Well, the world didn't end on the 21st December as the Mayan prophecy led us to believe and a good thing at that, or we wouldn't have gotten the change to enjoy our 3-day Colca Canyon trek!
Arequipa, in Peru it seems in mainly a stopover city for those wanting to trek around the nearby Colca Canyon and to the oasis at its base. Despite being the second biggest city in Peru, there seems to be little else to see within the city boundaries except for the usual pretty main-square-with-churches feature that we've become used to. Having heard about the Colca Canyon, being the 2nd deepest in the world (it's neighbouring canyon being the biggest!) and boasting a tranquil main-made oasis at the bottom, we were keen to exlpore. Deciding to go with a tour group rather than doing the trek independently (more for convenience and the bonus of company of other travellers rather than the necessity of a guide), we booked the 3-day 2 night trek with a company called Peru-Schweiz. It cost us 140 soles all inclusive and as we had absolutely no organisation to do, we gladly paid our fare. yet again, another early start was required, this time our bus was due to collect us at 3am - not for the sleep-lover in anyone. So, like 7-year olds, we went to bed straight after dinner and tucked ourselves in for the night.
Almost slapping ourselves away the next morning, we were collected, late as usual and thus began our epic 6-hour drive towards the small town of Cabanaconde, from where we would start our trek. Thankfully we were due a breakfast stop in Chivay, 3 hours into the journey, where copious quantities of coffeee were consumed. We made our usual ice-breaking chit chat with our fellow travellers and post-breakfast, we continued on the bus towards Cabanaconde. We stopped at a view point called Cruz del Condor, where any hopes of seeing a condor swoop over the canyon were doused by the dense morning mist. We eventually began the trek, all downhill at around 9.30am, the early morning sun casting aside the low-lying mist in the canyon and warming our faces as we walked. Our guide Luis outlined the flora and fauna we would most likely find on our trek, which was slippy sometimes due to the gravel path but the lack of any uphill section alleviated any ill-feeling we had about the trek due to our early start. We took our time and enjoyed the impressive views as the sun gradually spread its cover over the canyon walls and down towards the river below. About 2 hours later we were at the bottom, and crossed another rickety bridge to bring us across to the other side to a small town called San Juan de Chucco for lunch. After lunch there was an alarmingly steep uphill 45-minute walk to where we would spend the first night at the early hour of 3.30pm. Our accomodation that night was a homestay, in the farmhouse of the guide's uncle. Kev and I laughed in disbelief at the sight of our "habitacion" for the night; once probably a cowshed, it had no floor, just earth yet a very comfortable and warm bed. Dinner was at approximately 7pm and we literally went straight to bed afterwards, for a marathon sleep of 12 hours, it was well-needed.
The next morning we had only a short hike downhill to the splendor of the oasis. Man made, it lies on a meander of the river, boasting several swimming pools, bamboo hut style bungalow accommodation and little or no electricity. So staying the night here was going to be a very "out in the wilderness" experience. We chilled by the pool all morning and afternoon with some other trekkers we met along the way. It was almost 3pm by the time the rain clouds came in, long enough for the majority of us to get sunburned. The evening was spent battling it out on the makeshift volleyball court (Kev playing like he was trying out for the Olympic team), eating our almuerzo-style dinner while watching satellite TV being installed and watching the fireflies twinkle in the trees around us, illuminating them like Christmas trees. We went to bed by candlelight (how very Jane Austen) and got ourselves another relatively early night, awaiting our 5am departure the next morning. Our little bungalow had gaps in the roof through which the bright moon shone, giving us enough light to see where we were going even after we had distinguished our candle. Had we stayed up late that night, we probably would have seen a beautiful starry sky but for us sleep was very much our priority.
5am came around all too early and after a hodge-podge breakfast of cereal bars, bananas and fruit sweets, we collected water from the nearby waterfall and headed on up the canyon which would take about 3 hours, covering an altitude of 1,200m. While is was undeniably difficult and I was puffing away more than Thomas the Tank Engine, the sun was rising to our east and beginning to light up the canyon gradually. Everytime I stopped for a rest I turned back towards the valley to enjoy the view. One of nature's magical sights, the cactii and the rocky outcrops casting moving shadows as the sun enveloped the canyon walls and floor, like a wave of golden syrup; the pools in the oasis twinkling in the morning sun. When we eventually reached the top, I could just about muster up a "Rocky" style celebrating before I collapsed in a sweaty heap. Not far behind me were the mules who carried everything from to food, beer, toilet rolls and satellite dishes of all things. Somebody in the Colca Canyon was getting themselves ESPN. We walked through some maize fields of Cabanaconde and we were never so relieced to sit down and have a breakfast of fired eggs on bread. At this point we were all exhausted and to be honest, all we wanted was to get ourselves on a bus and back to Arequipa, the early mornings were definitely starting to take their toll. Our next stop was the Thermal Baths at Chivay where we soaked our aching muscles for an hour in a beautfiul hot steaming pool of 39Degrees. After the baths was the amazing buffet, all-you-can-eat style lunch where we ate 3 times the amount considered polite.
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| Colca Canyon |
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| Local women selling tat |
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| The oasis at the bottom of the valley |
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| swimming pools at the oasis paradise! |
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| view of the canyon in the morning |
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| canyon valley |
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| Cabanaconde maize fields |
The 3 hour bus journey brought us back to Arequipa before we collapsed on the bed for a nap after a great but exhausting trip in a spectacuarly-beautiful part of Peru.
Where we stayed: The Flying Dog
http://www.flyingdogperu.com/
How much?: 63 soles for a double room shared bathroom.
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