Down, Up, Down and all the way Up!!!

... that was the itinerary of our 3 day, 2 nights trek to Colca Canyon. And if scaling a 3200 metre canyon wasn´t hard enough, we also had our heavy backpacks and a difficulty breathing to test our strength and endurance.

the start of our trek

Colca Canyon is a canyon of about 70 km. It is about 3000 metres deep and is more than twice as deep as the Grand Canyon in the USA. Unfortunately, that also makes it inaccessible, but also incredibly beautiful. Last weekend, Chris & I, along with other volunteers treked to the bottom of the canyon.

Our goal: To get to the village on the other wall of the canyon to spend the night, then spend the morning sunbathing in the oasis at the bottom of the canyon.

Day1:

Treking commenced with 5 brave women, 1 man (Chris), 6 heavy backpacks and 1 trek guide. We set off on Friday morning around 3.30am for a 5 hour drive to the top of the canyon - Cabanaconde, little town about 3200 metres above sea level. At midday, we began our trek from Cabanaconde and walked 3 hours downhill. The scenery along the way was simply breathtaking.... and when we got to the bottom, we crossed a very rickety suspension bridge.

The village, where we were meant to be spending the night was about half way up the canyon. So, we started treking all the way back up to get to the village - about 2.5 hours uphill.

The village was amazing. We caught the most amazing sunset in the canyon - it almost appeared like the sun set at the spot where the walls of the canyon met.

We had a simple room with a mud floor (no floor really), and we ate a basic meal of soup, rice and omlette. Our poor tour guide (she was about my height) had to carry all the food supplies with her for the trek! The village was very tiny, probably about 10 families. As the village is not easily accessible, everything needs to be carried down and up to the village by mule twice a week...


















the village were we stayed - notice the open air cooking








Day2:

The next morning, we all woke up sore from the previous day, but ready for the day ahead. Day 2 had a reputation for being the toughest day of the trek (we had to climb back up to 3200 metres)...

We started walking downhill for 2 hours. Again, the scenery was amazing and we were getting more excited the closer we got to the oasis. The oasis at the bottom of the canyon is paradise for tired trekers, who simply want to lay in the pool and cool down. Then lunch at the oasis, then the the ascend back to Cabanaconde @ 3200 metres....

Chris was determined. He was going to achieve the 3 hour trek in under 3 hours, while carrying his own backpack. Me, on the other hand, simply knew I had been beaten... I opted to ride a mule back to the top. Little did I know at the time, that "the mule option" meant trusting your life to the mule and praying not to die for 2 hours. Let me explain.... we ascend to the top in 2 hours. The trek paths are narrow, about 2 ft wide and full of dust, rubble and large stones. If the mule slips once, he and his precious cargo could fall to the bottom of the canyon. My mule slipped about 3 times, tried to race his fellow mules all the way to the top, decided to bite other mules and totally had no regard for my life.... :-).


Chris treked to the top in just over 2 hours. I "muled" back to the top in about 2 hours. Chris had endurance, I had courage. I will never be riding any animal, in any canyon, ever again...!!!



Day 3:

We were back safe on solid ground. We walked to an amazing lookout point to see condors. And we saw them!!! Amazing bird, about 3 meter wing span and totally graceful.

And other quick stop at the hot spings of Chivay and we set home.... back to Arequipa to teach our kids.
The Canyon was amazing.... it made us work hard to see the beautiful sights, but it was so worth it....

Lizelle