Sky High

After surviving the sandboarding, I decided to punish my body further my taking a flight over the Nazca lines. These lines were built by an ancient civilisation primarily as an astrological calendar. However as they are only visible from the air they are also thought to be an appeasement to the Gods, as only the gods can see them. I boarded a small aircraft along with 4 others and took off. Due to some wierd geological phenemenon there is a band of warm air that rests just aboves the lines. This has protected the lines for the last thousand years but it also makes for some horrendous turbulence. I lasted a whole 5 minutes before my stomach needed to be released. Fortunately I was still able to see the lines which are just amazing. The one above is the monkey whilst this is the spaceman. (Its really a farmer but spaceman is more popular with conspiracy theorists). After Nazcs we left the desert for Arequipa, the white city, a truely beautiful city. From here we arranged a trip out to the Colca Canyon. This canyon was thought to be the deepest in the world until another canyon was found a short distance away that is 50 metres deeper. The landscape around the canyon is stunning but the main reason people visit this spot is beacuse it is one of the few places in the world so you watch condors in the wild. At the moment it is nesting season so there are not many condors about but I was fortunate to see a couple soaring high. These are magnificent creatures and until you see them you really cannot comprehend how huge they are. Their wingspan is close to 2 metres. Returing from the Canyon we climbed to an altitude of 4900m, believe me it is really cold at that height. Luckily I did not seem to be suffering as much as the others with shortness of breath but the nosebleeds began to get annoying. That altitude is further than we go on the inca trail so touch wood I should be allright. Speaking of the Inca trail I will be setting off tomorrow on Wednesday the 29th. I´m off now to get a good nights sleep. Wish me luck...