Colca Valley

Our Easter Sunday trip to Colca Canyon.

Colca Valley is located 3 hours outside Arequipa. It is the third deepest valley in the world. The first being in China, second Nepal and The Grand Canyon comes in fourth. The area is a pre-inca settlement and the local people still speak Quechua as their first language. The valley is filled with stepped terraces used for growing crops. The top of the valley is at altitude, prohibiting the growth of many species. Quinoa is the main crop grown at the top, whereas the bottom of the valley is much more fertile.

We set off on an organised tour at 3am. We opted for the one day tour as opposed to the two (or three) day hiking tour. The first stop was to the town of Chivay where we had breakfast. We were taken to a few viewpoints throughout the day and saw plenty of Alpacas, Lamas and Vincuñas.

One particular viewpoint is famous for spotting the Andean Condors in the area. The Condor is the second largest bird in the world, has a wing span of 3m and can weigh up to 60kg. They can also live up to the age of 75. The most common area to find Condors is in Patagonia.

The day trip started early but had us back to Arequipa for 16:30. We had a little while to chill at the hostel before we got onto another night bus to take us to Ica.Read more