The Outdoor Adventure Giving you tips, tricks & recommendations to help make adventuring in the Outdoors fun, safe & exciting for you and your kids.
In Bolivia, the locals have their fair share of traditions. One of them has to do with the most famous bird of the area, the Andean Condor. A massive bird, this Buzzard is both revered and despised. Revered for its size and beauty, but despised for its habit of carrying away and eating small animals. As is often the case, such mixed feelings and respect have lead to the development of another tradition around a set of mountains called Tuni Condoriri.
Condoriri is a set of three peaks that together look like a condor with wings outspread. It juts out of the surrounding hills and hovers over several lakes (lagunas) and streams that occupy the narrow valley. It is said to be the home of the last enormous condors. These Condoriri condors are said to swoop down and carry away children, but that’s only the start. The children are then trained to be “Condor Men”… and women I suppose, who return to small villages, cry havoc, letting slip the dogs… condors of war.
Of course, we went for the views. We hiked up the valley, starting at 4200 meters 13 779 feet and passing through flocks of llamas, past streams and waterfalls, aimed for the base camp for mountain climbers at 4900 meters (16 080 feet). With only a few small houses along the way, it was a very peaceful hike with many awesome views of the mountains, lakes and wild birds who gorged themselves on the multitude of trout gracing the waters.
Probably too much for me, having only arrived 4 days earlier from sea level, it was a great trip. It took us 2.75 hours to get to the top lake, and 1.75 to return for a total of 5 hours. Its a 20+ km trip (12.5 miles) and a good exercise for your lungs if you haven’t built up the necessary Red blood cell supply!
Oh and speaking of health, definitely wear a hat and use sunscreen. I had forgotten my Tilley and it turns out I suffered a nasty sunburn that peeled 3 times in the next week. NOT safe.
I just wanted to share some photos and a video of the trip to give you a taste of why Bolivia is a great travel destination for the adventurer.
