Features

• Duration  : 4 days
  
• Difficulty  : Normal
  
• Traditional Festivals : 4th of May (anniversary of Cotahuasi 2600m.o.w.l.)
  
• Geographic Region : Province of the Union, with the Cotahuasi village as    capital

The cotahuasi canyon is 12000 feet  deep and the grand canyon is 6000 feet deep. Welcome to the one of the deepest canyon in the world.

We leave Arequipa at 7 am to start the 380 km ride in our 4x4 truck, heading in the direction of “petroglifos de toro muerto” which is located in the Corire district, about 3 hours from Arequipa. This is where there are around 5 mil. of stones with engravings to be seen. These engravings are dated between 700 and 800 a.Chr. which the Wari culture is.

An excursion to this place will be done to explore the numerous stones and rocks with their different meanings.

Continuing to the Valley of Majes, we will be passing by rice cultivations and vineyards of this region. This is how we pass the village of Chuquibamba, which is known for its cheese and avocado. Here we have the option to visit a little museum of the local pre-Inca- culture “Pachanas”.

After we have passed Chuquibamba, we will enter an area of 4700m.o.w.l where there is an amazing view over the snowy Coropuna (6425m.ow.l).

Just behind the lagoon of Pallarcocha starts a magnificent landscape that is representative for the south Peruvian Andes. It is important to say that the snowy Coropuna is the highest volcano of Peru. For the old Incas, it used to be an “apu” the most important holy mountain in the south of Peru.

At the end of this day, we will arrive in Cotahuasi (2600m.o.w.l) after about a 10h ride.

Cotahuasi is the capital of the Union and this is where we will spend the night in a local hostal.

This trekking is in most cases desert like but there is a geological richness to be observed. The climate will be rather hot as the region is not high over water level (oscillating around 2000m.o.w.l.) in the trek we included a donkey (to transport the drinking water and the meals, tents, sleeping backs.

After the breakfast, we will continue in our truck up to the bridge of Cuyao, from there we will go one, crossing the river of Cotahuasi over the bridge of Sipia.

This is where our 4h trekking starts. We will pass the waterfalls of Sipia with its 150m fall. It is amazing to watch and listen to the infernal battle between water and rocks, as the water with its erosive powers step by step washes the rock away and creates an enormous fracture with 3535m profundity. It is worth mentioning that the Colca Canyon has a profundity of 3217m and there fore the Cotahuasi is 318m deeper!

After observing the falls we will go one to a little village Chaupo (trek), on our way there, we will pass by some fantastic country sides, like the red canyon that received its name from its red stone colour, called arcilla.

The temperature here oscillates between 25- 30 degrees.

We will stop in the “oasis of Chaupo” were we can find apples, oranges, grapes and the local wine, that is produced here.

trek time between Sipia Waterfall to Chaupo is 3 hours.

You have the option to do an other 3h walk to the village of Velinga , but this depends on your physical condition.

We will in the morning after breakfast, to start the 3h walk until the bridge of Sipia.
This is where our truck is waiting for us to take us to the valley of volcanoes.

On this day, we will be passing by closely the snowy Coropuna and after a 3 hour ride we will arrive in the Valley of Volcanoes where we visit the volcanoes viewpoint and we do trek to the top of one of the small volcanoes. we will spend the night in a basic hostal.

On this day we will pass a region of 4700m.o.w.l. (altitude of Jalhua) to descend until 500m.o.w.l. into the valley of Majes. Yes, we will go down all this way.

On this traject we will pass the villages Machaguay, Viraco and Tagre.
A few kilometers behind Capiza, we will get into a moon like landscape, where the rivers Andamayo and Colca meet each other. The Colca river is the source of the river of Majes .

After that, we will get to the village of Querullpa where we are going to have a look at the 150 million years old trades of two legged dinosaurs. One hour walk away from this place, there are sea fossils to be found.

After this, we will head back to Arequipa.