After spending three nights in Ariquipa, we caught a tour bus to the Colca Canyon. Ariquipa is a great city and our hotel was in an awesome location. Walking distance to all of the great sites and vibrant Plaza de Armas. We stopped at a number of places along the way to the Colca Canyon and saw snow for the first time in 18 months. We climbed to an elevation of 16,100ft so it was pretty cold and the air thin. We arrived in a town called Chivay where we stayed for the night. In the afternoon we we went in the town squarre where they were having some festival with great costumes and lots of dancing. We even met a guy who had a friend that had moved to Manitoba! Yesterday morning we were up early - 5:00am to catch the bus to see the condors. The valley has been occupied for over 1200 years with the people making terraces along the canyon edges and building irrigation canals that are still in use today. The scenery is spectacular. The condors spend the nights perched along the cliffs and wait for the air to warm up so they can ride the thermals up to go searching for food. We did not have to wait long to see the first few and got some great close up views. After spending about an hour there we left to do a short hike and when we approached the cliff edge our guide discovered a large male condor perched about 25 ft away! It was awesome!!!!!