Cruz del Condor xiewpoint In Cabanaconde, Peru. The Cruz del Condor Viewpoint just outside of Cabanaconde, Peru in the Colca Canyon is one of your best chances of getting to spot one of the regal Andean Condors, and very easy to get to as well.
It is about 20 minutes by bus to the main area where everyone goes and where the video below was shot, but there is also a smaller second viewpoint about 15 minutes away.
One fun thing to do is to rent a mountain bike, get a ride to the viewpoint, then cruz on back down to the town of Cabanaconde. The now awesome teen did this and loved it, while Mom sat tight at the hostal with our two furry friends, a little worried even though she knew he had been lectured about safety risks and was wearing a helmet.
It wasn’t the best time to see the condors (early morning is typically when the birds are out soaring in the canyon) but he got lucky and took the shot to the right.
There are many better pictures on the Web, but I am trying to keep ‘free use’ photos to a minimum and have most on this site be taken by either myself or the awesome teen.
We visited the end of November, 2011 and that wasn’t a good month to be there for Condor viewing. It is mating season and so they are more preoccupied with reproducing and taking care of new hatchlings than putting on photo ops for tourists 🙂
During other times the birds are known to soar very near the tourists standing at the cliff edge whom get amazing up close shots.
I published a complete guide to the Colca Canyon on my old website, if you are planning a visit, it contains much information found nowhere else on the Web: Travel Guide to the Colca Canyon.
Conservation of these magnificent creatures is a concern to many and when we stayed in the small town of Yanque, Peru during our month and a half living in the Colca Canyon we met two American Anthropologists who were there to observe and document the animals for a research study.
When they found out I was a travel writer with a website on South America (old one since sold), they asked if I would please make mention in my articles about this issue and to inform tourists of the need to not purchase any products made from these birds, even if they say it was found dead, not killed.
In response, I wrote and published this article: Brief History of the Andean Condor & It’s Near Extinction. Enjoy, Molly