Peru is famous for its soaring peaks, ancient ruins, and dense jungle. It attracts tourists from all over the world who come in search of adventure and natural wonders, but an often missed hidden gem of Peru is Colca Canyon. Colca Canyon is the second deepest canyon in the world, nearly twice as deep as the famous Grand Canyon. It is located just a few hours outside Arequipa, which is a beautiful city full of delicious food and colonial architecture in southern Peru. Ethan, our good friend Tatum, and I journeyed deep into the canyon over a two-day, one-night trek, and in this article we’ll talk all about our experience and tips for this little known wonder!
How to plan a Colca Canyon trek
Colca Canyon is about 3-4 hours driving from Arequipa, and there are a few ways to go about planning your trek.
The first, and easiest, option is booking through a guide. After some deliberation, Ethan and I went with this option and were very very happy with it. We simply booked a few days ahead of time on Trip Advisor and had a great guide and group to hike with, as well as all of our transportation, food, and accommodation covered for just $76 per person.
Another option for planning your Colca Canyon trek is making your way there via a combination of public transport, communal taxis, and walking while using a map to guide yourself. This is a budget option for people with a lot of time, hiking experience, and flexibility, as the transport concoction there and back can be finicky and the hike itself isn’t always clear. It is always best to have a guide if you are not a confident, experienced hiker, especially in the rainy season when there can be flash flooding and paths can be blocked. As far as accommodation, there are a few beautiful bed and breakfast-type oases in the bottom of the canyon that you can either book ahead of time or inquire about when you get there.
Because the cost of a guided hike that handles all transport, food and accommodation isn’t exorbitant, even budget travelers, like us, might find the guided hike a better option that doesn’t break the bank.
Our Experience
Day 1
Day 1 quite literally began in the middle of the night. We were scheduled to be picked up from our hotel at around 3 am. We groggily woke up, stored our luggage at the front desk of our hotel, and waited until a white van pulled up and our (also groggy) guide told us to hop in. We luckily snagged the front row of three seats, which would prove essential in just a few hours. We went around to the other hotels and hostels picking up everyone in our group. There were 9 people in our group, plus our guide and his brother. As with every guided hike I’ve done, one of the biggest perks was getting to meet all the other travelers in our group. No matter what age or where we’re from, there is always so much to talk about.
After our early pick up, we drove about 3 hours into the mountains towards Chivay. None of us were feeling particularly well on this ride, especially Tatum. We were driving on rough, winding roads, and all of us thought it must just be a combination of the food we’d been eating and motion sickness. We finally reached our breakfast point, and it was the sweetest little town. We walked upstairs in a tiny restaurant by the square and were served scrambled eggs, the traditional triangle bread of the Arequipa region (pan de tres puntas), some kind of juice, and, of course, tea. It was a great chance to get to know some of the people in our group. Almost all of them were on a long-term trip. There was a British couple on a three month trip through South America, an older German woman who was traveling indefinitely, and a young British/Dutch pair that had been traveling for a whole year. One girl even played Hay Day like Ethan, which was awesome. While Ethan and I started to feel better with food, Tatum was still super sick, and it almost seemed like she was getting worse.
We kept driving after breakfast, and Tatum was still sick, but at this point we still all thought it was motion sickness. Finally, we reached Mirador Cruz del Condor, a viewpoint to see Andean Condors! Colca Canyon is one of the only places in the world where you can see Andean Condors, the largest flying birds in the world. Sadly we did not see any of the giant birds at the viewpoint packed with tourists on day trips, but at this point we did put two and two together that maybe Tatum wasn’t suffering from motion sickness, but altitude sickness. We knew that Arequipa was at a high elevation, and all of us had been fine there, so we didn’t think twice or even research the altitude of the canyon. Chivay, where we had breakfast, was around 12,000 feet above sea level, which is much different from Lima at around 500 feet.
Tatum quickly took the medicine for altitude sickness she had been prescribed before the trip, but she was still feeling ill. With no way to turn around now, we headed on with our group and Tatum showed mild signs of improvement, along with the hope that as we descended into the canyon, her situation would improve. We finally made it to the point where our hike began along the edge of the canyon. We bought a few Snickers to sustain ourselves and followed our trusty guide, Rafa, along the path that would bring us into the heart of the canyon.
Rafa was a great guide. His family is from one of the many small, interconnected villages in the valley, and he was super knowledgeable about all of the flora and fauna of the area. He also works many trips in a row, meaning he was almost always in somewhat of a sleepy delirium.
As the day went on we ventured deeper and deeper into the canyon. The sun was beating down on us, and we were applying sunscreen so often that we looked like ghosts. The trail was a rocky gravel that led to multiple small slips and falls on our part. It was tough, and we had hours more of hiking before we reached the bottom, but it was beautiful. Plus, Tatum’s medicine seemed to be working.
Our group went at different paces on the way down in, so we took our time, enjoyed the views, and watched our steps. About half way through, we snaked around and under a cliff face that must have been a nest or something because we were swarmed with wasps. I’m allergic, but luckily none of us got stung. We trekked down, down, down, for what felt like forever, but just when morale was getting really low, we finally reached the rushing Colca River at the bottom of the canyon.
There was a big sign saying, “Bienvenidos Al Distrito De Tapay”, or “Welcome to the District of Tapay”. And even though we still had a whole afternoon of hiking, we felt a rush of joy having reached this point. The next step was a short 30 minute hike along a relatively flat trail along the river to get to our lunch spot. TIme seemed to fly by, it was more lush, we weren’t constantly tripping over rocks, and we had a bit of reprieve from the sun thanks to the vegetation. We arrived at a small house with a patio and lots of animals around. We flopped ourselves down at the tables ungracefully and let the craziness of the last 10 hours wash over us. We chatted with the group as our food began to come out in multiple courses. We started with some sort of soup, and then the main event was what I think was alpaca meat, rice, and lots of fresh avocado. I bought a cold Coke which complemented the meal perfectly. Tatum still wasn’t able to eat much, but she wasn’t feeling as many symptoms, just the residual exhaustion of illness. To this day, I am so impressed that she was able to complete the hike in that condition.
As everyone was finishing up lunch, Rafa asked if we wanted to see something. We said sure, and he guided us over to a small open air enclosure that was FILLED with guinea pigs! There were huge guinea pigs, babies, all with different colors and patterns, just chirping away. What happened next shocked me. Rafa led us into the enclosure then picked up the guinea pigs and put them in our hands. This was a hilarious and fun memory that I will have forever. It’s always the unexpected things along the way that really make a trip; it’s one of the many reasons I love traveling.
After visiting with the cutest guinea pigs I’ve ever seen, we headed off on the second part of our hike for the day. This section was along the inside of the canyon itself. We walked along the trail with full bellies and a sense of calm having the toughest part behind us. Rafa showed us how this white fungus looking growth on cacti are actually cochineal bugs and the white turns to a blood red when squeezed. He demonstrated this to us and it honestly seemed like magic. He told us that it also was used as a dye for textiles in the past. The sun started falling behind the walls of the canyon and we were graced with the most beautiful end to our hike.
We eventually reached our accommodation for the night around 5 pm. It truly felt like walking into an oasis. There was a small gate opening to the most beautiful garden path, which we followed to reach the quaint rooms we’d be staying in, along with a swimming pool. We all dropped our bags in our rooms and headed straight for the freezing pool. Everyone jumped in with shrieks as we realized just how cold the water was. But it felt amazing! I couldn’t believe I was in the middle of one of the most remote canyons in the world swimming with my best friends at sunset. Luckily, the hot water kicked in just enough for us to catch a hot shower before dinner.
I can’t quite remember, but I think dinner was some combination of rice, meat, and avocado, plus some soup, of course. We enjoyed our dinner underneath a pavilion in the open air of the canyon, right next to the kitchen while the whole group chatted about their travels. It is always incredible to get to know the people on group hikes, and so many of them were traveling long-term, anywhere from 3 months to indefinitely. I actually think Ethan, Tatum, and I were the only ones who weren’t on some sort of months-long trip. It was a lovely dinner, and we finished up by chatting with Rafa about what to expect the next day.
Rafa told us we’d have a 5 am wake up, eat breakfast, then head out for a 3-4 hour climb straight up out of the canyon. But then Rafa offered a second option: we could pay 20 dollars for a mule out of the canyon and wake up a half hour later. Fun fact about me: after a few scary horseback accidents in Kazakhstan, I have a mild fear of horses generally and a much more real fear of actually riding a horse. Fun fact about Tatum: she spent the last 24 hours throwing up, driving on rough winding roads, and hiking ten hours into a canyon. Tatum’s symptoms had lessened, but she was left feeling weak and exhausted, she had to take the mules. But she didn’t want to go alone, so she convinced Ethan, and eventually me to get a mule too. I was terrified, but I didn’t dwell on it too much as we enjoyed the rest of a beautiful night in such an unlikely place.
Day 2
We woke up around 5:30 and headed out to meet the mule man. We were sleepy, but greeted with the most incredible warm sunrise which slowly permeated through the canyon. In her hat, Tatum was 100000% giving cowboy. Somehow I was put on the first mule up, which was honestly probably for the best because it meant I couldn’t see the slips and almost-falls of the mules ahead like Ethan and Tatum. I was definitely scared, but I decided the best course of action was just to talk to my mule and hype both of us up. At first I was almost constantly saying, both to the mule and myself, “it’s okay, we’ve got this, you’ve got this, you’re doing such a good job”. I think I was really working on the assumption that animals can understand us. I definitely started to get more comfortable as time went on, but there was no relaxing physically. We were headed straight up and out of the canyon, which meant that every second on the mule’s back was a core workout to stay upward and balanced, plus there was always the occasional slip on the edge of the cliff, which was a nice reminder of the brevity of life.
Ethan and Tatum had a bit of a different experience because he was right behind her the whole time. Tatum’s horse had a tendency to slip more than the others, and every time that happened, Ethan thought she was going over. It was a bit of a stressful ride to say the least. Ethan also ended up getting a scar from where the ropes were chafing due to the constant inward pressure your legs needed to exert to stay on the mule. All this to say, it was definitely a challenge, even though we didn’t do the hike up on our own legs. But, in between the fear and stress and pain, there were these brief moments where you could look out into the peaceful morning as the sun rose through a gorgeous canyon and realize you, from a tiny town in upstate New York, were in Peru doing something so incredible and experiencing something so wildly new and exciting.
I will always remember our ride out of the canyon, and the views at the top definitely weren’t bad. We joined the rest of our group, took some photos and enjoyed a much needed breakfast Snickers bar.
After that, we headed through some beautiful farmlands as we walked to a tiny town for some breakfast. We chatted with our group about the hike and other travels while enjoying triangle bread (pan de tres puntas), scrambled eggs, and tea in what seemed to be someone’s house. Then we headed out to meet our transport back to Arequipa.
On the way back we stopped at what I think is one of the highest elevations in Peru and saw a ton of wild alpacas. Ethan even went out and got really close to them. At this point I was feeling quite dizzy, lightheaded and out of breath, so I didn’t explore too much, but it was such a unique landscape.
The drive back was incredible, and we arrived back to Arequipa before sunset. The Colca Canyon trek is one of my absolute favorite travel experiences in Peru, and in all my travels. It was so unique, and gave us such a great opportunity to experience a different side of Peru. There is a ton of great trekking in Peru, like the Salkantay Trek (see our blog post on our experience!), but what makes Colca Canyon stand out is the true feeling of remoteness and unique beauty it offers. I would highly recommend this trek, and the booking company we went through on Viator (not sponsored, just had a great experience!). If you’ve done this hike, we’d love to hear about your experience in the comments, or if you have any questions, just let us know!
Love Always, M+E