Adventures in Colca Canyon

by Anna:

We went to Colca Canyon. It was a LOOONNGGG car ride from our hotel.  There were condors and we had to hike to them so we weren't looking at the condors with all of the crowds of people. On the way to Colca Canyon we saw alpacas and vecuñas.  We also went swimming in the hot springs.  But it was a swimming pool with natural water coming in.  Mom as disappointed because she wanted it like in the nature.  I liked the swimming pool.  It was really fun.  It was really hard to get out because it was warmer in the pool than outside.

The black and white condors are adults.  Their wing span is up to 3m wide.  They live up to 50 years in the wild.

In Arequipa, we went to a convent.  It is a place where nuns live.  There are lots of old beds with candles near them (before people invented the lights and nun beds.)  The way that nuns washed their clothes: they have a stream and you put a dam with your hand to make the water go into kind of like a beaver dam and then it falls into a half pot which you put your clothes in to wash them.

This is one of the more wealthy nun's room.  Anna chose it becuase there were curtains to surround the bed.

This is Anna demonstrating how the nuns did their laundry.  The kids played in the "laundry room" for quite awhile.

The streets are named after streets in Spain because they reminded them of beautiful streets in Spain.

There was an indoor bath where the nuns would get clean.  Anna is demonstrating what she would do if there were water inside.

In case you wondered: Anna is Jesus dying on the cross and Cole is somebody throwing stones...

We also went to a swimming pool.  I didn't stay in very long because the water was FREEZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The slides, most of them, didn't have any water trickling down so you needed to dump water onto them and go.  But once you dumped water onto them, they were really fast!  We had to buy a swim hat because that's the rule (and they are loco!).  Dad looked super cute in his swim hat.  Whenever dad and Cole went down the slide, when they went into the water, their heads went under the surface.  It was like they were being dunked.  After, my lips turned blue because I was so FREEZING!!!!!!!!!!