A tourist bus will pick you up from your hotel around 07:30 am. We will take the road to Yura, heading towards the beautiful Colca Valley. You will travel along this road, which is half asphalted and half unfinished sand, for 4 hours towards your first night’s destination. The 4-hour trip is not direct and leads us through some of the local area’s most important places! The first stop will be at the National Reserve of Agua Blanca and Salinas, a place where you can observe the famous vicuñas and the great volcanoes of Arequipa.
Before approaching the National Reserve of “Pampa Cañahuas”, we will make a short stop to observe the wild Vicuñas (one of the 4 types of American camels) in their natural habitat. At this point, we will be at about 3400 m.a.s.l. Moving on, we will arrive at the “Pata Wasi” (Pata=high, Wasi=home), an Andean community at the opposite border of the reserve.
We will then continue our journey to our third stop, the restaurant El Chino. Here, you can appreciate the ”stone wood” formations, use the bathrooms, and enjoy a coca tea which is very good for your stomach and the altitude.

From here, we will pass “Tocra”, a high plain at 4500 meters, where we will observe migrant birds at stunning lakes and get pictures of the “Antiplano” with its Llamas and Guanacos. The highest point of our tour will be “Pata Pampa” at 4820 meters, from where we can observe the volcanoes Ampato, Sabancaya, Hualca-Hualca, Misti (the source of the Amazon River), and the “Cordillera Chila”. Getting close to the town of Chivay, we will enjoy some spectacular views of the multicoloured terraces of the Colca Valley.

After lunch, you will have some free time to visit the market of Chivay before we drive you to your hotel. In the afternoon you will visit the hot springs where you can take a bath in one of the pools with water temperatures from 35 to 40°C and 80°C in the source. Enjoy the warm natural water and the nice outdoor pools, surrounded by the huge mountains and then after sunset, return to the hotel where you can order your dinner. (In case you want to stay at the Colca Lodge Hotel after lunch and enjoy its hot pool, please coordinate a pick-up time for the second day of the tour with your guide!)

Accommodation: Hotel La Casa de Mama Yacchi

We will have our breakfast very early in the morning and then leave for the famous “Cruz del Condor” lookout point. Upon arrival, you will have enough time to enjoy the breathtaking view of the deep Canyon and if the weather permits to observe the majestic flight of the Condors.
After a coordinated time, our guide will take you for a short walk near the Canyon (approx. 1 hour). On our way back to Chivay, we’re going to visit the traditional village Pinchollo and the “Antahuilque viewpoint” from where we can observe the wonderful 1500-year-old terraces which were once constructed by the Collaguas, a culture well before the Incas’ time. We will also make a stop at the lookout point “Choquetico” with its hanging tombs “Tumbas colgantes“ and take a look at the litomaqueta, a model of the canyon terraces carved in a rock. We will continue our journey by visiting Maca, an Andean community that experienced an earthquake in November 1991, and the village Yanque with the most beautiful church in the valley.

Afterward, we arrive in Chivay to have lunch and explore the town. You will have some time to relax in your hotel before you have the rest of the day free for personal activities such as hiking, horse riding, or biking (not included in the package, but we can organize it for you if you would like).

Accommodation: Hotel Mamayacchi

After an early breakfast at your hotel, you will start your journey to Cusco At 06:15 a.m. We will head to the upper part of the Colca Valley, where we will pass through traditional villages such as Tuti and Sibayo. Around 08:00 am we will make a stop to appreciate the impressive Castles of Callalli (rock formations that look like medieval castles formed by the erosion of water and wind), and at 10:00 am we will pass near the “Condoroma Dam” at 4737 meters altitude. Approximately at 10:30 am, we will make another stop to observe the “Stone Forest” which is located in the area of ​​Yauri (a traditional village), and then continue our way to Cusco. We will make a stop at the “Laguna de Langui”, a magnificent natural mirror with a length of 25 Km. Then we will arrive in Sicuani where we stop for 50 minutes so that passengers can enjoy lunch in a typical restaurant. We will then continue our travel, driving through Andahuaylillas and Urcos, arriving in the imperial city of Cusco at approximately 4:00 pm.