Before descending into Colca Canyon my group stopped at a viewpoint in the hopes of seeing condors. There are quite a few viewpoints along the rim. We initially stopped at Cruz del Condor, as seen here.
It’s a good idea to get here early, as once the large tour groups get here, it fills up pretty quickly. The other reason to arrive early is that is usually when the condors appear. They live on the side of the canyon and in the mornings when the hot air is rising out of the canyon they literally jump off the cliff and use the hot air to glide.
Condors weigh up to 15kg so they are not very good at flying, they focus on gliding instead.
We actually did not see any at the first viewpoint, but the tour provided bikes so we could cycle along the rim. Biking downhill at 3700m is fine. Biking uphill is another story! Anyway, even with the difficulties, it was not long before somebody spotted a condor and then we spent an hour of so watching them and taking pictures.
