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Published: December 8th 2011
So continuing on our theme of checking out the world’s highest this, or longest that; we decided to head to the word’s deepest canyon. The Colca Canyon is located in Peru, about three hours from Arequipa in the south. One of the main reasons that we went in that direction was to meet up with an old college mate of mine, Emma who lives there in the ‘White City’.
This canyon is reportedly the deepest in the world, thought to be twice as deep as the Grand Canyon. The Canyon itself is quite different to the Grand Canyon both in geography and topography. Portions of the Colca Canyon are habitable, with pre-Colombian terraced fields still supporting agriculture and human life. It’s quite green, versus the drier, sandier Grand Canyon.
Setting off early in the morning, Sarah and I hopped on a bus to start the two day tour. After a few hours, we grabbed breakfast and then made our way to the Cruz del Condor. What brings increasingly more visitors each year, in addition to the sights, are the Andean condors here. The condor population of South America is unfortunately dwindling, but here in the Colca Canyon, we saw
them really close up as you can also see from the photos. The condors soar gracefully on the rising thermals occurring as the air warms. You'll want to be there early to see the condors in flight as they hunt in the morning or late afternoon and watching them is an unforgettable experience. There are no railings, and the floor of the canyon is 3960 ft (1200m) below the viewing area so watch your step!
After checking out the Condors, we began our hike. It was myself, Sarah, Rory and a funny Italian guy. Day one was full of early downhill and then after lunch we progressed uphill again. The Italian guy was cracking us up with his cocky humor. He though it was an easy hike apparently, and I wouldn’t have disagreed too much at this, but it was only the first day – we still had to go all the way up to the top of the canyon tomorrow…
It was at some stage during dinner, after some wine I’m sure that we found out that our Italian friend had opted to select a mule to carry him up the canyon wall the next day. He
wasn’t the only one. It was actually an American guy, who was carrying a bit of excess weight, that also opted for mules...except he needed them on the first day, and he needed two! They would swap out the mules after a while to give them a break.
We slept easy that night, and woke early, early at 4.30am to hike uphill. I don’t mind early mornings, in fact I like getting going earlier, but 4.30 is kind of the middle of the night. My lovely wife was certainly not looking forward to rising that early. As it turned out it was a great idea. We were breaking a sweat by moonlight after under an hour and as we got closer to the top by sunrise things were getting hot! We eventually climbed out of the Canyon valley by 7ish, which was a good time.
At the top we soaked up the amazing view and congratulate other folks who made it up after us. Then it was breakfast time. We walked into the town of Chivay and scoffed a lot of food to fill our growling bellies. From here it was off to the La Calera hot springs
and to relax for a bit. The springs were perfect after all the walking.
When we got back to Arequipa, we met up with Emma again and toured the town and it’s watering holes. Sarah loved the old monastery, which has survived multiple earthquakes. We also enjoyed the local market, which had everything from fresh juices to fresh cow heads!
To see more photos you can also
click here. Next Up…we head north in Peru to Trujillo and Huancabamba for some enlightment.
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connie and kevin
non-member comment
great entry
wow!! what a beautiful place and the hot pools looked great too!! Such a life ....!