Cañón del Colca 3 Day Trek

 Oct 23rd-26th
Day - 11/12/13

So we booked the trek to the Colca Canyon for Monday morning. As all the tours left at 3am, we were told that we would leave Sunday. This gave us all of Sunday to gather the things we needed, or so we thought.. We were rudely awoken early Sunday morning unprepared, and not ready at all. There was a confusion with our booking, so in our tired state we tried to explain that this was wrong, but it was already paid for, so we manically got packing as well as we could, and jumped on the bus! After a 3 hour drive to Chivay, we stopped for breakfast (bread and jam, again), then it was off to the Cruz del Condor (3800m asl).  It was an opportunity to try and catch a glimpse of the condors and realise what we had forgotten to pack! The final leg of the drive took us to Cabanaconde to begin our trek.

                                               

We trekked for 3 hours across the land and down into the canyon along the dangerous, steep, rocky path. The views were amazing, and the sun extremely hot. At the bottom we reached a river, a chance to dip our feet and relax a moment by the tumbling water, before ascending some up to Chuk Chuk, our first point of rest. It was a very basic but beautiful village set in the canyon, and we were fed well! This was our first opportunity to really get to know our multinational group, consisting of Dutch, French, Danish peeps, and an American couple. It was interesting to discuss differences in countries and cultures.

                                                                      

--- NEWSFLASH ---  The Americans told us about a man that had died 7 months ago in the canyon, but had only just been found a few days before our arrival. Currently this is the biggest news in Peru, with plenty of conspiracy theories. The story goes: a couple were trekking the canyon and got lost off course, when the girl´s legs gave in, she told her partner to get help. Hours later she was found by rangers, but the guy wasn´t anywhere to be seen. Months later his body was found, way off course, and the theorists conspire that she may have pushed him! dun DUN DUUUUUNNNN!!!!

8am breakfast, we set off at 8.30 for the next day of our trek. Today was much better as it was reasonably flat with some ups and downs. We learnt about 4 different plants Cordyceps helps with altitude, by rubbing it in your hands and sniffing the aroma, the San Pedro cactus which can be prepared and taken as a hallucinogenic, another cactus which is the main ingredient in making tequila, and finally a tree which produces a toxic milk which boils your skin, which made Kate very wary!




The route to the Oasis was particularly dangerous; a thin path with a sheer drop beside us. As we finished the day´s trek, we were ecstatic to arrive at paradise. After seeing our room, we dipped in the pool (cold but refreshing), chilled out and later on played volleyball, perfect! At dinner a Peruvian boy gave Kate the cutest kitten, but we couldn´t see him for long as the electricity kept cutting out due to their limited supply. The evening was spent by candlelight, under the moon and stars.

Paradise:

Last day of the trek began at 5am, it was a 3 hour 1200m steep ascent to the top. Kate got a mule for the final 30 minutes, relieving me of the bag, and also the heavy backpack, ha ha. We celebrated at a cute cafe, then drove on to Maca, where we saw eagles, llamas and a baby alpaca. Once back in Arequipa, we moved hostels on the recommendation of the Dutch girls, our new travel friends : ) Hello La Reyna; warm shower, yay! Really good bed, yay! Our new home for the week before heading off to Puno´s festivities.