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SOUTHERN PERU:
Arequipa, the "White City": Santa Catalina     Museum Santuarios Andinos     Colca Canyon    

Colca Canyon, Condor spotting

 Located in the department of Arequipa , the Colca Valley covers a series of beautiful trekking circuits which have been recently discovered for adventure tourism. The area of the Colca Valley features a network of practically endless trails that wind through the mountains, linking lovely colonial villages.

The area is also studded with beautiful lakes, bizarre stone formations formed by

wind erosion and unique flora and fauna such as Andean condors, vicuñas, queñual forests and clumps of yareta plants.

The main attraction of the Colca Valley is without a doubt the chain of snow-capped volcanoes, some of them active: Mount Hualca Hualca (6,025 masl), Sabancaya ( 5,976 meters ) and Ampato ( 6,288 meters ), among others. Since the time immemorial, the Colca has been home to the Collagua and Cabana tribes, descendants of the Pucará people of the southern highland plains and from the Quechua people of Cuzco , who proved to be skillful hydraulic engineers and master builders.

One of the most popular trekking routes in the Colca valley is the trail that links the town of Cabanaconde and Tapay in a circuit that takes two to three days and gives hikers views of impressive landscapes, Cabana towns such as Cosnihua and Malata, and many pre-Hispanic ruins.
Approach to COLCA CANYON is also via dusty dirt roads .... characteristic for the Andean High Plains.  
Rio Colca has dugged its bed deeply into COLCA VALLEY
     
Also in COLCA CANYON you can see the typical terraced fields.
  
COLCA CANYON, located 160 km to the northwest of Arequipa, is deeper than the legendary Grand Canyon/USA.
     
Mighty ANDEAN CONDOR, the worlds biggest flying bird, can be watched from the viewpoint „CRUZ DEL CONDOR“ in COLCA CANYON

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All information presented on the Per Guide section of our website (Peru Tourist Guide) are for information only and are no comercially biased offers.

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