Colca Canyon
Trip Start
Mar 02, 2005
1
20
28
Trip End
May 07, 2005
Arequipa,
Peru
Wednesday, April 6, 2005
I decided to do a three day tour of the canyon. The first day I left Arequipa with 12 other tourists in a van, and we drove about 3 hours to the town of Chivay at the beginning of the canyon. On the way we passed many vicuņas, llamas, and alpacas grazing by the side of the road. I also saw my favorite road sign ever - a yellow diamond with a black siluette of a llama. Apparently this means "Caution, llama crossing." To get to Chivay we had to drive over a high mountain pass that reached 4900 meters above sea level, which I think is around 16,000ft - the highest elevation I have ever been. We stopped for a few minutes to walk around at the highest point on the road, and just taking a few steps was exhausting due to the altitude.
The town of Chivay is just under 4000m, and I bought a pair of alpaca gloves and hat (all for 3 US dollars) which helped keep me warm. We had lunch immediately upon arriving, and I tried the alpaca steak, which was excellent. Iīd say it was as good if not better than beef. Very tender. Plus, there is a hot spring in Chivay which was nice for warming us up.
alpaca steak
At night we saw a "traditional folkdance" which was touristy but the music was great with traditional Peruvian flutes and guitars, and dancers dressed in colorful local attire. The next morning we woke up at 5:30am to drive 2 hours to Cruz del Condor - the deepest part of the canyon. From here we saw 5 Andean condors gliding over our heads. They are amazing birds to watch, and they put on a show for about an hour, just circling around again and again and again. After watching the condors, it was time to start the hike. There were four of us hiking down into the canyon: me, an English guy named Dan, an Italian named Marcos, and a Peruvian named Yuri. Marcos spoke only Italian, and would try to communicate with me by speaking Italian very quickly, and when I told him I didnīt understand, he would just keep talking and smiling. Yuri was a bit of a character - he wore a tan trenchcoat on the hike - the kind of coat the flashers wear. Plus he spoke Spanish in this high pitched accent that somehow made me uncomfortable. Luckily for me, Dan was normal, so I spent most of the hike chatting with him. Plus, our guide Nestor was a great guy and he wore a Boston Red Sox hat!
The hike down into the canyon took 3 hours - it was a descent of about 1000 meters - a bit more then 3000ft. Then we crossed a suspension bridge and soon found ourselves in a small farming village that was only accesible via the 1000m path - no cars, just burros and horses for local transport. After a brief stop for lunch we continued for another 3 hours before reaching the Oasis where we took a dip in a swimming pool fed by thermal mountain waters and spent the night in a bamboo cabana. It wasnīt a long sleep because the guide woke us at 3am so we could hike back up out of the canyon in the dark before the sun rose and it got too hot. It was tiring to walk up 1000m, and it took about 3 hours, but it was beautiful with the stars above. By the time we got to the top at 6am, the sun was just rising and the snowy tops of the mountains above the canyon were lit up by the first rays of the new day. We arrived back at the town of Cabanoconde at 6:30am with just enough time for a quick breakfast before catching the 7am bus for the 5 and a half hour busride back to Arequipa. It was a great hike that I highly recommend. Most tourists just go to the top of the canyon and watch the condors flying, but you really donīt appreciate how impressive Colca Canyon is until youīve gone down into it.
