After no problems passing through my last border into Peru, I took a bus straight to Arequipa (skipping Puno and the lake and floating islands after my stay on Isle del Sol and hearing that Puno isn't very nice). I only spent a few days in the town on either side of doing a three day trek into the Colca Canyon, but the city was beautiful, with a nice square and good food (I had a green-cheese and quinoa crepe).
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| Parade in Arequipa's main square |
The Colca Canyon is the world's deepest, 4km from top to bottom, and about twice the size of the Grand Canyon. I decided to do a three day trek over the two day option to spend more time in the villages; also didn't really want to hike 7 hours the first day.
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| Andean Condors - second largest bird after the Albatross |
The trip was amazing - another highlight and no dust like with the Salt Tour! I was with a great group of six other people (a couple from Quebec, girl from France, guy from Germany, and guy from Belgium) and our guide, Fidel. We spent the first day hiking down into the canyon to the small village of San Juan de Chuccho. After lunch and a nap, we ventured out into the area to pick fresh oranges, figs, and apples from the trees.
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| The crew before the start of our hike |
The second day we hiked along mostly flat ground and stopped along the way for Fidel to tell us about the plants and environment (small, white bulbs off cactus burst purple and are used for dye; there's an Aloe Vera type plant that smells like chicken soup when you break it). Then we hiked up to arrive in the Sangalle Oasis - and what a beautiful place it was! After lunch and a swim we did some more fruit picking and Fidel led us to a mango tree - so delicious.
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| Face paint from red rock dust |
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| Swimming pool with bungalows at Sangalle Oasis |
The last day we woke up for a 5am start hiking 5km back out of the canyon. It was pretty challenging, (you can see the zigzag path to the left in the picture below) but rewarding to finish. Then off to an outdoor thermal pool to relax our sore muscles, stops to see alpacas and llamas (still not sure the difference) and a buffet lunch before returning to Arequipa.
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| Terraced landscape for farming |
I did that tour too and I recall my guides name being Fidel!! He had long hair and was covered from head to toe in sun protection clothing, he even wore black leather gloves to protect his hands!!! I wonder if its the same guy!
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