Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Colca Canyon - Peru

Colca Canyon is a canyon of the Colca River in southern Peru. It is located about 100 miles (160 kilometers) northwest of Arequipa. It is more than twice as deep as the Grand Canyon in the United States. However, the canyon's walls are not as vertical as those of the Grand Canyon. The Cotahuasi Canyon to the northwest is a deeper canyon at 11,488 ft (3,501 m). Since they are such major features of the landscape, the Colca and Cotahuasi canyons are both easily recognizable in even low-resolution satellite photos of the region. The Colca Valley is a colorful Andean valley with towns founded in Spanish Colonial times and formerly inhabited by the Collaguas and the Cabanas. The local people still maintain ancestral traditions and continue to cultivate the pre-Inca stepped terraces.

The Colca River starts high in the Andes at Condorama Crucero Alto and changes its name to Majes, and then to Camana before reaching the Pacific Ocean. Parts of the canyon are habitable, and Inca and pre-Inca terraces are still cultivated along the less precipitous canyon walls. The small town of Chivay is on the upper Colca River, where the canyon is not so deep but where many terraces are present in the canyon and continue for many kilometers downstream. As the canyon deepens downriver, a series of small villages is spread out over the approximately 35 miles (56 km) between Chivay and the village of Cabanaconde. The canyon reaches its greatest depth and, in contrast, about 15 miles (24 km) to the southeast rises the 20,630-ft (6,288-m) Nevado Ampato, a snow-capped extinct volcano.

The valley lies in the Callalli and Huambo districts of the Caylloma Province.

The Andean condors are attracting more and more visitors each year to the Colca Canyon. The Canyon is home of this majestic Condor and tourists can see the big condors at fairly close range as they fly through the canyon walls. The canyon is the natural habitat of the great Andean condor (Vultur gryphus), a species that has seen world-wide effort to preserve it.

'Cruz del Condor' is a popular tourist stop to view the condors, the pass where condors soar gracefully on the rising thermals occurring as the air warms. The condors hunt in the early morning and late afternoon, so it is best to be there during those times. At this point the canyon floor is 3,960 ft (1,200 m) below the rim of the canyon.

The Colca Canyon is also ideal for Adventure Sports. In addition, the La Calera natural hot springs are located at Chivay, the biggest town in the Colca Canyon.

credited to wikipedia and flickr users: VirginiaBA, homo styriacensis, jungle_boy, kram cam, cmdrgravy, patrick.gerety, kayseap, pasajero, anilso7o721, Boyd_, Tim Kelf, nomadical, Dick dangerous, Alex Sthrahman!

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

There's not much of a comparison between Colca Canyon and the Grand Canyon. Colca appears to simply be a deep valley area between high mountains. Not nearly the same geological construct as the Grand Canyon.

Unknown said...

Yes, but its alive, has more shape, and is far more interesting that a big dusty hole surrounded by fat Americans. Bigger is not better.

Anonymous said...

haha fat americans...thats original, everyone wants to be here. including you! because we take no shit and kill innocent people for money and goods, politicians are more corrupt than our street gangs and we dont give a shit about eachother..o wait... So is england nice?

Dan said...

A Brit mentioning "Fat" Americans?
Smile. Lets see those teeth....On the other hand, please don't...

Anonymous said...

Oh Dear,
Looks like we have some across the pond animosity going on here.
As a British citizen though I do naturally have to defend my heritage which by the way is worth more than that of (excuse the stereotype) a fat inbred yank retards.
Your right a lot of us do have bad teeth, but teeth can be fixed with £2000 and two trips to the dentist (which works out roughly as $4000 - £2 to the dollar wow that’s an achievement for such a shit country as ours lmfao).
Where as the shallow, selfless, ruthless and ignorant attitude of Americans (which by the way has only really developed since they realised everyone hates them) will not change overnight, or will not change by throwing money at it, or will not change by invading countries - realising you can't win then getting the British to tidy up for you.
Face it, you were a world super power at one point but now your economy is crashing and while your all spending you money making your teeth whiter the rest of the world is spending there money educating there children, raising the next generation of adults who are actually going to help other people, people who will go on to achieve greatness.
America on the other hand is breeding the next generation of mindless robots and retards if you look up ether definition you will find I am right.

I once heard a statement “Only in America” referring to America being a place of limitless opportunity – let me tell you a few other things you can find in America.

Only in America is it ok to kill troops that fight by your side abroad.
Only in America is it ok to still oppress black people.
Only in America is it ok to brainwash your citizen’s via media control.
Only in America are babies addicted to crack from birth due to there mothers being crack addicts while pregnant.
Only in America after a natural disaster you are ignored for being a minority.
Only in America can you invade a country simply to get your hands on some oil.
Only in America can you steal planes and crash them into buildings.
Only in America can you sell crack to kids.
Only in America are people celebrated for simply being attractive.
Only in America can you find Marines that think it’s cool to kill people just because they look different.
Only in America is the youth truly wasted on the young.
Only in America can you live in a make believe fantasy land while the rest of the world evolves.
Only in America is it ok to publicly insult other countries because they have pointed out you imperfections and flaws and you can’t find anything to retaliate with other than brainless, childish insults.
Only in America do I fear for my life.
Only in America am I certain I am going to be lied to.
Only in America are the children instilled with a natural arrogance that because there country goes unchallenged in all that they do they can say and do what they want.
Only in America are the general population still blinded by the same propaganda they served up during the world wars.

So in closing, with all the faults I may have as a British Citizen I am still proud to be so, and I thank Christ I am not American because to be quite frank that country is the biggest ticking time bomb I’ve ever seen and I feel sorry for the children being born there as the opportunities that were there for normal intelligent Americans are lowly disappearing through the ignorance of the people who run it.

Anonymous said...

Oh but nice pics though

Anonymous said...

You say "Only in America" like corruption, greed and ignorance doesn't happen in any other country. Please, wake up.
I am an American citizen, though not a proud one. I hate the corrupt politicians and the war that we were all lied to by our government about. I hate the parents that let their TV raise their kids and feed them nothing but McDonald's so they turn out like the "typical" American. I don't like the glorified drug-addict celebrities and I want to slap every mother who lets their pre-teen dress like them.

You generalize too much. Just because we live in one country or another... believe in one thing or something completely different... have white skin or dark skin... does not make anyone more ignorant and pompous as the next.

And to think, this argument started because someone made a comparison between two canyons' geological structure and it ended up like this.

Anonymous said...

Agreed American government and rednecks give the rest of Americans a bad name.

Anonymous said...

Wow, cannot believe this simple show of nature has turned into American bashing. Really mature rational conversation this is. If you really believe all those things are facts of all Americans then you are just not very smart and ignorant. Oh and yeah, some of that stuff has some truth, but if you don't think that it doesn't go on in many other counties then you are blind to the world.

Anonymous said...

Britain is nothing to be proud of. Before America had was established england was exerting its powerful dominance over other countries. Now it dosen't have any power to dominate otherwise i am sure you too would do what america has done. From the height and power of the east india trading company to today...... A police state, with the most surveilled populace in the world (1 cctv for every 12 people) (average person is caught on camera 300 times a day). The result of not having a constitution which puts the people in charge. Unfortunately this theme of govt supremacy has flowed on into our laws over here in New Zealand and now we begin down the same dark path you have already trod. Don't get me wrong the people are nice enough, the country side is beautiful but..... the rest of the country is in a shambles. The govt will soon be choosing what cereal you eat for breakfast. Once one of the largest GDP's in the world, now a small contender on the world scene, where did you go wrong???? Maybe it is that the monarchy was put to the back for some new power hungry people calling themselves politicians to have a crack at playing with the rat farm.
comments welcome

Anonymous said...

I just wanted to see the world's deepest canyon... Sheesh!! Love your neighbor like you love yourself and the world will improve!! A Fat American. PEACE!

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