Waiting for Condors

It is 4:00am. We were more than 4,000 sq.m. above sea level. I was buried under two alpaca wool blankets (Note: they do not smell like Woolite) and has two hot water bottles around my feet. Pitch dark. I was dreaming that a woman was calling at my door in Spanish, "Senora!" Wait... it is real. Manual wake-up call.

We were meeting at 5:00am to drive to Colca Canyon to see condors. They look like eagles, but are not eagles. To see such powerful vultures up close is the highlight of the trip. But I could not really spur up more enthusiasm at this time of the day.

We visited two small towns on the way and took a stop on a church. A man with a large eagle tied to him is offering to take photos for a fee. I thought we woke up at the crack of dawn to hurry to the Canyon lest we miss the condors. But, no. We stopped once again and from a distance looked at pre-Incan tombs around the mountain cliffs. "Why do you think they did that?" our guide challenged. The more important question is, "Why did we get up at 4:00am for detours like this?" ;-)

Alas, we arrived at Condors Cross. The natural habitat of the iconic birds of Peru. It was a beautiful part of the Canyon and the sun is just hitting us. We sat down near the cliff and waited. Then waited. And waited. Taking a picture with the eagle on my wrist does not seem like a silly idea now. People won't know it is not a condor.

We were there for about an hour ready to shoot. With cameras. Then we finally saw one fly by, and then he was gone. Half an hour passed by, still there was none. (You start to rhyme in situations like this.)

And then they came, one by one, and then two, and then four at the same time. Then they were everywhere. Flying from high. Swooping down as if taking a pose. Perched on a rock close by. Using the temperature variance in the air, they playfully glide across the Canyon. Was it worth waking up at 4:00am? Yes. It was wonderful to watch. The freedom. The grace. The joy that wings can bring. How I wish.