Colca Canyon lies about 160 kilometres north of Peru's second largest city, Arequipa (pop. 1 million) in the southern corner of the country.
It's nearing 8:30 a.m. and there are small patches of people perched on the edge of Peru's Colca Canyon waiting - anticipating a dazzling show, something that will hopefully happen at any moment.
Arequipa is a calm, pretty city, far away from the maddening tourist crowds of Cusco and Puno – and is the jumping off point for tours to Colca Canyon (twice as deep as the Grand Canyon, by the way).
Visitors pay US$35 to a tourist operator for a two-day trip which will take them through the Reserva Nacional Salinas Y Aguada Blanca (home to many adorable vicunas) and an evening dip at the natural hot springs in Chivay. Passing through the park, you'll reach heights of 4800 metres.
A US$1 admission gets you into the hot springs, set against the gorgeous environs of a dessert-like valley. It is above 2,000 metres here, so the air is chilly, making the waters very inviting.
After a fitful but cold night at our hotel in another town, we are whisked away early in the morning to get to the canyon where a number of other tourists wait for the appearance of the condors.
Our guide Nino tells us that one out of every 10 groups is disappointed because the condors fail to show up, usually due to strong winds. Condors are a rare sight in this world, very few places are home to the largest bird that can fly with wing spans of up to 3.5 metres.
There are only two types: the Andean one (found in Peru, Bolivia and Chile) and the Californian Condor. The Andean kind likes to nest at elevations of 3,000 to 5,000 metres and can live up to 50 years. It's also the national symbol of Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Argentina.
Tourist groups end up pretty much in the same place and sure enough, like clockwork, the condors start swooping upwards from the canyon. The crowd is silent and stunned. These birds are humongous!
A series of shutters clicks and frantic positioning happens. There about two dozen birds and they are majestic.
Birds can fly pretty close together. Many experience the flutter of wings, the condors flying within several feet of them. It's an awesome feeling.
The show continues for more than an hour. Many of us stumble along at first trying to get our pictures but in the end, we just stand there enthralled by these graceful and grand birds.
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While in Arequipa be sure to visit the Monasterio de Santa Catalina, built in 1580 and worth a languid afternoon's visit to its colonial confines. At one time, it was the secluded home to 450 nuns, now it's a tourist site.
