colca canyon condor

we rose early on a bitterly cold windy morning and drove for a good hour or so through a hilly barren landscape to a rocky outcrop ledge on the edge high in the colca canyon, the world's second deepest canyon.there was nothing else we were there for except the hope of condors, not a promise as we were given no guarantee of even seeing one. we waited patiently in a steadily growing crowd for over an hour before we noticed someone down the far end of the ledge pointing excitedly - and desperately followed the rough line their finger indicated. and then we saw our first majestic andean condor with its wingspan of metres, soaring silently but at great speed on the canyon updrafts. it was a spectacular example of perfect nature.