Day 1
We had already decided we wanted to visit the Colca Canyon (one of the world’s deepest canyons at 4160m) – the challenge was finding the right company to book this trip with. We did our research well and ended up booking with Colca Treks – who offered a slightly different experience to the other companies.
We were picked up from our hostel at 8am and started the journey to Chivay. Our first stop was the National Park to look at some amazing rock formations – which had been produced by lava from a volcanic explosion many, many years ago. They looked like something from another planet, weathered into unusual shapes by the rain and the wind over the years. From here we went on to Patapampa by bus – the highest point of our journey (and probably the highest we will ever go!) at 4912m! We went for a walk around with our guide, who showed us a green plant which grows mostly between 3000-4000m and is as hard as rock! The altitude was challenging (but manageable) – it just made us very tired and gave us headaches. In order to reduce the symptoms we dosed-up on sugary sweets and water – which seemed to help. Back in our bus we headed to Chivay for a buffet lunch before driving onto Pinchollo, where we would be spending our first night.
From the main square of Pinchollo we walked for about 30 minutes down the hill to get our first view of the edge of the canyon. It was just magical – it was just our group (11 people) looking into the depths of the canyon as the sun was setting – this is what we had come for! Not another tourist group in sight, as no other groups stayed in this village. We then walked back to the Colca Trek Lodge (our accomodation for the night). After several weeks in hostels, I was super excited by our accomodation which had hot lovely showers, a hairdryer, a beautiful room and a spectacular balcony overlooking the mountains! To top this off we also had a yummy 3 course meal prepared for us before heading to bed with a hot water bottle!
Day 2
I set my alarm for 5.30am as our room had panoramic views of the mountains and I wanted to see the sunrise over them. It was a beautiful start to the day! After breakfast we headed out to Cruz de Cura – a quieter look out point to spot condors (by quiet I mean only our group was there!). We saw so many condors and some were flying so close! Apparently their wing span from tip to tip can reach 2.8m across! They can also live to 50-60 years old in the wild. After plenty of photos we headed to Cabanoconde to start our descent into the depths of the canyon. We had a team of mules who would carry some of our stuff – so we just had to carry our day packs. It was a beautifully hot day, with very few clouds. It was a steep 3 hour descent in the heat and our walking poles definitely came in handy! Despite it being a challenging descent, it was worth it for the views of the canyon – amazing!
We descended from 3200m to 2000m at the bottom of the canyon, where we found Sangalle Oasis. It looked like paradise – lots of beautiful huts, a swimming pool and palm trees – all set in the breathtaking landscape of the canyon! I opted out of the afternoon walk, to sit and chill and read my book… perfect!
Day 3
Up at 4am for a quick breakfast and then start the hike back up the canyon. We started the climb at 5am in the dark with our headtorches and all you could see is a stream of lights climbing up the canyon wall! It got light very quickly but luckily we avoided the sun for the 1st 2 hours of the climb- we set our pace and plodded on-much easier in the cool! We got to the top in 2 hrs 40mins – much quicker and easier than going down the same path yesterday! Once back in Cabanoconde we started the 6 hr journey back to Arequipa via the hot springs and a stop in Chivay for lunch!
Trekking into the canyon had been amazing – the views had been spectacular – being out in the highlands is beautiful and very magical.