Oct. 6, 2016.  Oasis Para so Ecolodge, Sangalle, Canyon del Colca, Peru.

• Decided to go for an overnight in the canyon, and hustle to the rim to make the 9:30 bus to Puno.  The guidebook says 3 hours for average fitness, so if I leave by around 5 AM, I should make it.

• But first, a visit to see the condors at Cruz del Condor: local bus at 7, arrived around 7:30, already a ton of people, most of whom come from Chivay (and up from Arequipa).  Hit up immediately for the Boleto Turistico - about $22 - half of which goes to Arequipa for general maintenance and conservation of local tourist attractions, while the other half goes to the national agency of tourism.

• Waited about an hour, then lo and behold, about four condors, flying sometimes together, sometimes alone, appeared about 200m below the canyon rim, gliding along, or landing and taking off from ledges on the cliffs.  Tried some videoing, but they were pretty far away.  Still, pretty darn cool - big, lovely, wide, black and white winged birds, the largest flying bird in terms of weight (33 lb) and fourth largest in terms of wingspan (3.2m, exceeded by two albatross and two pelican species).  

• Caught the 9:30 bus back to Cabanaconde, loaded my lightweight day pack with the minimum - t.p., sun cream, t-shirt, a liter of water, a headlamp, mosquito repellent, my Patagonia down jacket, and a huge sandwich from the Pachamama Hostel, and with trekking poles at hand, off I walked to the Mirador San Miguel (1/2 hour), then down into the canyon along a beautiful trail - suitable for horses - to San Juan de Chucho, on the other side of the canyon.  This took about 3 hours, and I was alone until I reached the bottom of the canyon, at 7,086 feet.  Starting at 10,784 feet, this makes a descent of 3,617 feet.

• As far as the actual canyon depth, LP and the local publicity claims it is the world's second-deepest canyon, only 1,099 feett shallower than its near neighbor, the Cotahuasi, and twice as deep as the Grand Canyon. 

• Continued walking on the north side of Colca Canyon, this time encountering lots of tourists, in groups of as few as two and as many as twenty - and just about every group was a guided tour.  Once more I appreciated the freedom of hiking alone, although it didn't hurt to follow a large group now and then to see the correct route (maps.me was fine, but I trusted the tour leaders more).

• Arrived at Sangalle around 4PM, checked into the hostel, and then jumped into the lovely swimming pool (!) for another first on this S. American trip.  Dinner of soup and spaghetti, a room for about five bucks, and I was set for the night.

• Sangalle is also called "The Oasis", and also referred to as the Garden of Eden (one of the hostels has in fact that name), and is a lovely, tree and vine covered piece of relatively flat land between the canyon cliffs and the river.  I saw at least three swimming pools in Sangalle, each associated with a hostel, and they all looked inviting.  The swimming pool at my hostel was empty when I left in the morning, but I presume it was filled again soon afterwards from the small waterfall that poured into it.

• Interesting note: the source of the Amazon river, only nailed down less than ten years ago, is a fissure in a steep cliff situated at 5170m on the northern slopes of Nevada Mismi, and is only a two day out-and-back hike from Tuti, a village not far from Cabonaconde.  So why didn't I do it?  Because you either need a guide or maps and tent and food, and I wanted the comforts of a hostel.  Old age?