that, and a bag scoop from the herbs and Mary was runnin' up the mountain!

We ended our LONG day at the Colca Lodge and Spa, with a beautiful landscape of the Colca river and surrounding hills. Dinner was wonderful, and to end the night Liz and Spencer went down to the natural hot springs to relax. The springs were along the river bank and so it was pitch black besides a few ground lights. They made it to the first “tub” with a sign that said “Cuidado (careful!) 80°C”. As Spencer was explaining that this equaled 180°F, Liz stuck her foot in. Liz is now nursing a mildly burned foot. MacLucker Misadventure Numero Cuatro. They continued to the next two pools only to find two couples taking up the springs, so they ended up at the last tub that was luke warm at best. Oh well, the stars were beautiful.