Colca Canyon

The Colca Canyon is footed by the Colca River, which begins much higher up in the Andes Mountains.  The canyon is much deeper than the Grand Canyon, but doesn't have the vertical walls the Grand Canyon has.  The Must-See list Stuart and I made when planning the Peru trip included the Colca Canyon.  Confession:  I had hoped to convince Stuart to hike there, but the reality of spending 3 weeks at a high altitude made me abandon that plan!  I realized neither of us could do it.  So, we bought a bus ticket for a 2 day trip.  Chivay, pop. 5,000, is the largest town on the south rim of the canyon, and is most accessible from Arequipa, 100 miles to the southeast.   A road as we know one didn't even exist between Arequipa and Chivay until the 1950's.  Copper mining interests built the road.  One hundred miles, 3 hours, pretty good time!

 At the crest, the dry, moon-like landscape was even made even more curious by the little piles of rocks that went on as far as we could see.  The locals make these little pillars, to ask the gods for protection from evil and to bring them good luck. 

 The bus stopped at the crest between Arequipa and Chivay, and it was very cold!

Rainfall totals less than 2 inches/year in the high plains. We passed miles and hundreds of alpacas and llamas, sheep and a few vicunas.  They feed on the grass that grows only at this altitude, much like the area around Puno and Lake Titicaca's north side.  As we dropped a little bit, into the Chivay area, we began to see intensely-terraced farming.

Chivay anchors the east end of the canyon's south rim, and is the shopping hub for the canyon area, being closest to Arequipa. We arrived on a Sunday afternoon, the village was quiet.  Stuart and I hiked across the river, and up the mountainside to an Incan tower, for the views.  We watched this old woman come down from the mountain, with a load of firewood on her back, and followed the men herding the cows right through the middle of the village.

 Just before sunset, we went to the hot springs, just outside the village.  For a few soles we had a soak outside, looking up at the mountains and sky.  Beautiful!

Tourism in the Colca Canyon has increased dramatically in the past 20 years, with probably 150,000 tourist this year visiting.  We are lucky to spend the night, giving us a 2 full days in the area.  Tomorrow, we hope to see the giant Andean Condors!