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Colca Canyon, located in southern Peru, is one of the deepest canyons in the world. It’s a popular day trip or multi-day trip when visiting the city of Arequipa, since the canyon is about a three-hour drive away.
Aside from seeing the canyon itself, there are two main reasons why people visit Colca Canyon: to see condors and to trek the canyon. Because of the travel time and how long it takes to hike down and back up, trekking Colca Canyon in one day isn’t common. While there are one-day tours of Colca Canyon, these tours do not include trekking.
Instead, trekking the canyon is best experienced in at least two days. Two-day Colca Canyon tours are the most popular option. There are three-day tours too. If you want to deeply explore the canyon over four or more days, it’s best done self-guided or with a private tour guide.
I chose to book the two-day Colca Canyon tour from Arequipa (with the company Oasis Palmeras), since I heard that the three-day tour covers the same route as the two-day tour. I didn’t feel that I needed to spread out the distance across three days, and I wanted to have more time to do other things in Arequipa.
If you’re looking to trek Colca Canyon with a group tour, here’s why I recommend going with Oasis Palmeras and what you can expect on a two-day trek.
Overview
- What I paid: $77 USD
- How to book: Viator or Tripadvisor
- Rating: 🥾🥾🥾🥾 4 out of 5 hiking boots
Get ready for an early pickup
Because of how long it takes to get to Colca Canyon, I was picked up from my accommodation between 2:30 and 3 AM. This is pretty common when it comes to treks and guided tours in Peru.
Since you only need to carry a daypack with clothes and toiletries on the trek, most hotels and hostels in Arequipa will allow you to leave your excess luggage with them. I stayed at Viajero Arequipa Hostel, which is used to travelers storing their luggage with them. If you aren’t returning to Arequipa after the trek, bring all your luggage with you. Oasis Palmeras works with a local family who allows you to store your luggage with them near the start of the trek.
After picking everyone up and a bit of a drive (this is the perfect opportunity to get some more sleep), we arrived at a restaurant for breakfast. Breakfast was basic, consisting of bread, cheese, slices of cold meat, fruit, coffee, and tea. Although I wasn’t hungry given how early it was, I ate a bit. I think this was a smart move since lunch isn’t until much later, but I noticed that some people didn’t eat.
Spotting condors
Before beginning our trek, we made two pit stops. The first was a viewpoint for photos, and the second was the viewpoint where everyone goes to see condors. While the first stop was a quick one, we spent much longer at the second stop in order to see if we could get lucky in spotting condors. The viewpoint was busy, although not crowded.
Some people with binoculars said they saw condors in the distance, but they were too far to see with the naked eye. If you end up not seeing condors here, don’t be too disappointed. One of the benefits of going on a multi-day Colca Canyon trek is that you have more time for condor sightings. As you’re hiking or having lunch, just remember to look up! This was the case for us. When we were waiting for lunch to be served, we saw several condors circling in the sky.
Descending into the canyon
After the two viewpoints, we made one more stop for people to drop off their luggage, buy snacks or other items like toilet paper, and use the bathroom. I highly recommend going to the bathroom at this point, since this is the only proper bathroom until lunch.
I trekked Colca Canyon in January, which is summer in Peru. The hike down into the canyon was dusty and hot, with very little shade. Our guide did an excellent job in making sure that everyone was doing okay and we were well hydrated. We also made frequent stops under the little shade that was there.
In total, there were five people in my group (not including the tour guide). Faster hikers would go ahead but stop at the rest points so that we could all regroup before continuing.
Since the first day of trekking is almost entirely downhill, it takes a toll on your knees. If you have bad knees, I recommend bringing hiking poles. I rented mine through Oasis Palmeras. While I could definitely feel it in my knees at the end of the day, I know that it would have been much worse if I didn’t have hiking poles. Otherwise, you don’t need hiking poles for Colca Canyon, since the terrain is not technical or difficult to navigate.
A three-course lunch and much-needed shade
There are several small villages scattered throughout the canyon, and some of the families that live there provide food and accommodations for travelers. We got to experience this during lunch, when we stopped at a local family’s house. Their property had a shaded dining area set up outside, a bathroom, and a lawn to stretch out on.
We were served a delicious three-course lunch consisting of a guacomole-like appetizer, soup, and lomo saltado. There was a vegetarian option too. Drinks were not included in the meal, but you could buy them there.
After lunch, we had a bit of downtime to digest the large meal and even take a nap on the lawn. It was such a lovely stop that our tour guide had a difficult time getting us all to leave. But eventually, we set off to make our way to where we would be staying for the night.
Our oasis for the night
After some uphill and a lot more downhill hiking, we finally reached our accommodation. Being covered in sweat and dust, there was nothing better than seeing a pool of shimmering, turquoise blue water in the distance. Aside from the pool, the accommodation had an outdoor dining area, wifi, and a bar where you could buy non-alcoholic and alcoholic drinks.
If you’re traveling with others, you’ll share a room together. Since I was traveling solo, I shared a room with two other girls who were also on their own. The room was basic, with single beds, a bathroom with hot water, and limited outlets scattered around. While the canyon is hot during the day, it gets cold at night, so each bed also came with a thick blanket.
We had a few hours to ourselves before dinner. Some people chose to take a dip in the pool, while others just hung out, read, or enjoyed the sunset.
Unlike lunch, dinner was much less filling. Although hot tea was included, there was only one course – a plate of chicken, rice, vegetables, and mashed potatoes. In my opinion, it wasn’t enough to refuel after a full day of hiking. It would’ve been great to have at least an appetizer or soup as well. Depending on how much you eat, it might be a good idea to have snacks in case this happens.
Since we were starting our trek back up the canyon at 5 AM the next morning, everyone went to bed after dinner.
The steep hike up
The first day of trekking Colca Canyon is very easy, since it’s almost entirely downhill. However, day two is the opposite. After going down, the only way to get out of the canyon is up.
We set off in the dark at 5 AM, and it takes most people about three hours to hike up to the top. At first, our tour guide set the pace by going very slowly. Then after giving us some advice on tackling the climb up, he dropped back and let us go at our own pace. He would stay with the slowest people in the group to make sure no one had any issues.
Although the hike up is steep, Colca Canyon is much lower in elevation than other popular hikes in Peru, like Rainbow Mountain and Salkantay. If you’ve already done those hikes, you should find Colca Canyon to be easier.
When you finally reach the top, there’s a small stand selling hot drinks and snacks. If you’re one of the first in your group to arrive, take a seat and settle in to wait for others.
Breakfast, hot springs, and lunch
Once you’ve climbed out of the canyon, the rest of the day is easy and relaxing. We walked into town to have breakfast at a local family’s house. Breakfast included bread, eggs, avocado, coffee, and tea. Similar to dinner, I was a bit surprised at how little food there was, given that we just did three hours of hiking first thing in the morning. Luckily, lunch made up for it.
From breakfast, we hopped into the van and drove to the hot springs. There are a couple of different pools to soak in, and you can rent a towel if you don’t have a spare one. There are also bathrooms, changing areas, and a stand selling snacks and drinks.
The last stop in the tour before we headed back to Arequipa was lunch. It’s important to note that the cost of lunch is not included in the price of the tour. We were brought to a restaurant where we could choose between their buffet (it cost 40 soles or about $10.70 USD) or ordering a la carte off their menu. I chose the buffet, which was filled with lots of meat, vegetable, fruit, and dessert options. Drinks were an additional charge.
Flexible drop-off options
If you’re just returning to your accommodation in the center of Arequipa, Oasis Palmeras drops you off at a central location (there is no door-to-door drop-off). However, they’re also able to accommodate drop-offs elsewhere. Some people in the group had arranged to be dropped off elsewhere on the route back, such as the Arequipa airport.
This is extremely convenient for travelers who have a bus or flight to catch after the tour or those who don’t want to double back to Arequipa before moving on to their next destination.
Book the best Colca Canyon two-day tour
If you’d like to trek Colca Canyon for two or three days, I highly recommend booking with Oasis Palmeras via Viator or Tripadvisor.
Overall, I really enjoyed my two-day Colca Canyon trek with Oasis Palmeras. My tour guide was friendly, spoke great English, and did a fantastic job of taking care of everyone. I also enjoyed seeing the canyon, since it was completely different from the other hikes that I had done in Peru on my two-month trip there.
My only criticism and reason for giving the tour a 4 out of 5 rating is I wish there was more food. I would’ve appreciated a heartier dinner on the first day and breakfast on the second day, especially since I easily cleared my plate each time. However, I am glad that lunch on both days was much larger. This isn’t a reason to not trek Colca Canyon though – just something to be aware of and prepare for before you book.
More resources for traveling Peru
- Rainbow Mountain in Peru: Complete Travel Guide
- Red Valley in Peru: Complete Travel Guide
- Complete Salkantay Trek Packing List: Everything You Need
Thanks for the play by play and review. Do you know if there’s an option to not hike back up on the second day — ie is there transportation to take you up if you’re not able to hike up?
You can take a horse back up, but I believe it costs extra.