SALT PONDS

As a saline stream tumbles down a steep gulley hundreds of salt ponds have provided salt to the local area since Inca times.

COLCA CANYON

Colca Canyon is one of the homes of the mighty condor which spiral upwards from their overnight resting places. In parts, Colca Canyon is deeper than the Grand Canyon.

AREQUIPA

Santa Catalina Convent was founded in 1580. It was a cloistered convent where the second daughter of wealthy families dedicated their lives to chastity, poverty and obedience through prayer and silence!

At Altitude

We travelled as high as 4900 meters where the air is thin and you need to move more slowly. A type of moss covered the volcanic landscape and alpacas roamed where there was water supply.

Ana Maria

Your tour is only as good as your guide. And we had the best! Ana Maria is a native born Peruvian with an intimate knowledge of her country and its culture. She organised events for us that would be available to very few tourists including a sacred ceremony including local medicine men for good weather - and it worked!

Aerials

Our flight from Sydney to Buenos Aires took us over hundreds of kilometres of cracked ice. Even on the internal flights at lower altitudes we managed sots through the small aircraft windows. the Panasonic Lumix TZ10 (believe it or not) has a special setting for shooting through aircraft windows. Like most things on this amazing camera the settings actually work better than manual settings!

Lunch being prepared

Roasted guinea pig is a favourite menu item in both Peru and Bolivia. Your guinea pig is served with potatoes, rice or quinoa and spicy source. Another delicious variation is fried guinea pig with a pepper and quinoa sauce. Its not a good idea to get close too your favourite guinea pig or the prettiest one before you choose which one wil be served up. Its especially not a good idea to learn personal names - you know saying 'I think Miriam looks really cute'.