Colca Canyon – 3,200-2,200-3,200m

It was time for our first trek of the trip, Colca Canyon, near Arequipa. Alex had done this hike on her previous trip but I had no idea what was in store, I wanted it to be a surprise and a trip into the unknown.

Getting there meant a 3am pickup, setting the alarm for 2.45am seemed very odd! A few other travellers from our hostel wait with us in reception but no one is really in the mood to talk at this hour. We are soon on our way in the minibus and try to catch a bit more sleep before arriving at the condor spotting zone around 8am. Here we are lucky to see so many condors flying across the clear blue skies above the canyon.

These magnificent birds have a wingspan of up to 3 meters, can fly up to 500km per day and are scavengers, similar to vultures, so feast in packs on any animal carcass they can find.

We hop back in the minibus and continue on to Cabanaconde where our hike begins. We are split into groups, ours is made up of mostly Brits, with a couple of German guys, a German girl and a solo traveller from Brazil. Our tour guide is called Eric who outlines our route for the next 24h and I start to realize this is not going to be a walk in the park!

For the first two hours we descend into the canyon, it is steep, dry, dusty and the trail is made up of large loose rocks which makes it difficult to look up and take in the beautiful surroundings. I make sure to stop and take it in (and catch my breath) when possible.

On the way down we get chatting to Kim and Matt, a couple from England who are following a similar route to us through South and Central America. We also met another Brit called Tom who is reaching the end of his trip but has enjoyed it so much he wants to come back out soon to help improve a dog shelter he volunteered at in Bolivia. It’s wonderful to hear other travellers stories, share tips and distract each other from the blazing heat. Our group takes no prisoners and we reach the bridge across the river at the base of the canyon in good time.

Now the “easy part” is done we begin to hike up the other side. Before long we reach a local lady with a makeshift stall selling refreshments and jump at the chance to buy a cold Gatorade for 5 soles (around £1). We continue for a few more minutes and arrive at a spot for lunch. We welcome the rest and are served avocado (grown meters away) and alpaca meat with rice and veg. Tom talks about how much he misses baked beans and we all take the opportunity for a quick lie down in the grass.

Eric summons us and it’s time for the afternoon trek to begin. We walk through the local farms near the base of the valley, there is a local community of around 60 people that live in this hard to reach part of Peru. Eric talks us through the local flora including a peppery plant that will repel mosquitos if rubbed on the skin; an innocent looking but highly corrosive plant; aloe Vera, great for sunburn which Tom and I make use of and finally a very sweet fruit that we all try. He also shows us these tiny insects that live on the cacti plants, these can be squashed to create colouring for textiles or sweets, look out for E number E120 back home, that’s how your Haribo gets it’s colour.

After a couple more hours of ascent and flats we cross another bridge and hone in on our accommodation for the night. Somehow, in the middle of this remote Canyon exists an oasis for Gringos. There are basic but spacious lodges, hammocks, a bar and most impressively a large swimming pool!

We take this opportunity to wash all of the dust off, can you believe they even have hot showers here! We have a brief swim in the “heated” swimming pool, dry off and relax under the palm trees as darkness falls, with a beer of course. We combine groups over dinner and have a good chat while eating hot food and hydrating with lots of herbal tea. We soon retire to our lodge and find a few extra roommates waiting for us, two scorpions and a spider!

The next day brings another early start, we are instructed to be ready to set off at 4.30am with torches at the ready. The early start is brutal but worth it to avoid the sun beating down on us while we hike back up the canyon. What goes down must come up and by torchlight we begin our 4km ascent with an elevation gain of over 1000 meters. Before we know it, light starts to creep up on us and after an hour we don’t need our torches at all. In the distance we can see the morning sun hit the peaks of mountains far away.

We briefly stop for a rest now and then but we both had the mindset of let’s get this done before the sun reaches us. We hike and climb the tricky terrain, sometimes inspired by passing other climbers but most of all by the beautiful mountain dogs that reach us near the summit.

This hike reminded me of the Three Peaks challenge I did in the UK many years ago; just keep putting one foot in front of the other and you’ll surprise yourself with what you can climb. Eventually, after climbing for just over 2 hours we reach the summit and enjoy a rest and drying out our sweaty clothes while waiting for the rest of our group. We take a group shot and head to a well earned breakfast.

After brekkie, our guide Eric leaves us as he has to start the whole thing all over again with another group! We then spend the day (it’s still only 8am at this point) with another guide, the energetic and informative Rafael.

We hop back in the minibus and set off for the local hotsprings. On the way Rafa tells us all about the local area, Peruvian culture and his own life. My main takeaway from what he tells us is how hard Peruvians work, whether in the poverty of farming and other manual labour or the better paid work in tourism. Despite their hardships (Rafa had a hell of a day sorting out logistics for us Gringos) , the Peruvians have always been friendly and kind to us.

After the stop at the hotsprings, we stop to see the local farmland (above image), alpacas and vicunas, and finally a spot where we can see the volcanos surrounding the canyon, one of which is still active and was blowing out steam all day.

Finally, after another long day we begin the journey back to Arequipa. On the way back, Rafa tells us how he has entered a local competition to run/hike from the Plaza in Arequipa (2200m) to the top of Chachani volcano (over 6000m). Despite completing this slog three separate times, he has never been awarded a medal or t-shirt as he technically did not make the harsh cut-off time of around 7.5 hours! I’ll be wishing him luck for the next time he tries it in 2024.

James

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Adventure: trekking 21km in under 24h, ~1000m descent then ascent (with lumps and bumps along the way)

Excitement: drinking Pisco Sours and beers in the oasis, finding out there is a hidden oasis in the canyon, all you can eat buffet post ascent, a gringo dropping one of his boots in the river from the hot spring and the lady at the entrance rushing to save the day, fishing it out with a stick, absolute hero

Trauma: Alex pretending to lose her purse (it was under her bus seat), lodge critters