El Condor Pasa
The Condor passes by
01.04.2015
22 °C
As the rays of dawn eclipse the lip of the Colca Canyon in southern Peru it awakens the giant condors and, like prehistoric creatures, they rise from their craggy perches to soar in the warming air…
Never needing to flap their enormous wings, these solar powered mammoths of the heavens soar higher and higher with the ascending sun until they meet us, eye to eye, on the rim of the canyon. The clock reverses as we become engrossed in a matchless aerobatic display that melds us and them into a dance with the firmament that has been witnessed by man for millennia… 
We stand in wonder, mesmerised by the aerial ballet that is being performed seemingly for our sole benefit. It is as if these mystical beings have awaited our arrival to swoop and soar time and again as the thermals lift them more than three kilometres from the canyon’s depths until they can survey all that lies beneath…
Worshipped by the Incas as the embodiment of the gods, and demonised by the conquistadors for that same reason, these ancient beings were hunted to near extinction by the Christians who feared their demonic powers, And so it was with a sense of great gratitude, (and with a few tears of joy), that we were privileged to witness one of the most awe inspiring sights on earth – the dance of the Andean condors.
Wherever we travel in South America we hear panpipes playing the haunting folk tune "El Condor Pasa", and this tune will forever remind us of the day we joined the condors in their celestial dance.
How absolutely wonderful! Definitely a forever memory...
by Joyce