Erica in Peru: Colca Canyon

Colca Canyon

Andean Condor

         My 3 day trek down into Colca Canyon was incredible. Though the first early morning I was supposed to set out for the tour, the guide somehow ¨forgot¨ to pick me up, thus I was waiting from 3 to 4 AM and then had to spend an extra day in Arequipa, everything worked out in the end. The tour agency paid for my extra night in Arequipa, and I think it was providential that I ended up with the group that I did. There were 9 of us, plus Pablo and Judith, our awesome local guides. On day one, after leaving Arequipa at about 3:30 AM, we stopped for breakfast in the small town of Chivay, outside of the canyon, and then continued on to Cruz del Condor, where a kazillion tourists gathered to see the Andean condors. They were quite amazing to see, swooping across the canyon, but the sheer number of tourists took away from the experience a bit. From the condor tourist trap, we continued to Cabanaconde where we began our hike down into the canyon.
   Our group of 9 consisted of an improvised group of 4 who had met up in Huacachina. Janna (spelling?) and Katherina were from Belgium, both nurses (a couple as well) who are travelling for about 6 months. With them was Matt (England) and Alfonso (Italy), friends who met back in Australia when both were staying in the same hostel for a number of months. They had kept in touch and met up when their South American adventures overlapped. I tried a bit of Italian with Alfonso, but clearly I need to return to Italy in order to get it back. Then there were two Australian girls, also travelling through South America for a number of months. Asta had just finished her degree in elementary education, and Rochelle is a social worker. To complete the group were two older women from Germany, sisters, Beatte and the other whose name I can´t remember.
          After spending 4 days in Arequipa without much difficulty, I guess I was well adjusted to the altitude by the time we began our trek, from about 3,287 metres above sea level. I have also been drinking the native Coca tea (mate de coca) which everyone claims helps with altitude acclimation. Unfortunately some others in the group had a little altitude sickness, but thankfully we all made it down to our first destination after hiking down for about 4 hours.   The canyon itself is about twice as deep as the Grand Canyon, at 4,160 m. We had lunch and relaxed in the small village whose name I can´t remember, but most of the towns in the canyon are tiny, with just a few families. Running through the canyon is the Colca River, and throughout the canyon the people cultivate crops on the terraces that remain from Pre-Inca times.
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Day 1, hiking into the Canyon

Alfonso and the group

Colca Canyon and Colca River

Our path hiking own into the Canyon, day 1

Family dog at our hostel on the first night

View of the small village we stayed in on our first night

The family hostel where we stayed was well equipped with electricity and hot water. I slept in one of the rustic bungalows with the two Australian girls, Rochelle and Asta, and fortunately we did not have any scorpion encounters, which Pablo warned us of right before bed. In the morning we set out for our next destinations. Since we had started out, 3 members of our group, plus Pablo, had some sort of medical affliction, either due to the altitude, too much sun, or something in the food. After hiking up the canyon a bit, we stopped in a small village where we could buy fruit and snacks, and Pablo stopped into the hospital for some mineral salts or something like that. The villages here are quite isolated. Some have gotten electricity within the past couple of years, but generally anything and anyone that goes into the canyon has got a long walk. There are 2 schools in the Canyon, though many children will have to commute, probably by foot, to Cabanaconde or Chivay, or possibly Arequipa for highschool. Our two guides were locals, and Judith´s family lives on a very remote farm in the middle of the canyon, quite far from any of the neighboring villages. Both Judith and Pablo have been studying tourism in Arequipa.

Bridge crossing day 1- all of the bridges we crossed along the river were quite wobbly, making you feel like a stumbling drunk as you crossed

Lots of cactii!

Accomodations night 1

Me on a sunset walk above our hostel, night one

Me day 2

Pablo showing up a parasite that grows on cactus that, when smushed, turns into a brilliant red dye

Asta

Continuing on after a break in the shade

Church in the small village we stopped in

Our next destination was the Paraiso Oasis, a cluster of resorts set near a waterfall which all have swimming pools. By the time we arrived we were all quite appreciative of the the pool, though my bungalow still had a dirt floor, and we had dinner by candle light as there wasn´t electricity in this part of the canyon. I shared my bungalow with the two German sisters, Beatte and ... shoot I can´t remember the other´s name! They are both elementary school teachers back in Germany, but are taking a sabbatical year to travel.

Pool at the Paraiso on our second night

Beautiul flowers at the Paraiso (I dont think they are actually native to the canyon)

After lounging by the Paraiso pool for a bit and having lunch (all meals were prepared by our guides, and began with soup, usually followed by perhaps some meat, such as alpaca, an potatoes and rice) we ventured down to the river, a short walk below the hostel. It is still dry season, so the water is low, but surrounded by the orange canyon walls it was a serene and breathtaking place to chill out for a bit, hopping between the smooth stones.

Colca River

We all helped to make dinner for our last night together. I had to eat a bit of gluten (bread or pancakes for breakfast, spaghetti for our last dinner) but it didn´t seem to cause too much trouble. After dinner we were able to see the stars even more clearly than the night before, due to lack of electricity, and before heading off to bed we all layed on the grass and took in the constellations of a Southern Hemisphere, along with a few shooting stars.

Our last day began around 4:30 AM. Hiking out of the Canyon was the most strenuous part of the whole trek, so it was important to start early when it was cool and we could hike in the shade. We all met for coca tea before heading up the trail.