23 May 2025 8 min read

Soaring with condors in Colca Canyon

Condors soaring on air currents above the Colca Canyon. Not bad for an iPhone shot.

Our first stop in Peru was Arequipa. We spent a couple of days in the idyllic “white city” and an adventure out of the city to hike down into the Colca Canyon.

Arequipa

We arrived in Arequipa at 6am on the night bus from Copacabana. Readers will know by now that we oriented ourselves with our favourite cultural activity; parking up at a Western cafe for brunch. YUM.

Feeling replenished, we explored Arequipa on foot. An idyllic city named “the White City” because a lot of its building are made of white volcanic rock. The city centre is a UNESCO World Heritage site with colonial-era monasteries, churches, archways and buildings. The city was very clean, peaceful and had a European feeling to it. We learnt that locals respond they are from Arequipa, rather than Peru, when asked where they are from. We can understand why. Lovely, and a refreshing change from the craziness of La Paz.

Arequipa sits at 2335m and is surrounded by volcanoes and because of its altitude and desert-like setting, has a lovely dry, warm climate.

One of the volcanoes surrounding Arequipa.

Another of the volcanoes surrounding Arequipa. Main square; UNESCO World Heritage site.

Getting to Colca Canyon

One of the attractions for us of visiting Arequipa was Colca Canyon and the impressive condors that inhabited the area.

I will preface the next paragraph by expressing an exasperation at the juxtaposition of the very relaxed, laid-back and nearly always late Latin American lifestyle and the consistency of tour operators picking us up EARLY for our early-morning departures??

Colca Canyon is a 5-6hr drive from Arequipa, so we splurged and booked the luxury of a tour-operated bus that picked us up from our hostel rather than us having to get a taxi and make our way to the main bus terminal to catch the public bus at 230am (price difference: NZD$7 but also included breakfast). We were scheduled for a 3-330am pickup (bruh). Okay, we thought, and set our alarms for 245am ready to up and leave. At 235am the hostel manager was banging on our door telling us the bus was here and waiting outside for us, we had 5min before the bus left. We leaped out of bed, threw our clothes on and ran out the door - thanks hostel manager, I guess? But we also could have just stuck with the 3am schedule...

We managed to sleep most of the way there. The breakfast was great because the breakfast our hostel gave us to go was a juice box, banana and packed of dry crackers.

We arrived in Cabanaconde just after 9am somewhat dazed but otherwise excited to get back into nature after plenty of city life.

Hiking in Colca Canyon

With just over a month to go on our South American leg (WHAT!!), we opted for a 2-day hike through the Canyon. Colca Canyon is one of the deepest canyons in the world, 3270m at its deepest point (which is twice as deep as the Grand Canyon), and sinking 8-10cm a year.

Beginning on downward journey to the canyon floor. Sangelle out of picture, bottom left.

Different hiking styles here in Peru between the locals and tourists.

It was a first for us to begin a multi-day hike by descending the entirety of the first day. Down, down, down we went all the way to the canyon floor. The entire way we could see where we were heading and blissfully ignoring what we would have to climb back the next day.

Looking down to Sangella, our accomodation for the night. A long way to go!

Passing through one of the small villages on the canyon floor.

The first day was about 18km and descended 1400m. We passed many, many tour groups on our way and were glad to have the freedom to do our own thing and go at our own pace, plus couldn’t justify the rationale for needing a guide.

The altitude and dry heat got to us, and Laura ran out of water, hitting a state of delirium about the 4hr mark. Much to her joy, a shop vendor appeared out of nowhere, (if you’ve travelled South America, you’ll know there’s always a vendor wherever you go - even at the bottom of one of the world’s deepest canyons!) 2L of water and a Powerade she was back!

Unguided luxuries; snoozing in the sun during our extended smoko break.

Looking down to Sangelle before the final descent into the village as the sun streams across the canyon. Note the track to get out the next day...

Finally, a short descent down into Sangelle where we stayed the night. A lovely little township at the bottom of the canyon floor. We relaxed in the pool and enjoyed the local dinner before hitting bed early to recover from our 235am start. We overheard the tour groups planning a 430am start to watch the sunrise and internally praised (again) our decision to hike unguided and set our alarms for a leisurely 630am rise.

Everyone had cleared out of the resort by the time we got up. We refuelled with pancakes and coca tea then set off; up, up and up out of the canyon. Day 2 was climbing entirely, all the way back to Cabanaconde. Not many photos taken and not much conversing was had as we both set out on our own rhythm in the dry heat and doing our best to manage the altitude. We both agreed the climb out wasn’t as bad as we had mentally prepared for (better than the other way around). Laura likened it to Roy’s Peak, less the thousands of others plus the dry desert heat and altitude.

We made it back in good time for a bite of lunch before catching the public bus back at 11am.

Cacti and avocado orchards - not what we expected to find on the canyon floor.

Admiring the work done on the climb out - phew!

A moment for this wonderful creation; tuna, mayo, avo and cheese.

Getting back to Arequipa

Getting back to Arequipa was quite the experience. We caught the public bus back and soon found out that it was one of a few buses that travel through the villages in the area so it is a transport lifeline for the locals. The bus stopped every 5-10min with people constantly getting on and off. At one point there were just as many people standing as sitting! There was even an army (yes, this is the correct term for a collection, I just invented it) of Cholitas. Hilariously, they were always bickering away, banging on the driver’s door and arguing with the assistant driver.

While waiting to board the bus, the driver popped the storage undercarriage door (from the inside) and arose out of his make-shift bedroom! Refreshed and ready for the drive, a good thing I guess.

An 'army' of Cholitas bickering away on our journey back to Arequipa.

The 6hr drive there was an 8hr return journey. The drive and transit gave me enough time to start and finish an entire Harry Bosch thriller! (Proud moment, please take a moment for my self-indulgence).

Once back in Arequipa we booked our bus to Cusco at the main bus terminal before heading back to the hostel, KOd.

Indulging in the cuisine local to Arequipa. Forefront is rocoto relleno; a red pepper filled with spicy mince and covered in cheese. DELICIOUS! Laura enjoying her shrimp dish.

Our last day in Arequipa we enjoyed the simple pleasure of a sleep-in, but made sure to set our alarms so as to not miss the complementary breakfast; the ultimate travelling conundrum

Rooftop breakfast. Our biggest first-wold struggle is wanting to sleep in but not wanting to miss the complementary breakfast.

How you will find me most of the time - eating and reading.

I shot out for a quick run, which I thoroughly enjoyed. It felt great to get the body moving with some intensity and get the HR up (no issues with the heat, altitude, lack of fitness and 3 coffees for breakfast).

We revisited our favourite cafe and walked the city by foot again before indulging in a delicious and well-priced local dinner.

We hoped aboard our overnight bus to Cusco at 845pm, relaxed, replenished and satisfied with our time in Arequipa and adventure to Colca Canyon.

Up next; Cusco including Rainbow Mountain and the Salkantay Trek to Machu Picchu, plus the start of a new decade (shock, horror).