From Cusco we took an overight bus to Arequipa in the South. From here we could do a trek to explore the Colca Canyon region. In parts the Canyon is 4,160m deep which is twice the depth of the grand canyon.
BOTTOM: Village we visited near Colca Canyon
We looked around Arequipa for a day and then organised a 3 day tour to hike into the canyon, stay 2 nights and hike back out.
The next morning we had to be ready at 3.30am to leave as the canyon is a couple of hours away. A van rocked up and as we we were the only ones waiting we got in the van… We then realised they all had hardly anything with them for staying 2 nights somewhere, so we checked with the driver in our bad Spanish and it turns out we were in the wrong vehicle!! Oh no… hopefully we wouldn’t then miss our actual proper transport!! So eventually we got dropped back at the hotel and the driver had already come for us… but turns out he was going to come back. So after much anticipation they did return and we made it on the trip! Phew!!
We’re not sure why we had to get up sooooo early! We were all asleep in the van, and so tired. But the driver was driving ridiculously fast… the tyres were screeching around corners and he was stopping really late for speed humps… one of the guys on the bus yelled out “Despacio por favor!” which means slowly please! And the driver regained a normal pace… Phew!! We stopped for breaky, then at a Condor lookout where there were no Condors… Turns out we left so early to go and see the condors but the weather wasn’t the best for them so they weren’t there. We then continued on to the starting point of our trek!! Yes… we decided to attempt another trek!
This trek was pretty cruisy though. Day 1 we walked about 8km downhill… down into the Canyon, we crossed a bridge over the central river and our Lodgings were on the other side. Our room had a mud floor and mud walls and no electricity. This is how the people here live!! So that was our first night.
Next day we trekked through the Canyon towards our second lodging spot. We would be staying in the “Oasis” a series of little cabins set out around a pool! It was so hot down there we looked forward to getting to the pool for the afternoon. Once we arrived it was just chilling out in the sun by the pool! A nice refreshing afternoon!
Along the way we were shown the parasites that make the red for our cosmetics. We got a good photo of them this time. There were also a couple of landslides we had to cross which was interesting! Dirt and sand was still pooring down the hill and we each had to time our run so we didn’t get hit by falling rocks! 3 months earlier there had been a big earthquake in the canyon and a whole wall of the canyon caved away. You could see this along the walk. Apparently the guests and trekkers at that time were freaking out and girls crying! It must have been pretty scary being down in the bottom of the canyon feeling that! It was at night too so they couldn’t see what was happening!
Our accommodation that night had a tiled floor, but still no lights! The walls of the cabin were made of bamboo with lots of little cracks between them, so it was like camping but with a bed. Really nice.
The next day was a little reminder of the Inca Trail! We had to walk back out of the Canyon, we were around 1km down and so the whole morning was walking uphill. We left at 5.30am so we wouldn’t be walking in the sun. That afternoon it was the drive back to Arequipa and our Colca Canyon trip was done!!
On our way back we stopped for a yummy lunch and in a little village where we got to hold and pat an eagle! We had the choice of going to some hot springs but nobody wanted to because it was too hot!! And the “springs” were just like a swimming pool! The little villages all around the area were very cool though.
Timeframe: 17th October – 21st October 2013
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