Colca Canyon Day Trip

Arequipa, Peru

After touring around Cusco, Bree, Brett, Mac, & I set off to Arequipa for the final few days of Bree & Brett’s trip. Similar to the city we had just left, Arequipa was in full swing for Corpus Christi celebrations. Groups from different churches, schools & communities gathered in the main square to create huge murals with what looked like paper mache. It was incredible to see the amount of work that went into making the murals! That evening, a priest gave a sermon to an enormous crowd in the plaza.

Colca Canyon

Visiting the nearby Colca Canyon is a must-do on most people’s itineraries when they visit Arequipa. There are several options to choose from too: a one day tour, 2 days/1 night, and 3 days/2 nights (with both of the last choices having the option to trek down into the depths of the Canyon). With only a few short days in Arequipa, the four of us decided to do a day trip of the Canyon. We got picked up at our hostel at 3:00am. Yes. It was very early. Fortunately, we had a 3ish hour ride ahead of us where we tried to get some sleep on the van. We arrived in the town of Achoma for a small breakfast (bread, jam, & tea or coffee) before we hit the road again. Our next stop was in Macha – a small area with several vendors & an amazingly stark white church.

From Macha, we headed out to one of the main attractions of the day – Cruz del Condor. It’s here where the surrounding white-peaked mountains provide an amazing backdrop for the incredible condor birds. Known to grow up to about 12kg in weight and have wingspans nearing 3m, the condor birds glide on the thermal air produced by the depths of the canyon. At the lookout point, the canyon is approximately 1,200m – 1,500m deep. Our group spent close to an hour watching these majestic creatures soar back and forth.

After the condors, we headed to the town of Chivay. Along the way, we were able to stop periodically for pictures of the Colca Canyon. Though much hype is given to the Grand Canyon in the southern USA, Colca Canyon is actually more than twice as deep (3,270m/10,725ft) and is the second deepest canyon in the world. Standing at the top and overlooking the huge expanse below was totally breathtaking.

Our last stop before lunch was at the thermal baths of Chacapi (hot springs). Though we didn’t go in the baths themselves, we walked around the area a little bit and took in the sights. After about 1.5 hours, we all boarded the van again and headed to Chivay.

We arrived in Chivay for lunch at a popular stop for canyon tours. The buffet lunch that was offered was a bit too far out of our budget, so we walked ~20 minutes into the downtown square of Chivay where we found a nice restaurant to eat. We then met back up with the van and started on the long journey back to Arequipa. We did have a few more stops along the way though. We all got out at another mirador (lookout) where we were able to see quite a number of the mountains and volcanoes that encircle the Arequipa area. This stopping point was at an elevation of almost 5,000m! And boy, it was freezing!!! I was happy to scamper back to the van for warmth.

Our final stops en route back to Arequipa were on the road in a nature reserve that is home to literally thousands of llamas, alpacas, & vicuñas. It was crazy seeing so many of those animals grouped together. We stopped about 3 times to get a good view of these famous Peruvian animals.

After that, it was back to Arequipa – we arrived in the late afternoon. It was quite the long day! And one that definitely required some much needed napping afterwards!

Practical Information

I can’t remember the name of the company we booked our tour through, but there are literally hundreds of companies in downtown Arequipa offering Colca Canyon tours. We booked ours through one of the companies in Plaza de Armas, right beside the Cathedral. Don’t be afraid to barter either! We were able to work out a deal for the four of us quite easily.

Cost: 40 soles (~$13USD) per person for the day tour to Colca Canyon. This doesn’t include the 70 soles (~$22USD) per person for the Colca Canyon entrance fee.

Includes: transportation (pick-up from your hotel/hostel and drop-off at the Plaza de Armas), a bi-lingual guide, & breakfast.

Does not include: lunch in Chivay (the buffet offering was 28 soles ($7USD) pp. We found a much more affordable restaurant in the main square in Chivay), entrance fee to the thermal baths (15 soles pp), or tips.

We were picked up from our hostel at 3:00am, and were back in Arequipa by 4:30pm.