It was just another Friday afternoon in Arequipa when I got an invite to join the Colca Trekk tours for a 2day/1night stay in Colca Canyon. Did not immediately jumped at the opportunity seeing that it was a rainy/cold week and it was forecast to also rain throughout the weekend. However it only took 3 minutes to convince me to go. Little did I know what this tour had in store for me. I later found out I was totally unequipped for this type of Hiking trip. I packed a sundress, pair of jeans, swimsuit (for the hotsprings), a little sweater and a jacket. Clearly I need to invest in some hiking gears. But to my defense since the weather was uncertain I thought we were going straight to the hotel for warmth and relaxation. Totally not how it happened. The tour started with 8am on Saturday morning. It was a group of 12 with a tour guide and the driver. I had the honor to met some amazing travelling couples and singles who inspired me even further. Some had just gotten into town while others had been travelling South America for up to 6 months. They were all from Switzerland, England, Holland, Austria, France and Germany. That’s another benefit of traveling. Truly get to build relationships or even just learn something from people all over the world.
First couple stops we got up-close views of the famous llamas and Alpacas of Peru.
We also took a short hike to see some amazing landscape formed from Volcanoes.
After Lunch (all-you-can-eat buffet) we continued the tour and the next stop was the Colca Canyon, currently the deepest in the world.
On Sunday morning after catching the most beautiful sunrise over the mountains of Colca we set out to sightseeing Condors. Most breathtaking view at over 4000ft above sea level
Then the next event was riding down the mountain about 12km. This was a huge deal for me. The very first time I tried to ride a bicycle downhill I crashed and almost got hit by a car. So I always feared riding downhill. But what an accomplishment!! Totally let go of my fears and thank God the whole way down (1km was sightly uphill and almost past out lol)
What a wonderful and fulfilling experience. God is so real!! That’s more reason why I enjoy nature, makes me feel closer to him. I know he’s thrilled that I’m enjoying his creation 🙂
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