We just finished an amazing 3 days in the Colca Canyon and are now resting our weary bodies in the seaside city of Arica, Chile, just south of the Peruvian border. It was a wonderful way to finish off our first visit to Peru where we will return to again in June to finish our adventure at Machu Picchu.
Our canyon journey started off in Arequipa, a beautiful city where we felt very safe walking around enjoying the history of the area, including a Convent (Santa Catalina.....still operational) in the middle of the city which was self-sufficient within it's own walls.....a city within a city. We stayed for a few days at a fabulous hostal (Amazing Home) 5 blocks from the main plaza, but in a quiet subdivision, run by a very helpful, young Peruvian man. We enjoyed our time there and returned for another night following 0ur trek into the canyon.
Our Colca Canyon trip started with a 3 am pick-up at our hostal, allowing for a 4 hour drive to the rim of the canyon where we had a stopover to watch condors flying beside the canyon walls. After driving further along the rim of the canyon we started our hike down at 9 am. The Colca Canyon is actually deeper than the Grand Canyon but fortunately not at the point where we entered it. It was still quite a work-out. On our first day we hiked about 12 km's (mostly downhill) and stayed overnight with a local family in a very small village (dirt floor in our room). There are no roads into the villages we hiked through so all of the locals grow their own food, and have to do the same hike we did with their donkeys if there is anything that they require from the closest town........they tend to be very fit people and they seem very happy but they look older than they really are. All of their cooking is done over a wood fire and Ruffina, our host, made us a lovely dinner which included a chicken based noodle soup followed by an avocado and lime salad, and a rice and sweet potato dinner. In the morning our excellent guide, Carlitos, made us a banana pancake breakfast.
The next morning we hiked 4 km's along the base of the canyon, arriving at a place beside the Colca River known as the Oasis for hiking tourists to have lunch (or stay overnight for the 'rushed' trekkers who only have 2 days) and a swim in several pools surrounded by the beautiful canyon vistas. After lunch and a hammock rest the hardest part of the trek commenced....... 6 km's of steep switchbacks rising 1200 metres to the 3200 metre (almost 10,000 feet) top of the canyon at a small town called Cabanaconde where we had dinner and stayed in a hostal overnight. It was very easy to fall asleep that evening!
Our third day had very little hiking involved which was a good thing because we had difficulty moving our tired and sore legs. The Machu Picchu trail will not be as strenuous but we will still need to get in better shape since the distance will be almost twice as long (43 km's vs 22 km's) over 4 days. We had several more rim stops along the way back (more condors) that also included a lunch in one town and a stopover at a hot springs which felt great on our aching bodies.
Finding positive reports on the internet about Land Adventures we decided to book the trek with them and we were not dissapointed. The entire 3D/2N trek only cost $55 per person, plus a $12 canyon entrance fee. As it turned out, no one else booked the same trek starting on the day that we did so we ended up with our own personal guide for the 3 days, and Carlitos was treat to be with..........he had made over 200 treks into the canyon, was very knowledgable, and his English was good. On top of that, Land Adventures is a very eco-conscious company, sending their guides into the canyon twice a month to clean up refuse and using several different village homes for overnight stays and meals to help the locals have a better life. It was indeed a wonderful experience that we will never forget.
Tomorrow we will enjoy an ocean beach walk in the morning and then embark on a 22 hour bus ride down the Chile coast to La Serena where we will relax for several days by the ocean. The bus we have booked has seats that fully recline into beds (laying flat) and they constantly show movies (english sometimes but usually in spanish with english subtitles). Bus attendants serve meals along the way. We are bringing some Chillean wine (good and cheap) with us.
Adios...............miguel & pocahontas
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