Arequipa and Colca Canyon, Peru – July 21st - 23rd, 2017

We arrived early in Arequipa and as usual, had to struggle through hoards of taxi drivers attempting to rip us off. We eventually left the bus station, walked down the road, flagged one down (admittedly, this occurred 20 minutes later) and got one for a ¼ of the “fair price” from the drivers parked at the station. We were able to check into the guesthouse early, but after a quick breakfast on the rooftop terrace, ventured out to explore the city. Arequipa, the 2^nd largest city in Peru, is famous for a historic city center (a UNESCO site) and views of the surrounding towering volcanos. Before delving into the sites, we planned and booked an excursion to hike into Colca Canyon the following day. Colca Canyon is one of the deepest canyons in the world! At 13,640 feet deep, it’s over 2x deeper than the Grand Canyon! Next on the agenda, was to find an electronics store to replace Andy’s iPhone battery, which in addition to holding a charge for all of 30 minutes at a time, had swelled to about double the original size. Finding a repair “store” turned out to be quite the adventure. After visiting two local markets, asking a dozen or more locals, and wandering through areas which had never seen tourists, we finally stumbled upon a 50 sq. ft. shop which had the proper part and expertly executed the repair for about half the US cost. Errands complete, we walked through the UNESCO protected historic city center. The city is gorgeous, with brightly colored shops, pristine streets, and magnificent views. After lunch at a fancy European-esque sandwich shop, rest and cards at the guesthouse, pre-dinner cake at a local pasteleria (bakery), sunset at a rooftop bar in the main square (where we did not buy a drink because the waiter never came – bonus! free sunset views at the best spot in town), and dinner at a touristy gourmet potato themed Peruvian restaurant, we returned to the guesthouse and fell asleep instantly – which was good since the bus to Colca Canyon picked us up at 3am the next morning.

Around Arequipa. 

More of Arequipa.

Food, phone store, swollen battery, and creepy mannequin heads which are too small for the body (seen all over South America). 

On schedule, we were on our way to Colca Canyon bright and early the next morning (I guess not so much bright since at 3am, the sun is nowhere near rising). Along the way, we stopped for “breakfast” which consisted of typical Peruvian bread with butter and jam plus tea and coffee…perfect fuel for an 8-hour hike (go back and read with sarcasm if you missed that the first time around). Next stop was at a condor viewpoint overlooking a beautiful section of canyon. After 20 minutes of disappointment, we were thrilled when several condors flew directly in front of us! They are colossal birds!!! So cool! A few more hours of driving, we arrived at the start of the trek. While waiting to depart, the nearby Sabancaya volcano farted! Not going to lie, we were a bit terrified at first, thinking it was erupting, but apparently a little toot now and then is normal and expected. It was the first time any of us had seen an active volcano fart! After ooing and awing at the volcanic flatulence, we were on our way down Colca Canyon, accompanied by another condor!

Cruz del Condor viewpoint equip with handicrafts for sale and the start of the trek including a distant volcano with gas.

Our group consisted of two American friends (who had just finished a 2-year stint in the Peace Corps in Guyana), a civil engineer from Basque Country (now living and working in Uruguay), a French couple, two Argentinian women (one of which was a little person), and our Peruvian guide (for the first time ever, a female guide!). After 3-hours descending about 1200 m (~ 4000 feet), we arrived at the river at the bottom. Much to my disappointment, the tour did not take us to the deepest section of canyon, and the elusive depth was lost on us… although still spectacularly beautiful, to be fair. After crossing the river, we ventured up the other side for only 30 minutes before traversing the canyon for another 4 hours. Along the way, we stopped for a surprisingly delicious lunch at a village and thanks to the elevation and length of the hike, lost a few of our group members to donkeys along the way. Although a few others did make it without the help of donkeys, the going was slow and rough, especially for the girls with altitude sickness who were wearing Sperry’s and fashion (not hiking) boots. Around dusk, we finally made it to the oasis – yup, an OASIS at the bottom of the dry canyon!!! The lush green vegetation looked oddly out of place, yet exquisite! We passed several, really nice looking resort-type accommodations, before finally arriving at our lodging for the night… fair to say that besides the pool, our accommodation was not so much a resort as a decrepit assortment of concrete huts with bed sheets and comforters that looked like they had never been washed (our comforter likely had been given a mud (or poop) bath before being half rinsed, allowed to grow a little mold in the drying process, and draped over our half century old mattress – again thankful for our silk sleeping sheets). I guess you get what you pay for. Luckily we were so tired that shortly after cards with the group and soup and spaghetti dinner, we crashed in our dirty bed and slept like babies.  

The trek down Colca Canyon.

Traversing Colca Canyon. Along the way, our guide showed us how a fungus which grows on cactus in the area is used as red dye. 

Our not-so luxurious accommodations at the oasis.

Not-bright, but again super early the next morning (4 am wake-up), we packed our backpacks and started the 2 ½ hour assent out of the canyon. We eventually broke free of the herd of cattle and made it to the top about an hour before the rest of our group arrived. After breakfast, we loaded up in the van, and were on our way back to Arequipa. Even though we didn’t get to see the depth of the canyon, the overnight trip was still spectacular and we thoroughly enjoyed the trip – especially because the group meshed well together! En-route to Arequipa, we stopped at a tourist trap to pet some baby alpaca and try colca sours – pisco sours made with cactus fruit (um… awesome on both counts!). We also stopped at a volcano overlook, which also happened to be the highest point on the road at 16,109 feet elevation! We arrived back in Arequipa at about 6pm and showered before heading out to find some grub. As had been our experience in South America so far, most restaurants were closed for unknown reasons, and we eventually settled on a pizza place with terrible service, but decent food. Can’t have it all… 

Trek out of Colca Canyon.         

The town at the end of the trek. The guinea pigs in the cage in the bottom-center photo are not pets, but a delicacy in Peru. The dog in the bottom-right photo found Andy's food to be a comfortable pillow during breakfast. He was so sweet, but similar to our bed sheets likely never had experienced a bath.

The trip back to Arequipa.