Colca Canyon — Natalie Picchetti-Moos

CABANACONDE

Peru

Colca Canyon, Cabanaconde, and all the small towns in between: Places where simple living, epic hikes, and harsh conditions meet stunning mountains.

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Stories: Ghost Dog in the Colca Canyon

Complete photo story below

I took this photo through a bus window while driving to Cabanaconde, the views on this drive were EPIC.

Small village, big church.

Jaw dropping scenery.

When you are on a bus for 5+ hours, you start to make friends.

I will always appreciate traditional clothing, and in Peru the colors and designs are amazing.

The backpacker hostel Pachamama knew how to whip up some good drinks with naturally infused liqueurs. Even if you don't stay here, end the evening with a drink here. The food was also amazing.

left: You must try canchita, which tastes like popcorn, Peruvian style.

At 10,000ft, start drinking Coca Tea STAT.

We started the day off with some breakfast before tackling the hike down and up the Colca Canyon.

This picture sums up how we were feeling at the beginning of the hike.

Our first big sister trip.

Can't even see the bottom of the canyon yet.

Sighting our destination, Sangualle, was pretty exciting. It put in perspective how deep the canyon was and how far we needed to go.

Swimming pools await us! Perfect because it got HOT.

After the hiking down and swimming in the pools, we were high on life.

...and then we started the hike up.

There is only one way back, and that way is up.

The 1st half of the hike went well, then the heat started to get to us and hiking got tough. We rested in what little shade the Colca Canyon offered.

Because we were hiking on our own, most of the time it was only us and a few donkeys.

We saw an entire house being carried down by donkeys.

Altitude sickness struck, and this dog came to the rescue. Read the story here: Ghost Dog in the Colca Canyon

Hiking with altitude sickness is dangerous. Sander was completely incapacitated. There were times when I would look up to the top of the mountain and see donkeys that looked the size of ants, and wondered if we could actually make it up before sun set and the temperatures began to drop.

Luckily we made it, just as the sun started going down.

I can't describe the relief I felt when we reached the top, the hardest part was over and we were close to help.

Goodbye Colca Canyon, you were quite the adventure.

Goodbye Ghost Dog!

Sander recovered by the next morning, and we set out to find the dog that saved him.

We found a lot of dogs, but no Balto, maybe he was a ghost...

So we went ahead a fed the other dogs our left over snacks.

Cabanaconde explorations.

Snacks for all the stray dogs!

Because our time in Cabanaconde was short, we almost forgot to take advantage of the rooftop area of Pachamama.

So we went up and caught some awesome aerial views before we left.

Baaaa Bye Cabanaconde!

To let Sander recover from his altitude sickness we decided to sleep in, but that meant we would miss the early morning ride to see the condors at Condor's Cross.

So Sander summoned the condors for us at an unexpected location with his magic flute.

Their size was majestic, even fear evoking as they flew towards us and right over our heads.

We found out later that many people were disappointed because the condors were not at Condors Cross that morning. It was a good reminder that you can't force an experience while traveling, you have to go with the flow and appreciate what unfolds. We didn't force going to Condor's Cross that morning so sander could sleep in and recover, but fortunately we saw them in two other locations on our way to Puno.

We had the option to take a rest stop in the small village of Maca or go to the hot springs in Chivay. With our long bus ride to Puno, we decided to kick it and relax in Maca.