Colca Favorite Tips by chancay Top 5 Page for this destination

Impressing terraces - the anden

Favorite thing: Anden means terraces. During the Inca culture people started to construct these terraces for cultivation. You will see here some hills filled with these terraces, a very impressing work. On your way to Machu Picchu you will see some similar hills although not that big as here.

Altiplano at 4800 m altitude

Favorite thing: Going back to Arequipa by bus we passed by this plain at an altitude of 4800 m. The little rock or stone formations shall be signs of the Inca.

Be quiet while waiting for and watching the Condor

Favorite thing: Obviously the birds won´t like noise when they are searching for food, so they stay away when the tourists are too loud..... most of the time it was ok in my tourist group, unfortunately some of them had to shout from one end of the place to the other to comunicate about stupid things......Imagine how ashamed I´ve been when realizing that these idiots spoke (shouted) german....

Fondest memory: Breathtaking the snowcovered over 6000m high peaks in the background

The second deepest canyon of the world

Favorite thing: With a depth of more than 3400m (11,333ft), the Arequipa-Colca Canyon is the second deepest in the world, the deepest canyon is not that far away from here, in the very northwest of the "departamento de arequipa", it´s the canyon Cotahuasi. But the Colca canyon is still almost twice as deep as Grand Canyon (1829m/6000ft). The Rio Colca winds its way through the gorge, with the impressive Sabancaya and Ampato volcanoes high in the background. The canyon, which is named after the Colcas (warehouses) where the Incas used to store grain in sealed vaults in the canyon walls, is dotted with flora and fauna such as the nopal cactus and ichu (high altitude grass), which is eaten by llamas and alpacas. Visitors to the region can still see Colcas today in the Pumunuta Caves; these warehouses, which are part of an ancient Inca tradition dating back to around 1800 BC, measure 1m (3.3ft) in diameter and are made of straw and mud. The highlight of the canyon and the main reason why I´ve gone here was the chance to see the giant Andean Condor. There´s a special place, the Cruz del Condor observation point, where the Condor twice a day is passing by searching for food.

Do you want an eagle on your shoulder (or head?)

Favorite thing: Next to the Cruz del Condor there´s always a person with eagle waiting for the tourists to take a picture.

El Condor pasa

Favorite thing: Think a lot of you know this song, existing in hundreds of versions, well known interpreted by Simon & Garfunkel.
At the Colca canyon you can really see how the condor passes. That´s amazing.