Spider, Nazca LinesThe next morning, we had a satisfying breakfast and then headed down into the Canyon. First stop, Cruz de Condor. These large endangered Andean scavengers have a wing span of ten feet and soar over the Canyon on the thermal updrafts. One particular spot attracts large numbers of birds as well as tourists in the early morning. What a spectacular sight! The birds appear to float above you, creating ideal opportunities for pictures. At one point, there appeared to be at least five large birds hovering overhead. This lasted about 45 minutes and then suddenly they disappeared.
One thing I find that sets Adventure Life apart from other tour companies is their ability to venture “off the beaten path”, exploring places that the masses seem to overlook. We left the crowds of people behind and drove a short way down the road further into the Canyon. After pulling over, Carlos hopped out and announced that we were going on a short hike. We proceeded to walk along an irrigation channel lining the Canyon rim for about 1-2 miles, enjoying the spectacular scenery. Amazing terraces dating back approximately 1100 years or more, are visible all along the canyon walls. These create fertile areas for crops of potatoes, corn, barley, etc. In fact, many are still in use. Visiting in the dry season, we did not have a chance to see any green crops. Rather, the entire canyon radiated with a golden glow created by dry grass and plowed fields. Most of the farming is done by hand or with the aid of animals as there is no practical way for machinery to reach the remote fields perched on the steep canyon walls. By the time we had ventured back past the condor site, all the crowds had vanished along with their buses back to their hotels.
That afternoon, we traveled back to Chivay for a delicious lunch consisting of a variety of local Peruvian dishes. More pork for Carlos! We had a chance to stroll around the town and paid a second visit to a local vendor who sells a deep-fried pastry smothered with honey—my daughter is a big fan!
We've used Adventure Life for several trips in the past and have always been very pleased with them. The staff is personable and professional at the same time. Erin put this trip together for us in just a few days, and it has everything we were looking for! I recommend them without hesitation.
benn
1 month ago
I served as the person responsible for planning a trip to Galapagos and Machu Picchu for a group of 14 people. Jane with Adventure Life was very helpful throughout the process. Making suggestions, offering insight, and in the end helped me overhaul an initial plan into something even better. Also, Jane makes all the plans including the flights within and between Peru and Ecuador. Thanks to her this is going to be a stress-free adventure. After making the final decision about the trip, Jane gathered the contact information for all the travelers and sent out the details to each traveler individually with links to pay deposits, upload passport info, and personal preferences. She also ensured a group email was sent out to the entire group welcoming us to the trip preparation process. Our trip is a year from now and we are excited to make this once in a life time trek. I am happy to have organized things through Adventure Life. However, two small issues came up that were a little off putting. First, Adventure Life adds $50 per person to the cost for each traveler as a donation to a Galapagos conservation fund. I think this should he offered as something that can be added at each traveler’s discretion. Instead, it is automatically added, and each person must ask to have it removed if they do not want it included. Second, although the trip deposit may be paid with a credit card without incurring an additional fee, the balance must be paid in another way to avoid a 3% credit card fee. Maybe this is standard with all travel agencies. In the end I would definitely go through Adventure Life for the next big trip.
Brenda Nielsen
2 months ago
I think it was very helpful that Franny and I spoke on the phone. I think she had a better idea of what we were looking for, and she planned a great itinerary for us!
Elizabeth
3 months ago
My representative Kevin was very responsive generally and in crafting our itinerary to our specific priorities.
Rocco Labella
3 months ago
Easy.
Great work on the follow up and details by Waru.