Arequipa & Colca Canyon
The city of Arequipa stands in a beautiful valley at the foot of El Misti volcano - a snow-capped, perfect cone, 5,822m high, guarded on either side by the mountains Chachani (6,075m), and Pichu-Pichu (5,669m). The city has fine Spanish buildings and many old and interesting churches built sillar, a pearly white volcanic material almost exclusively used in the construction of Arequipa.
The city was re-founded on 15 August 1540 by an emissary of Pizarro, but it had previously been occupied by Aymara Indians and the Incas. It is the main commercial centre for the south, and its people resent the general tendency to believe the everything is run from Lima. It has been declared a World Cultural Heritage site by UNESCO.
The Colca Canyon (4-5 hours far from Arequipa) is twice as deep as the Grand Canyon. The Rio Colca descends from 3,500m above sea level at Chivay to 2,200m at Cabanaconde. The roads on either side of the canyon are at around 4,000m. In the background looms the grey, smoking mass of Sabanacaya, one of the most active volcanoes in the Americas, and its more docile neighbor, Ampato (6,288m).
Unspoiled Andean villages lie on both sides of the canyon, inhabited by the Cabana and Collagua peoples, and some of the extensive precolumbian terraced fields are still in use. From January to April is the rainy season, but this makes the area feen, with lots of flowers. This is not the best time to see condors. May to December is the dry, cold season when there is more chance of seeing the birds.
Escorted Tour including Arequipa/ Colca Canyon:
- Essence of Peru (Lima, Cuzco, Machu Picchu, Lake Titicaca, Arequipa, Colca Canyon, Nazca Lines and Paracas)
