Experience Colca Canyon on a full day from Arequipa. Set off before dawn for the scenic drive to Chivay, watch majestic condors soar at the Cruz del Condor, and explore colonial towns, dramatic viewpoints, and ancient Inca terracing before returning to Arequipa.
Suitable for all ages.
Three things, all in cash and in soles: the Colca tourist ticket at S/ 70 for foreign visitors, the buffet lunch at S/ 35, and S/ 15 if you use the thermal baths. That is a meaningful addition to the tour price, so budget for it before you leave Arequipa: there are no reliable cash machines on the route.
Fourteen to fifteen hours. Pickup is at 03:00 in Arequipa’s historic centre, the drive to Chivay takes about three hours each way, and you are back between 17:30 and 18:00. Breakfast is included on arrival in Chivay. Most people sleep on the early drive, so bring something warm to wrap up in.
Usually, but nobody can promise it. The Cruz del Condor is one of the most reliable places in the world to see Andean condors, and the tour gives you 40 to 60 minutes there in the mid-morning when they ride the thermals rising out of the canyon. Sightings depend on wind and weather, so some mornings are spectacular and others quiet.
Chivay sits at 3,635 m and the road crosses higher passes on the way, against 2,335 m in Arequipa. That is a real jump, and doing it at three in the morning after little sleep is what catches people out rather than the canyon itself. Spend a day or two in Arequipa first, drink plenty of water, and go easy on the buffet lunch.
The full day works if your time is tight, but it means fifteen hours with six of them in a van. The two-day version leaves Arequipa at 08:00 instead of 03:00, gives you a night in Chivay with the hot springs, and reaches the Cruz del Condor rested rather than after a pre-dawn drive. If you have the extra day, it is a considerably better experience for a modest difference in price.
