The road from Arequipa to Colca Canyon ascends to almost five thousand meters through stunning high-altitude desert landscapes and herds of alpaca, llama and wild vicuna. Passing through areas of swampy lagoons – a paradise of Andean Egrets, large, plump Andean Geese, Puna Teal, Andean Gulls and Flickers – you reach the highest point where, amid lichen, tiny cacti, and patches of ice clinging to the roadside lives the Vizcacha, a long-tailed relative of the chinchilla. Across the grey desert from here, in the thin air, there are spectacular views of the volcanoes to the west and the peaks of the central Andes to the north. The 1,200m descent to Chivay happens quickly, sweeping hairpins taking you down towards the green valley of the Colca River. The landscape here is remarkable. Mile after mile of pre-Columbian terracing line both sides of the valley, some of the terraces no more than a meter or two in depth, and all of them irrigated by ice-melt from the mountaintops above.

Along the valley to the west is Cruz del Condor, a spectacular mirador at the deepest part of the canyon, where huge condors ride the early morning thermals rising up from the bottom of the canyon 1,200m below. As the thermals quicken under the strengthening sun these graceful birds spread their three-meter wings and soar effortlessly just above your head. Even without the condors the views defy description: the backdrop of Mt Sepregina rising vertically 3,200 meters from the river below, and the canyon walls east and west shimmering in the morning sun or still dark in shadow.