Colca Canyon is a vast canyon in Southern Peru, about 105 km northwest of Arequipa. Reaching a depth of around 3,270 meters (10,730 ft), it ranks among the deepest canyons in the world, along with the nearby Cotahuasi Canyon. To put that into perspective, Colca Canyon is almost twice as deep as the Grand Canyon.
The canyon, which stretches for 70 km, was formed over millennia as the Colca River slowly cut its way through the landscape. It’s a spectacular sight, flanked on one side by Chila Cordillera and on the other by Mount Hualca Hualca, Sabancaya, and the Ampato Volcano. In the distance, you can see the active stratovolcano Mount Ubinas and the beautiful Mount Coropuna.
This Colca Canyon full-day tour will take you to the best viewpoints along the canyon, offering unrivaled vistas. You’ll also have the chance to see giant Andean condors as they swoop and soar, sometimes just meters from where you’ll be standing. Of course, nature cannot be guaranteed, however, you have a high possibility of seeing these spectacular birds in flight at The Condor Cross.
Fire away with your questions and snag some tailor-made wisdom from our experts to make your adventure epic!
We’ll leave Arequipa very early in the morning, at around 3:30 a.m. so you can make the most of your Colca Canyon experience. On our way to the canyon, we’ll pass through a spectacular landscape of mountains and beautifully rugged terrain, first stopping at the small Andean community of Pata Wasi (which means “High Home”). Here we can see some intriguing rock formations and views of the Chachani and Misti volcanoes. To help with the altitude, we’ll also make a stop to enjoy some traditional coca tea.
As we approach the town of Chivay, which sits at an elevation of 3,600 m above sea level (12,000 ft.), we’ll pass colorful farming terraces that are found throughout much of the Colca Valley, some of them dating back to the time of the Incas. After breakfast, we’ll drive to the famous viewpoint, or mirador, known as Cruz del Cóndor (Condor Cross), arriving there at about 8 a.m. The lookout point is located near the small villages of Maca and Cabanaconde. Here, strong winds rise up from the canyon, providing a favorite spot for Andean condors, the largest flying birds in the world. They soar on the thermals, often in pairs, normally in the morning and late afternoon. You might see these huge condors, with their three-meter wingspans, flying very close to the lookout point, offering a truly majestic sight. From the lookout point you’ll also have incredible views down into the depths of Colca Canyon.
After watching and taking photos of the condors, your guide will take you on a short trek near the canyon, for about 45 minutes. We’ll then head back to Chivay, first stopping off at the traditional village of Pinchollo and the Antahuilque viewpoint. This viewpoint offers wonderful views of the 1,500-year-old agricultural terraces that curve along the hillsides like an amphitheater. You can also spot some of the enchanting lagoons of the Colca Valley.
The next stop is the lookout point of Choquetico, where we can see two very interesting features. First are the hanging tombs, built by the Aymara-speaking Collaguas around 1200 AD. These funerary niches were cut into the cliffs of Cerro Cabanaconde and then sealed off with rock walls. In order to reach these otherwise inaccessible cliff faces, the builders likely worked their way down using ropes suspended from the trees up above. The second interesting feature we can see here is a model of the canyon terraces carved into a rock.
Moving on, we’ll visit the small Andean village of Maca, which sits on the lower slopes of Sabancaya Volcano and Nevado Hualca Hualca. Then we’ll pay a visit to the village of Yanque, which is home to a pretty white church, a small archaeology museum, and thermal baths down by the river.
There are also horse-riding facilities and mountain bike rental available in Yanque (not included in the price of the tour).
We’ll then head back to Chivay for a delicious lunch before heading back to Arequipa.
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Valencia Travel was amazing to work with, and I would highly recommend them for any new travelers. Special thanks again to Andes (guide) , Maria (agent/coordinator) , and Washington (driver) . Thank you for making this a trip to remember for a lifetime.
Valencia Travel was amazing to work with, and I would highly recommend them for any new travelers. Special thanks again to Andes (guide) , Maria (agent/coordinator) , and Washington (driver) . Thank you for making this a trip to remember for a lifetime.
We truly had an incredle experience from booking with Maria, to meeting Miguel upon arrival at the airport, and of course trekking with our incredible guide Aldo and the amazing porters who helped make trekking much more comfortable and luxurious than we're used to. We couldn't believe the 3 course meals they cooked up. Truly blew us away.
The trek itself is incredible as you're able to see so many Inca sites along the way before arriving to Macchupicchu. The mountain range was beautiful.
Aldo our guide was the best! He was very information and taught us so much about the incas and knew so much about all the trees, wildlife, and fauna we saw along the trek. He's been guiding for many years and thanks to his experience and forethought we managed to catch amazing views away from the other groups of trekkers and were the first to arrive to Macchupicchu making for an even more private experience. I highly recommend Aldo!
Valencia travel is a local company that supports all the locals they employ. I highly recommend them for any bookings!
**tip: definitely give yourself 3 days in Cusco before hiking in order to acclimate to the altitude. We saw a couple turn around due to issues with altitude.
We truly had an incredle experience from booking with Maria, to meeting Miguel upon arrival at the airport, and of course trekking with our incredible guide Aldo and the amazing porters who helped make trekking much more comfortable and luxurious than we're used to. We couldn't believe the 3 course meals they cooked up. Truly blew us away.
The trek itself is incredible as you're able to see so many Inca sites along the way before arriving to Macchupicchu. The mountain range was beautiful.
Aldo our guide was the best! He was very information and taught us so much about the incas and knew so much about all the trees, wildlife, and fauna we saw along the trek. He's been guiding for many years and thanks to his experience and forethought we managed to catch amazing views away from the other groups of trekkers and were the first to arrive to Macchupicchu making for an even more private experience. I highly recommend Aldo!
Valencia travel is a local company that supports all the locals they employ. I highly recommend them for any bookings!
**tip: definitely give yourself 3 days in Cusco before hiking in order to acclimate to the altitude. We saw a couple turn around due to issues with altitude.
The Porters and Chef Filex were exceptional and went above and beyond with all our needs.
I was surprised with a Birthday Cake on our hike, and I had no idea someone could make and decorate a cake in a tent.
It was incredibly mind-blowing.
I highly recommend them to anyone looking to do the Inca Trail.
We are extremely pleased with the service we received.
I give them A++++++
Un’altro aspetto importante è stata la guida per Macchu Picchu, Washington! Super appassionato del posto e della storia, vi coninvolgerà con i suoi racconti e le sue spiegazioni. E’ davvero una guida molto esperta e professionale!
Thank you for such a brilliant trek!
Our chef, Gregorio, "Goyo", had the best food of all of our Peru!! the culinary expertise of this guy whom planned a menu according to our hike plan, carbs and proteins, and we had plenty.. .I mean plenty to eat. The porters (all 10), with leads from Climico, and special mention to Fortunato who would met us at the end of the trail to help carry our personal packs to our porters applauding our days hard accomplishment. Along the entire trail, Wilbur encouraging the porter of other competitors as his "little brother" to continue to be strong as they quickly passed us on the trail. My respect to the team of Valencia Travel, the porters, head chef and his assistant and mostly to Wilbur for delivering an experience that I encourage anyone to participate in. Thank you Wilbur. we the 7 women from California, USA will forever be your "Flowers".
There were some challenges communicating with the office staff with some questions we had before the trek and booking it, though once we had our meeting with Guillermo it was all sorted out.
After a lot of research, Valencia Travel appeared as the most qualitative and professional agency organizing the excursions we wanted to take part in. We signed in for day trip to the rainbow mountain and had an amazing experience. The guide spoke English and shared a lot of interesting facts with us, the food was delicious and the general activity was perfectly organisez.
Thanks to this very positive experience, we decided to do the 4 days Lares Trail to Machu Picchu with Valencia Travel. Waouw. We spent the 4 days talking about how impressed we were about the professionalism of the agency. The trek was wonderful, the nature breathtaking but the most impressive part was the service, the kindness of the staff, their organisation,… Everything is in the details, the camp are very confortable, they even bring you tea in your tent to wake you up in the morning!
The food was beyond expectations. At every meal, we had a salad, a soup, a main dish and once we even had a cake that they baked in the tents! Being vegan, we are always a bit scared that it could be a problem for trekkings, but with Valencia it is not at all! We had some of the best foods of our trip during our trekking!
I am so happy that we did the Lares trekking with Valencia as there is no better way to reach the sacred site of Machu Picchu than by doing a trekking in the nature. It is a very special place and trekking to reach it definitely add some magic to the experience!
To conclude, I would highly recommend Valencia for any activities in Peru, it will make your experience unforgettable!!
At 55 and with a helpful dose of camaraderie from my younger trek-mates, including my 16 year-old niece who managed the ascents and descents with aplomb, I felt a sense of accomplishment in completing the trek, which is more vertical than horizontal and ranges from about 9,000 to 12,000 feet over three days. Hiking the trail does require above-average fitness for the middle-aged. No unmanageable parts but a walking stick, reliable shoes, dependable leg muscles and accommodating joints, a relatively light backpack of essentials, and stops along the way to gulp down the thin air, take in the jaw-dropping vistas, pause for passing porters, and make way for grazing llamas—all are required to push through. So is a large reserve of self-deprecation. Alex and other minders were more than indulgent while keeping us all on the move.
Reaching Machu Picchu at the end was paradoxically awe-inspiring and anti-climatic given the splendor of the journey to get there. At the end of it, getting on the train that deposits and returns the vast majority of visitors in the space of a day, I simply couldn’t imagine seeing Machu Picchu without doing the trek.
If you are hiking the Inca Trail I highly recommend to go through Valencia Travel. Ask to have Elistan as your guide. The porters are treated very well. They have good hiking shoes, and attire to wear. (though if they could get backpacks that include waist straps I think that would be great!). Ask for Luis to be your cook. I have never eaten so well on a vacation. Luis is amazing at what he can cook up on the trail, we are talking three course meals for breakfast, lunch, and dinner and the food is presented as if it was at a 5 star hotel. Incredible!!!
My only other desire is if Valencia offered a Recipe Book of the meals eaten on the trail. I would totally purchase such a piece of "gold".
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