Colca Canyon
Travel Guide > South America > Peru > Colca Canyon
In this Article
Join the Hipporoller Challenge
Help the Travel Guide reach 20,000,000 characters and we'll donate 63 hipporollers worth over $6000. Read more.
On Travellerspoint
Contributors
alsalis (67%)
from http://www.ducktravels.com/
Lavafalls (17%)
from Silver Drops Jewelry Designs
dr.pepper (17%)
from Tea Blog
Help contribute to this article to share the ad revenue.
Introduction
Colca Canyon in souhern Peru is supposedly the deepest canyon in the world, twice as deep as the Grand Canyon in the United States and it's certainly not hard to believe as you stand on the edge of a precipice a kilometre above the canyon floor. As you drive along the road from Chivay, you witness the canyon slowly sink further and further away from the road, and the roads being as narrow as they are give you plenty of opportunities to look straight down the sheer cliff faces.
There is more to Colca Canyon than vertiginous drops however, the most famous being the the condor viewpoint. This viewpoint perches on the edge of a spur overlooking the canyon where numerous condors soar on the rising thermals - caused by the sun on the canyon walls - before swooping past the viewpoint almost within touching distance.
Cost
There is a small charge payable by tourists at Chivay for entry to Colca Canyon and this also includes entry to the hot springs just outside Chivay. However transport between Chivay and the canyon may be more dificult if you are not part of an organised tour.
A 2 day tour organised in Arequipa travelling to Chivay and accommodation there for one night and travelling the following day to the condor viewpoint before returning to Arequipa costs less than $30 (US).
Getting There
By Car
You can easily follow the road from Chivay to the condor viewpoint, however the road past that point is often impassable in the rainy season. The road itself is a decent dirt track and wouldn't require a 4x4.
By Bus
There are not many villages along the Colca Canyon road, so it may be tricky finding buses, the closest village of any size before the condor viewpoint is Maca. The road past there is used mainly by the tourist transport.
Eat
It is possible to buy snacks from women along the road and at the condor viewpoint, anything more substantial would mean visiting one of the larger villages such as Maca or Chivay.
Sleep
There were no hotels specifically in the canyon, however most people choose to stay in Chivay where there are a range of basic hotels.
| Property | Address | Type | Popularity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kollawas Home Inn | siglo xx Chivay Arequipa Caño del Colca | Guesthouse | - |
| Tambo Hostal | Av. San Antonio Nº602 - Yanque town | Guesthouse | - |
This is version 10. Last edited at 4:08 on Nov 3, 09 by Lavafalls (+13). 2 articles link to this page.
Except where otherwise noted, content of this article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License