14th July – Dispatch from Chivay, Peru
After a busy few weeks in the Cordillera Carabaya, we’ve said goodbye to the snowy, tempestuous climate of the eastern Andes and are moving west to the desert of Arequipa. Here the mountains are massive, isolated volcanoes, many of which exceed 6000 m in elevation. In fact, Coropuna is the third highest mountain in Peru and certainly the most sprawling. It’s a landscape dominated by lava and aridity, and populated only by wild vicuna, condors, and a few hardy llama herders. Our first stop was Chivay, a lovely little town nestled in the upper Colca Canyon under the shadow of the enormous Nevado Ampato. We spent a day there recharging, replenishing our stocks and generally avoiding the blizzard on the plateau above. This being the desert, we had not anticipated that the bad weather would follow us west, but evidently it is possible. There is nothing quite like driving through the night, down the side of a canyon, in a snowstorm to focus the mind!
Our work here involves mapping both the glacial deposits and Holocene lavas on the two volcanoes, Ampato and Sabancaya. Though in sight of Arequipa, the place is actually more remote than Coropuna, accessible only via a two-hour drive down a washed out dirt road. This is a new region for us and so it promises to be a fascinating few days of exploring.
Gordon
