Colca Canyon

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Colca Canyon

After being very lazy in Cusco over the Christmas and New Year period, we decided to head to Arequipa and Colca Canyon for some hiking.

The four of us (us, Darran and Linsey) booked bus tickets for the evening of the 3rd of January. LM developed some stomach trouble through the day and we decided not to leave that evening. We said good-bye to Linsey and Darran and went for a quick dinner. Returning from dinner we found them at the hostel, they had missed the bus! The universe did not want us to take that bus...

We arrived in Arequipa the morning of the 5th. There are three majestic volcanoes rising up around Arequipa, making for some stunning views from the Plaza. The Plaza de Armas is one of the most beautiful plazas we have seen in South-America. According to our Lonely Planet guide, the locals like to say ¨when the moon separated from the earth, it forgot to take Arequipa¨. Most of the old colonial buildings are built from light-coloured volcanic rock, called Sillar. We only stayed one evening, having booked a hiking trip to the Colca Canyon for the following morning, leaving at 4 AM.

Colca Canyon is the second deepest canyon in the world at 3 191m, with the deepest one (163m deeper) not far away. Both Arequipa and the canyon is located in the desert, with sparse, dusty scrub dotting the landscape.

We started the hike from Cabana Condor preceded by a brief stop at a lookout spot, called Cruz del Condor, where many hopefuls head to see Condors. We did see some, although they were quite far away. We had previously seen a tame Condor in Cusco displayed for funds for the protection of Condors. They are family of the vulture, but far more beautiful and majestic and are also the largest flying land bird in the western hemisphere. They are present along almost the entire Andes range.

The hike from Cabana Condor to our first stop took four hours and was mostly downhill. The first refuge was a beautiful lodge run by a friendly Peruvian couple, serving cold beers and fresh trout with warm smiles. The lodge is in a beautiful location, at the confluence of two rivers. Also on offer is two thermal pools where we spent a few hours relaxing.

We headed off the next morning at 9 AM, a decent time. We passed many prickly pear farms and ate quite a bit of them. Very tasty! We sampled some other strange white fruit and lots of pomegranates along the way. As we started our first serious ascent, we reached a beautiful little village, inhabited by extremely friendly folk. The ascent ended at an amazing viewpoint. After some decent hiking we reached our second stop, a lovely oasis with a resort-like lodge (very basic). We all had a beer and swam in the blue pool at the lodge.

We had no time to lie in on our last morning, as our guide woke us at 04:45 so that we could start the gruelling ascent up the canyon side. The average time taken is three hours, Darran took one hour thirty minutes to reach the top, the same as a mule! We took our time and still made it up in two hours and ten minutes. It is quite a tough uphill climb, though. It took us the entire day to get back to Arequipa.

Colca Canyon was great, the contrast in climate and plant growth with the surrounding area is stunning. We would both like to do it again but for a longer number of days.

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Photos

Colca Canyon
Peruvian Torch Cactus, we think.

Colca Canyon
Heart shaped cactus

Comments

[stephanie]

Beautiful city!
Nice Pictures! I love arequipa! :D