Colca Canyon and Cabanaconde, Peru travel guide – The YEH, MEH, NAHs
The cañón mas grande, Colca Canyon, Peru, is more than twice as deep as the Grand Canyon and much more difficult to reach. The bone-shaking, heart-skipping bus ride from Arequipa is worthwhile for anyone looking to put a little distance…
Haberdashery: Better than head-smashery
Back in Pre-Hispanic times, two ethnic groups in the Colca Canyon area of Peru deformed their babies’ skulls — the Collagua into a taller, tapered noggin, the Cabana into a mesa-shaped cranium. Was the Collagua’s headscaping a disturbed bid for…
In the sun, in the shade
Today, the remote village of Cabanaconde in Colca Canyon, Peru feels like a place that’s just rolled out of bed — mussed, shuffle-footed, and a little slow to react. The mood is the same as in that first part of…
Views to die for in Colca Canyon
Having carrion-craving birds circling in the hot updrafts above you can indicate that those expert hunters of the dead and dying consider you a likely next meal. The condors in Colca Canyon, Peru may have smelled my sweat, thick with…
Drawings from a hike in Colca Canyon, Peru
I made these drawings in Colca Canyon, Peru while resting my very sore legs from our long but rewarding hike.
Packing list for a Colca Canyon hike
Trekking into Colca Canyon, Peru, the world’s deepest canyon, is relatively easy because there are small villages a short day’s trek apart. At these villages, guesthouses are ready to provide hikers with hearty country meals, bottled water, beds, and the…
Hike Colca Canyon without a guide: Map and trail guide to Llahuar
The most compelling benefit of hiking Colca Canyon, Peru without a guide is that you can trek at your own pace. This means you can crick your neck watching circling Andean condors, stalk birds and beasts, and stop and smell…
Hitting rock bottom in Colca Canyon
I’m not the kind of chick who cries. Though I’m overflowing with empathy, I’m cut from stoic stock. I cry more often while cutting onions than from sorrow or joy. Yet, at the bottom of the world’s deepest canyon, I…
Small town, big sky
There is a noticeable lack of urgency in Cabanaconde, Peru. It’s likely that this placid state is related to the lack of people and of things to do. Buses arrive, buses depart, one set of backpackers replaces another. Yet, it’s…
The condors of Colca Canyon have a posse
Who would travel deep into Colca Canyon via a pot-holed, fear-inducing, six-hour bus ride and still say to hell with seeing the area’s acclaimed and rare Andean condors? Anyone who hates early morning wake-up calls. Namely, me.
