Machu Picchu - Lake
Titicaca
(11
days/10 nights)
Machu Picchu - Lake
Titicaca
(12 days/11 nights)
Machu Picchu - Lake
Titicaca
(14 days/13 nights)
Colca Canyon - Machu
Picchu
Lake Titicaca
(16 days/15 nights)
Archaeological & Ecological
Treasures
Galapagos - Machu Picchu
Lake Titicaca (or Amazon)
(18 days/17
nights)
Colca Canyon - Amazon
Machu Picchu - Lake Titicaca
(22 days/21 nights)
Machu Picchu
(10
days/9 nights)
Machu Picchu
(13 days/12 nights)
Machu Picchu - Galapagos
(15 days/14 nights)
Galapagos - Machu Picchu
(18 days/17 nights)
Manu National Park
(8 days/7 nights)
Enchanted Isles of the Galapagos
Galapagos
(11
days/10 nights)
Galapagos & the Kingdom of Quito
Galapagos - Andes
(16 days/15 nights)
Galapagos - Amazon
(16 days/15 nights)
Historic Haciendas of the Andes
Cotopaxi - Antisana
- Otavalo
(7 days/6 nights)
© 2008
Inka's Empire Corporation.
All rights reserved.
Luxury Arequipa & Colca Canyon Tours & Travel
Arequipa & Colca Canyon
Chachani Volcano as seen from the terraces of Yumina, Arequipa.
Photo: Mylene d'Auriol Stoessel. Luxury Arequipa & Colca Canyon Tours & Travel.
Land Price (5 days/4 nights)
Imperial US$ 1,465
The land price includes escorted transfers, private excursions with professional guides and chauffeurs, entrance fees, indicated category of accommodations, all meals except beverages, all transportation except air flights, and travel insurance for guests through the age of 59 years. Over that age, there is a supplementary fee. All prices are per person based on two people sharing a guest room. For a detailed description of our services, see About Our Tours.
Intra-Tour Air Flights & Fares
Air fares are in addition to the land price.
Intra-Tour Air Flights & Fares shows South American air flights needed for this tour and the fares.
Patio of the Casa del Moral, Arequipa.
Photo: Mylene d'Auriol Stoessel. Luxury Arequipa & Colca Canyon Tours & Travel.
I realized that we were witnessing a once-in-a-lifetime experience...
"Not only did we see the huge condors soaring past on their 9-foot wingspan, but two young birds decided to land about 10 meters from us and proceeded to perch and preen for our cameras."
-- Marcia Brandes
Your private, overland expedition sets out from the colonial city of Arequipa, under the inspiring Misti Volcano in southern Peru. As you pass through a remote terrain of vicuñas and volcanoes, you note pueblos all but forgotten since Spanish days and vestiges of a culture that dates back two millennia. At last, you reach the rim of one of the world's deepest canyons, the Colca, on whose sheer cliff face live the magnificent Andean Condors.
Colonial door of the Convento de Santa Catalina, Arequipa.
Photo: Mylene d'Auriol Stoessel. Luxury Arequipa & Colca Canyon Tours & Travel.
Highlights
Arequipa
Day 1: Lima - Arequipa. Transfer to the airport. Flight to Arequipa. Arrival, reception and transfer to your hotel. In the Campiña are fascinating districts, like Paucarpata and Sabandia, that you will see as you travel along the Via Paisajista. Visit the Molino de Sabandia, Mansion del Fundador, Balneario de Tingo, Mirador de Sachaca, Puente Fierro and the Museo Santuarios Andinos. Typical lunch at Tradición Arequipeña before going up to the Mirador de Carmen Alto and Mirador de Yanahuara. Walking tour of the colonial quarter begins in San Lazaro. Afterward, enter the Convento de Santa Catalina. Continue to the Plaza de Armas and the Cathedral. Perambulate the cloister and end on a high note by climbing the Cupula de San Ignacio of the Iglesia y Claustros de la Compañía de Jesús. Dinner of Italian cuisine at famed Peruvian chef Gastón Acurio's La Trattoria del Monasterio. Overnight in the Hotel Libertador Arequipa -- Suite.
Colca Valley
Day 2: Arequipa - Pampa Canahuas - Colca Valley - Chivay. Passing through Yura, arrive at the Pampa Canahuas, a reserve for vicuñas, llamas, alpacas and other indigenous species. Leave the main road and head toward the Ventana del Colca, encountering rock paintings and petroglyphs at Mollepunko, grain storehouses at Pumpunuta, stone models of the agricultural terraces, the enchanted Castillos, Callalli, Sibayo, Tuti and the pre-Inca archaeological site of Canocota. After six to eight hours on the road, we arrive in Chivay. Dinner and overnight in the Orient-Express Parador del Colca -- Suite.
Day 3: Cruz del Condor & Traditional Pueblos. Morning drive to the Cruz del Condor, on the rim of the Colca Canyon, where the Andean condors take advantage of the especially strong winds to soar into the sky. We travel on to Cabanaconde, the Mirador de Tapay, Pinchollo, Maca, Achoma and Yanque as well as the Mirador de Antahuilque and the Mirador de Choquetico. Returning to Chivay, we can relax in the hot springs of La Calera. Dinner and overnight in the Orient-Express Parador del Colca -- Suite.
Arequipa
Day 4: Chivay - Coporaque - Uyo-Uyo - Arequipa. Excursion to Coporaque, the Mirador de Chininia y Ocolle and the pre-Inca ruins of Uyo-Uyo, later returning to Chivay to have lunch and to begin our four-hour return to Arequipa by way of Patapampa, the Mirador de los Andes, the Chucura Crater and the Pampa de Toccra. Arrival at your hotel. Dinner and overnight in the Hotel Libertador Arequipa -- Suite.
Day 5: Arequipa - Your next destination. Morning free to relax. Typical lunch at La Cantarilla. Transfer to the airport for the flight to your next destination.
Iglesia de la Compañía de Jesús, Arequipa.
Photo: Mylene d'Auriol Stoessel. Luxury Arequipa & Colca Canyon Tours & Travel.
Day 1: Lima - Arequipa
Early transfer to the airport for the flight to Arequipa. Arrival, reception and transfer to your hotel. On the outskirts of the city, called the Campiña (open country), are fascinating districts, like Paucarpata and Sabandia that preserve their pre-Inca terraces, still in agricultural use. You will see these and other traditional settlements this morning as you travel along the Via Paisajista (scenic route) between Arequipa and Tingo. Visit the 1622 Molino de Sabandia, a working mill, and the Mansion del Fundador, the 1540 home of Arequipa's founder, Don Manuel Garci de Carbajal. On the way back to Arequipa, appreciate the lakeside district of Balneario de Tingo, the view from the Mirador de Sachaca and the Puente Fierro, designed by Gustave Eiffel and built in 1882. Spend the late morning at the Museo Santuarios Andinos, learning about the mummy "Juanita", a virgin of the Sun who was offered in sacrifice to the "Apus", or mountain spirits, about 500 years ago. She was discovered on the Ampato Glacier during the 1996 expedition of archaeologist Johan Reinhard to the summit of Sara Sara, in search of frozen, sacrificial mummies.
Cloisters of the Compañía de Jesús, Arequipa.
Photo: Mylene d'Auriol Stoessel. Luxury Arequipa & Colca Canyon Tours & Travel.
A typical lunch at the classic open-air Tradición Arequipeña before going up to the Mirador de Carmen Alto, which looks out over the Chilina Valley, and the Mirador de Yanahuara, a splendid lookout over the entire city and the surrounding volcanoes, such as Misti and Cachani. A walking tour of the 16th and 17th-century colonial quarter begins in the district of San Lazaro, the oldest of the city. Afterward, enter the 1579 Convento de Santa Catalina, a place of religious reflection that remained sequestered for almost four-hundred years. Continue to the Plaza de Armas and the Cathedral, constructed in 1621 but frequently destroyed by earthquakes. Perambulate the cloister and end on a high note by climbing the Cupula de San Ignacio of the 1654 Iglesia y Claustros de la Compañía de Jesús. Arequipa's typical construction of white volcanic stone from nearby quarries gives it the name of the "White City". As seen in the arcade of this church, the stone's softness allows unusually ornate carving of the blocks, a distinctive characteristic of the region's historic architecture, which you will also observe in the Colca Valley. Dinner of Italian cuisine at La Trattoria del Monasterio, which offers a menu prepared by famed Peruvian chef Gastón Acurio. Overnight in the Hotel Libertador Arequipa -- Suite.
Misti Volcano and vicuñas, Pampa Cañahuas, Arequipa.
Photo: Mylene d'Auriol Stoessel. Luxury Arequipa & Colca Canyon Tours & Travel.
The Colca Valley, to the north of Arequipa, is famed for its geological, ethnographic and cultural wonders. An ethnic group, bearer of ancient and still-strong traditions, has dwelled there for more than 2,000 years. They are the Collaguas, who arrived in the valley from the high regions and seem to be descendents of the Aymaras because of their language and customs. Even under the Inca dominion, they kept themselves relatively independent and preserved their own ways. It is said that the supreme Inca Mayta Capac married a Collagua princess in order to formalize the conquest of the valley and that he built for her an elegant country house made of copper, near Sibayo.
One of the survival skills of the ancient Colca people was the ability to store large amounts of grain for hard times. The storehouses, known as "colcas", gave the the valley its name. In the cool caves of Pumunuta, it is possible to see circular colcas three-feet in diameter, made of mud and starw.
There are almost 20 towns along the valley, whose people preserve the ethnic richness of their past more than any other region of the country. The main ones are Chivay, Cabanaconde, Huambo, Maca, Achoma, Yunque, Lari and Coporaque, all very religious towns, whose Catholic faith also keeps alive pre-Columbian elements. Each town has its own church, bearer of its Hispanic inheritance and exemplar of architectural sobriety and purity, based on the white volcanic stone blocks, often richly carved.
Vicuñas, on the road between Arequipa and the Colca Valley.
Photo: Mylene d'Auriol Stoessel. Luxury Arequipa & Colca Canyon Tours & Travel.
Day 2: Arequipa - Pampa Canahuas - Colca Valley - Chivay
Breakfast. Our overland expedition passes through a land of volcanoes, pre-Inca terraces, ancient traditions, all-but-forgotten pueblos, vicuñas and condors. Passing through Yura and below the snow-covered Chachani Volcano, we arrive at the Pampa Cañahuas, a national reserve for vicuñas, llamas, alpacas and other indigenous species. In Viscachani, we leave the main road and head toward the Ventana del Colca. On this route, in addition to the spectacular rock formations and the exquisite pueblos suspended in time, we encounter caves or overhangs with rock paintings and petroglyphs with an antiquity of more than 5,000 years, such as Mollepunko; admirable "colcas", or strategically-located grain storehouses, such as Pumpunuta; and stone models reproducing the "andenes", or agricultural terraces, with perfectly-functioning irrigation systems. Box lunch.
Petroglyphs of Toro Muerto, near the Colca Canyon.
Photo: Mylene d'Auriol Stoessel. Luxury Arequipa & Colca Canyon Tours & Travel.
Along the way, we visit the enchanted Castillos, castle-like rock formations, and Callalli, dedicated to raising llamas and alpacas, due to its altitude of more than 3,800 meters not permitting any type of agriculture; Sibayo, one of the most traditional pueblos that even today preserves its colonial architecture and straw roofs; the village of Tuti, on the banks of the Colca River; and the pre-Inca archaeological site of Canocota. After six to eight hours on the road, we arrive in Chivay, capital of the Colca Valley. The altitude is even higher than Cuzco's, and the same advice regarding altitude sickness should be observed. Dinner and overnight in the Orient-Express Parador del Colca -- Suite.
Colca Valley.
Photo: Mylene d'Auriol Stoessel. Luxury Arequipa & Colca Canyon Tours & Travel.
Day 3: Cruz del Condor & Traditional Pueblos
Breakfast. Early morning drive, passing mile after mile of pre-Inca stone terraces climbing the hills along the river. The amount of social organization and work required to construct these engineering marvels with primitive tools and without beasts of burden in unfathomable. We ascend above the valley to the rim of the Colca Canyon, the second most profound in the world (the first is in the next valley) and twice as deep as the Grand Canyon.
Usually, in such a deep canyon, the rising winds are surprisingly strong. Between Maca and Cabanaconde, the deepest part of the canyon, the Andean condors take advantage of the especially strong winds to soar into the sky. Called the Cruz del Condor, the observation point is perfect for watching their majestic flight above the dizzying abyss, more than 3,000 feet straight down! With luck, we'll see several condors rising above the canyon walls.
We travel on to Cabanaconde, a pueblo with different ancestors: the "Cabanas", of Quechua origin, making a stop at the Mirador de Tapay, from where we can appreciate the small pueblos of Tapay, Coshñihua, Malata and San Juan de Chucco, all hemmed in by the canyon's hillsides. Typical lunch in Cabanaconde. On the return to Chivay, visit the the pueblos of Pinchollo, Maca, Achoma and Yanque as well as the Mirador de Antahuilque and the Mirador de Choquetico, with their stone models of the agricultural terraces. Returning to Chivay, we can relax in the hot springs of La Calera, located in a beautiful, open-air setting. Dinner and overnight in the Orient-Express Parador del Colca -- Suite.
Andean condor, Colca Canyon.
Photo: Mylene d'Auriol Stoessel. Luxury Arequipa & Colca Canyon Tours & Travel.
Day 4: Chivay - Coporaque - Uyo-Uyo - Arequipa
Breakfast. Excursion to the pueblo of Coporaque, which has the oldest church of the valley and the legend of being the place where Inca Mayta Capac ordered the construction of a palace of copper for one of his wives, metal that was afterward used to make horseshoes and forge the church's bell. The small church, dating from about 1565, bears one of the purest Renaissance-style facades in Peru.
We continue along the edge of the Colca River to the Mirador de Chininia y Ocolle, where we can view the impressive pre-Inca agricultural terraces as well as the ancient grain storehouses, or colcas. We hike through the pre-Inca ruins of Uyo-Uyo, later returning to Chivay to have lunch and to begin our four-hour return to the city of Arequipa by way of Patapampa. From the Mirador de los Andes, we can observe the Cordillera de Chila (Chila mountain range). Mt. Mismi is foremost, Chucura and Huarancote are further away and Ubinas, Misti, Chachani, Ampato, Sabancaya and Hualca Hualca are in the distance. Crossing the Chucura Crater and passing through the Pampa de Toccra, we almost always come across a variety of Andean birds in the peat bogs. Arrival at your hotel. Dinner and overnight in the Hotel Libertador Arequipa -- Suite.
Choquetico Rock, Colca Canyon.
Photo: Mylene d'Auriol Stoessel. Luxury Arequipa & Colca Canyon Tours & Travel.
Day 5: Arequipa - Your next destination
Breakfast. Morning free to relax. Typical lunch at La Cantarilla. Transfer to the airport for the flight to your next destination.
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