Colca Canyon Trek, Peru
October 26-28, 2015
The Colca Canyon is reported to be twice as deep than the U.S.Grande Canyon and about 170 meters less deep than its more remote rival, the Cotahuasi Canyon. Colca is more than 1km from cliff edge to river bottom and in places the sides are so steep that its impossible to see the valley bottom. Its also home to the magnificent condors and the higher edges of Colca are punctuated with some of the best examples of pre-Inca agricultural terracing. Craggy mountains, herds of alpaca's and traditionally dressed Andean peasants complete the picture. In the 1530's a Spainard named Gonzalo was given this region to exploit for economic purposes and created 14 main villages in some of the most remote areas of the canyon. Today there are a handful of villages still in existence and the Colca Canyon has become one of the most popular tourist attractions in Peru. We did a 3 day / 2 night trek in the Colca which was definately challenging but an amazing and rewarding experience!
Our Accommodations in Cabanaconde - Pachamama Hostel
The tiny village of Cabanaconde is a great starting point for trekking the Colca Canyon as most trails begin very near to the village. We stayed one night at Pachamama Hostel which provides good information about the trails, clean and comfortable rooms along with a restaurant and bar.
Village of Cabanaconde
Super Trekkers - Meeting Wonderful People!
As we were searching for some good wifi in the village of Canbanaconde, we happened to meet three wonderful ladies who we hit it off with right away like old friends. Two of them from Spain (Natalia and Elena) and 1 from Brazil (Tsamyah) would become our trekking partners for the next three days in the Colca Canyon. They made our time in the canyon more special because we shared our stories, the challenge and the experience together. It was a lot of fun being able to trek with them and it was sad to say goodbye. But we came away with new friends who we hope to visit in the future!
Our Colca Canyon Trek Adventure
Day 1 From Cabanaconde downhill to the valley bottom and then some uphill to Coshnirwa (Malata) to spend the night
Day 2 Continue mostly uphill to Fure and then a steep downhill to valley bottom to LLuhuar to spend the night
Day 3 From Lluhuar we take a bus back to Cabanaconde located at the top of the canyon
Day 1: We begin at 7:00am from the village of Cabanaconde. After several local villagers give us different directions to the start of the trail, we eventually find our way and begin our trek. We start at an elevation of 3,200 meters and descend over the next 5 hours to the bottom of the canyon at 2,200 meters. The sun is very intense which makes it extremely hot but the views of the valley below are amazing. Once we reach the bottom of the canyon we stop and have our packed lunch of bread and tuna at a shady restaurant and hostal called Gloria's. After an hours rest we continue onwards hiking up the mountain to the tiny village of Coshnirwa (15 minutes from Malata) where we spent the night at a rustic hostal run by a friendly family. In the evening we're invited to come sit in their rustic kitchen while we chat with them and they cook us dinner of soup followed by pan fried chicken with rice and home made fries. At 6:00am they make us banana pancakes before we continue our trek. Being able to stay with local families has been a special experience while being in Peru and we thrive on getting to know the people and the culture of a country in this way.
Day 2: We have breakfast at 6:00am and then continue our trek to the abandoned village of Fure to experience the views along the way. The trek to Fure is quite tough as much of it is uphill and we're trekking in the intense heat of the day. But our group is really great at motivating each other and we push on together! After 4 hours we reach Fure and we have a snack and rest. From here we now descend once again to the bottom of the valley to reach a tiny village called Lluhuar (it consists of two hostals and some hot springs) where we'll spend the night. The descent down is very steep and it takes a toll on knees and feet. Finally after another 4 hours we reach Lluhuar and settle on staying at Hostal Casa de Virginia rather than the Lluhuar Lodge. The accommodations are rustic but decent enough for a nights rest. We all quickly change into our bathing suits and jump into the hot springs to soak our muscles. Afterwards we enjoy a few beers and then have a good dinner of soup followed by a veggie omelette with a side of other mixed veggies and rice. A well deserved rest ahead!
Day 3: Natalia and Elena bravely decide to trek back up the canyon to Cabanaconde and luckily from where we are there's a colectivo (bus) that goes back once a day to Cabanaconde so Tsamyah and us decide to take this option as we're exhausted! We wake and have a late breakfast and then at 12:00pm catch our ride. We all meet up in Cabanaconde where we find Natalia and Elena tired but recuperating and then we all go by bus back to the city of Arequipa. It was a fantastic 3 days in the Colca Canyon filled with lots of wonderful memories with our new friends and another adventure under our belts!