There are two different Colca Canyon trek options: 2D/1N or 3D/2N. The difference being that in the 3D option the first day is split into two, after the long downhill section into the canyon you get lunch and rest up at shared accommodation. The last day remains the same. The accommodation is very basic, and by basic I mean basic! A bed, half completed walls and ¾ of the glass in the window- easy access for the cats :).
After a delayed 03:00 pick up- some people waiting until 04:00, we headed off on the long trip towards to start of the trek. Breakfast stop at Chivay was only bread and jam- not particularly filling! We stopped at the condor look out, along with approximately 25-30 other small and large buses!! (Note it is not even high season here!) We were lucky to spot four condors gliding on the thermals. We headed back on the road after 30min.
We finally started our downhill trek at approx. 10:30- in the heat of the day! It was to warm up to 26°C- a normal temperature all year around in the canyon. The trek is literally all downhill across pretty rugged terrain! The views are really great though- the canyon is the fourth deepest in the world, and hence draws many tourists. The number is actually up to 300,00 per year! Most come during the European summer holidays. We only make it to our accommodation and lunch stop in San Miguel village around 14:00 due to some members not feeling well and us taking lengthy breaks. We have a small lunch and everyone except me takes an afternoon nap.
Dinner is also not very filling, and we are all glad to have bought some snacks! We have a bit of a chat after dinner over some beers and head off to bed before 21:00- well all are in bed by 20h00 but that is way too early for me.
Breakfast is ready at 07:00 the next day, nice but not very filling pancakes and a few slices of banana. Before we commenced our hike our guide told us he had some bad news. The bus that was bringing the next group through this morning had a serious accident and rolled over. Some tourists were badly hurt; others were not; luckily no fatalities. This really concerned some of the group as they knew people on the bus. Later on in the day they were confirmed to be uninjured! This was the same bus and driver that brought us in- just one day earlier! This did not go unnoticed by us!!! I saw photos of the bus on its side, just a few meters away from the canyon edge- a miracle it did not go over!!
We have a day of uphill, flat and downhill into the village of Sangalle where we will sleep. Here we can see how the mountain sides have been carved into terraces where the villagers farm maize and other crops. The size of the canyon is again apparent, from a different angle and we can see and hear the river that has carved this natural wonder. We can see Sangalle from afar and note all the swimming pools in the village- a draw card for tired tourists. The village is also an oasis with palm trees to boot.
I think most of us enjoyed this day of hiking with the variety of scenery and terrain. We all hit the pool before lunch and then naps all around (except me again 🙂 ). Dinner is again small (by this time we are pretty hungry from lots of hiking and small meals). We head off to sleep at a very early 20:00 after checking out the great night sky- helped by a lack of electricity to the village on this night.
The last day is the toughest. Another early morning wake up at 04:00, quick banana, as breakfast will only be served on top of the canyon. We are off at 04:36. The estimated time of uphill slog is 3 hours. Some of our group make it in 2 hours 20 minutes, I took 3 hours 10 minutes. The night time walking is actually nice as it is cool- not like the heat of the day walking we did before. You can also not see what is ahead of you- which helps! It starts getting light at about 05h30 and the German couple that I was walking with and I were happy when we saw our progress. The path is very uneven, rocky and full of high rock steps, it is also shared with mules who carry out supplies, rubbish and tourists. As we start to reach the top and after the sun peaks above the rim, we also note the thinner air, as we huff and puff even more than before. The rise in elevation for the day is over 1,100m! Once we arrive on top we have a 20 minute walk into the town of Cabaconde and the restaurant where we have our first filling breakfast of scrambled eggs and bread.
The rest of the day we have a stop at the thermal baths to rest tired muscles, lunch and great terrace viewpoint and drove past the crashed bus, which was now back on its tyres. The Volcano lookout was unfortunately not clear due to cloud over.
One reply on “Colca Canyon Trek”
I know it was tough but looking at these beautiful views it was definitely worth going there