Colca Canyon
Valle del Colca
Interesting facts
- The canyon reaches its greatest depth near Huambo, where the river runs only about 1,066 metres above sea level.
- A Polish rafting expedition made the first descent below Cabanaconde in 1981, and Guinness listed Colca as the world's deepest canyon in 1984.
- The Incas believed the river flowed into the Milky Way and offered sacrifices in its waters so they would reach the gods.
- The Incas are thought to have arrived around 1320 and secured the valley through marriage alliances rather than war.
- The valley's main towns date from the 1570s, when Viceroy Francisco de Toledo forced scattered villagers into planned settlements.
- There was no passable road from Arequipa to Chivay until the 1940s, when one was built to serve local silver and copper mines.
- Rock art in the Mollepunko caves above Callalli is said to show the domestication of the alpaca.
- From the valley, walkers can reach a spring on Mount Mismi at 5,120 metres, regarded as the most distant source of the Amazon.
- Local women's skirts, hats and vests carry a distinctive embroidery, and the Wititi dance of Chivay is recognised as Peruvian cultural heritage.
- Andean condors seen at the canyon can live 60–70 years and have wingspans of up to about 2.7 metres.
Why it is worth it
The Colca Canyon cuts through the volcanic highlands of southern Peru for around a hundred kilometres, and in places the land drops more than three thousand metres from the surrounding peaks to the river. It is not one sheer slot but a long inhabited valley that narrows downstream into a true gorge: in the upper part the slopes are stepped from top to bottom with agricultural terraces, many of them older than the Inca and still farmed, while further west the walls close in and the river disappears far below. Snow-capped volcanoes stand over it all — Ampato rises to 6,288 metres, and Hualca Hualca, with its steaming Infiernillo geyser, looms above the valley.
People have lived here for a very long time. Rock paintings in the valley are thought to be six to seven thousand years old, and the Collagua and Cabana peoples who built the terraces still farm them. Spanish missionaries arrived in the 1560s — the first chapel dates from 1565 and the first church from 1569 — and colonial churches still stand in the villages of the valley, so a journey along it alternates between old church facades and views into the depths.
The canyon is best known for the Andean condor. At the Cruz del Cóndor lookout the floor lies about 1,200 metres below the rim, and in the morning the great birds glide past at eye level or even below the viewer. The valley also holds giant hummingbirds, Andean geese and Chilean flamingos, and hot springs near Chivay and elsewhere along the river.
Getting there
The nearest city is Arequipa, about 160 km by road from Chivay, and its Rodríguez Ballón International Airport (AQP) is the gateway; the town of El Pedregal lies about 86 km away but on the desert side. The road from Arequipa climbs over the Patapampa pass at more than 4,800 metres before dropping to Chivay, around three hours by car and longer by bus; early tourist buses and tours continue from Chivay to Cruz del Cóndor in the morning, and local buses go on to Cabanaconde.
On these lists
From the encyclopaedia
The Colca Canyon is a canyon of the Colca River in southern Peru, located about 160 kilometres (99 mi) northwest of Arequipa. With a depth of about 3,270 metres (10,730 ft), it is one of the deepest canyons in the world. Its length is about 70 kilometres (43 mi). The Colca Valley is a colorful Andean valley with pre-Inca rooted inhabitants, and towns founded in Spanish colonial times, still inhabited by people of the Collagua and Cabana cultures. The local people maintain their ancestral traditions and continue to cultivate the pre-Inca stepped terraces, called andenes.
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