Colca Canyon

This was one of my favorite places in Peru. I’ve also been to the Grand Canyon; and Colca is just as grand!

Kids will enjoy the condors. Make sure to have a tour guide.

We left Chivas early as our tour leader wanted to be ahead of all the tour buses from Arequipa. Sadly there was a series of explosions – no; not bandits – electricity on the vehicle. The leader and his assistant carried out a repair but we were delayed by one and a half hours.

We need not have worried. There was room for all and condors galore. I still find it hard to believe I had this magical experience in 2005.

It’s amazing to think that this canyon is deeper than the Grand Canyon in Arizona – more than twice as deep at 10,700 feet – and yet I hadn’t heard about it until I was practically on top of it.

It was made by the Colca river, which travels from the Andes mountains through the Peru countryside until reaching the Pacific. The walls are usually so steep noone can live there but there are still some isolated villages and areas that have been habited since the Inca times. Where I was we could see little villages on the other side of the canyon, but for the life of me I couldn’t see how people got to it!

It’s been known by many different names – the 1930 National Geographic says it’s been called “The Lost Valley of the Incas, The Valley of Wonders, The Valley of Fire and The Territory of the Condor. It has even been called one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World.”

It’s sometimes called “Condor Canyon” because if you go early enough in the morning to the right places you’re almost certain to see the Andean Condor. They’re stunningly big – their wing span can be as much as 3m – but it’s the way they fly that’s so amazing. They glide as if gravity has no hold on them – Charles Darwin said he could watch them for half an hour without seeing them flap their wings – although when he was on the HMS Beagle he did like to shoot them.