3-Day Arequipa and Colca Canyon

Arrive Arequipa by private car, bus or air. You will be met and transferred to your hotel. If there is time, you may visit the museum of 'Juanita, the ice maiden' near the main plaza on your own. In the afternoon, you will be picked up at your hotel for the 3 hour city tour of Arequipa (in a group): We start the excursion with an escape to the past, walking through the Monastery Santa Catalina; monument that belong to the most important attractions of Arequipa city, keeping behind their malls more then three centuries of history. We will continue the visit toward to the Compania Church, famous because of its incredible barroco style and the colorful Cupula of Saint Ignacio and then to the Main Square and the Cathedral with their Neo-renaissance style. After the visits we will leave the city center and take the transportation toward to the traditional towns of Yanahuara and Carmen Alto, where we will have beautiful views of the Arequipenos terraces, the city center and the volcanoes Misti, Chachani and Pichu Pichu. Return to your hotel and overnight.

Meals included: n/a
Mid-Range Accommodations: Casa Mi Abuela Hotel

After breakfast at your hotel, we will depart at 7:30 am from Arequipa, driving 160 km to the town of Chivay, capital of the Province of Caylloma. At the beginning of our group excursion, we will enjoy the majestic views of the Misti, Chachani and PichuPichu volcanoes before approaching the National Reserve of "Pampa Canahuas", where we make a short stop to observe the wild Vicunas (one of the 4 types of American camels) in its natural habitat. At this point we will be about 3,400 meters above sea level. Moving on, we arrive to "Pata Wasi" (Pata=high Wasi=home), an Andean community at the opposite border of the reserve. Here you might enjoy the natural formation of rocks and the view to the backside of the Misti and Chachani volcanoes. To prevent altitude sickness we will have an original Andean "Mate de Coca" drink or another hot drink in a rustic restaurant on the road.

Continuing on the road we will pass "Tocra", a high plain at more than 4,500 meters, where we will observe lakes with migrant birds and get pictures of the "Antiplano" with its Llamas and Guanacos. The highest point of our tour will be "Pata Pampa" (Pata=high, Pampa=land) located at 4,820 meters, where we will observe the volcanoes Ampato, Sabancaya, Hualca-Hualca, Mismi (the source of the Amazon River), and the "Cordillera de Chila".

When we are getting close to the town of Chivay (3,651 meters), we will wonder at the spectacular multicolor view of the terraces of the Colca valley. We keep driving to Coporaque town and visit the Lodge La Casa de Mamayacchi, where we will have our lunch. After lunch your guide will invite you to a short walk through Coporaque and its surroundings (this walk takes around 1 hour and is optional). We will come back to our transportation and visit a natural hot springs, where we will enjoy a relaxing bath. After this exciting day, we will bring you to your hotel and overnight there.

There is a lunch stop but pay your own.

Meals included: Breakfast
Mid-Range Accommodations: Casa de Mamayacchi Hotel
Luxury Accommodations: Colca Lodge

We will have our breakfast very early in the morning and leave for the famous "Cruz del Condor" point. When we arrive to "Cruz del Condor", there will be time enough to have an enjoyable view of the deep of the Canyon and if the weather permits, get majestic pictures of the flight of the Condors. Our guide will take you for a short walk near the Canyon (1 hour aprox.) On the way back to Chivay we will visit the traditional village of Pinchollo and the "Antahuilque viewpoint" where wonderful 1,500 year old terraces, constructed by the Collaguas, a culture well before the Incas' time, can be observed. We also will make a stop at the look-out point of "Choquetico" with its hanging tombs "Tumbas colgantes", and take a look to the litomaqueta, a model of the canyon terraces carved in a rock. We will continue visiting Maca, an Andean community that experienced an earthquake in November of 1991 and the village of Yanque with the most beautiful church in the valley.

We return to Arequipa city mid-afternoon with a stop for lunch en route (pay your own), and transfer to the airport for your departure.

Note: You may opt to transfer from Chivay, going directly to Puno city on Lake Titicaca. Let us know if you are intested in adding the Lake Titicaca side trip.

Meals included: Breakfast