We decided it would be a good idea to hike to the bottom of the second deepest canyon in the world – Colca Canyon. Just a bit shallower than the nearby Cotahuasi Canyon, the Colca Canyon is actually twice as deep as the Grand Canyon; however, it seems more like a really, really deep valley with steep walls.
|
|
I imagine the Grand Canyon to be deep with nearly vertical walls, which may or may not be true… I will find out soon enough. Regardless, it was amazing and worth the pain of the nearly 4,000 foot descent and ascent.
Our tour started at 3am. A bus stopped by all the hostels to various groups of day-trippers, two-dayers and the adventurous 3-dayers like ourselves. We quickly fell back asleep. We awoke around 8am as we were entering Chivay, a town at the mouth of the canyon. We paid our entrance fee and made our way along the canyon’s edge, mountains towering over us on both sides. We reached Cruz del Condor about an hour later and were quite lucky to see a number of the condors up close in our short stay.
Click to continue reading “Colca Canyon – To the Bottom and Back”
