Cotahuasi Canyon

We left from NY after a 5 hours bus trip. The trip form JFK to Lima took another 6 hours and then another flight Lima-Arequipa 1h.20min.





The whole family was there to greet us, while we admired the snow-covered volcanoes: Misti, Chachani and Pichu Pichu that surround Arequipa.We could tell that it had rained a lot recently because Arequipa, which is in the northern extension of the Atacama Desert, was unusually green.

Day 1. Cotahuasi. Sunday, March 30
Cotahuasi canyon as measured in 1995 is the deepest canyon in South America (11,598 ft). Cotahuasi is the capital of La Union Province in the Department of Arequipa, Peru.
Arequipa has another famous canyon: Colca (11,488 ft - 3,501 m), much more touristic but also impressive!



The difference is that Cotahuasi is much harder to get to.Well the trip was sensational! Cotahuasi in Quechua means: Cotto (mountains), huasi (casa) - House of the Mountains.The non blacktop part of the trip is 93 miles long, going along the volcanoes Pirura, Solimana (6,121 m) and Coropuna (20,922 feet - 6,377 meters)

We rented a pick up truck ($80 per day); our guide Eduardo charged $25/day. We were planning on a 5 days trip (2 travel days and 3 days in Cotahuasi). We left Arequipa very early on Sunday.


Maria Elena, a friend, who had been playing a lot of fronton with Michael, she had just been killing him though. Michael drove the whole 12 hours. Almost half the time we drove at about 4,500 masl (14,764 ft) surrounded by volcanoes.

In Chuquibamba district, after 4 hr drive from Arequipa was the last gas station (you apparently can buy gas in Cotahuasi, but it is sold in small containers in general stores).We also drank a lot of water and covered everything well against the dust.

Now we were up in the Cordillera de los Andes the road was narrow and beside it many rare plants. Amongst other things we saw a lot of vicuñas. They live wild and usually a bull called 'jainacho' (macho leader) rules and protects the group... Here you can see this defiant jainacho who stood his ground, while the rest of his group fled.




Further on, we met this caravan of llamas. They were loaded with goods (probably salt, potatoes and dried meat) and were heading down the mountains to barter these off (trueque). The llamas were beautifully adorned and the sound of their bells on their necks was haunting. They followed 2 mules and the herder was walking behind them.



We saw plenty of llamas and alpacas among the 'ichu' (grass) of the pampa and we took a lot of pictures, some of the animals fled, but others just stared at us -- for example this beautiful llama.





Nice view, we are in the highest part of the cordillera, stone covered with the bright green of yaretas giving such a nice view around the pampa with the volcanoes, condors, and us. According with Wikipedia this is the yareta an evergreen perennial. The pink or lavender flowers are hermaphrodite and are pollinated by insects. Wow! The oxygen is low here!Look this queuña tree is rich in resin. It grows very slowly. These trees are very rare and at the point of extinction.


This is the entrance of Cotahuasi it impressed us with the green wild yellow flowers, cactus and the serpentine and narrow roads as well as its climate and its laborious and pleasant people.





As we drove down into the valley of Cotahuasi we met this group of ‘campesinos’ trying to load this bull into a truck. Here is the video showing our first contact with the Cotahuasi people. A group of them was herding a wild bull called 'bravo' to fatten him up for the corrido of May 4. As they saw us with our camera they started to fix the hats so they would be prettier and they asked many questions, they greeted us in Spanish and in Quechua and even invited me to dance :).
We were tired we just wanted to go to the hotel, then we met a lady who had locked her key in her car, she asked us for help. Eduardo worked with the door and Michael talked to her in German because she was Swiss. The lady told us she was living 20 years in Cotahuasi and she works for an organization that offers living space for children that live too far from school.


Day 2 - The Waterfalls of Sipia - Monday 31 of March
We are ready with our equipment and very eager, Maria Elena, Eduardo the guide, Michael and I. For breakfast we had tuna salad, cheese yogurt, and of course a nice coca tea. Other than Michael there was no foreigner in the area. We walked 3 hours to the falls of Sipia through a path with wild flowers, cactus, hanging bridges, peasants, and enormous mountains. It was beautiful. I was so afraid of crossing this hanging bridge, I felt confident when I saw other people walking across with animals! Michael did the same, although I know he doesn't like altitude. We saw some political advertising on the rocks like "Vote por el Dr. xxx, marque los 3 rocotos" (Vote for Dr xxx, mark the 3 hot peppers). We do not know if such candidate won the elections.

The falls of Sipia have a depth of 150 m all its spray has formed a nice and colorful rainbow.How attractive! Here we are resting, after this 3 hour walk when the sun is in the middle of the sky, we are thirsty, hungry, tired.





Because of the recent rain, there were a lot of mudslide and Michael almost got stuck at the bank of the river. He was covered with mud like chocolate. It is impossible to convey the bigness of the fall.





I got 'soroche' (high altitude sickness), I couldn't continue by foot to our hotel, I drank a lot of water... but it wasn't enough I had to take a bus. I felt bad, I could not breath well... the friends tried to help me with water on my face and smelling some alcohol... I wanted to make a joke of that telling them that I was lying only to be nice for the picture... but I felt really bad.


The return trip with Michael, Maria Elena and Eduardo took almost 4 hours all uphill to the hotel and HARD. When they got there, these 3 strong adventurers were almost dead! Meanwhile, I was in the bus listening to the chat of the folks.




Day 3 - Tomepampa, Alca and Thermal Baths of Luicho - Tuesday, April 1
Early in the morning: breakfast with fresh bread, yogurt, cheese and coca tea. Michael drove 11 km to Tomepampa. This is a town in which the irrigation system is in the middle of the street, it has quiet and clean green, wooden balconies.

We knew that Tomepampa is a happy and religious town. Its transportation is by bus, horse, mule... We found Tomepampa a special place. In the main square there is a group of schoolchildren were trying out their limited English with Michael. Look at the video!





Then a group of children from Tomepampa Kindergarten showed up at the entrance of the green and they greeted us loudly 'Buenos dias!!!" The teacher and the children have been asking for help with some school supplies. At the end all were excited and gave me a lot of kisses!

Now we are in the Thermal Bath of Luicho. The broken hanging bridge, as you can see in the picture, was crossed several times by us to carry our luggage and camping stuff. We had to ask for permission of the principal who lives up to the hill... The climb was very pretty.


In the Luicho village we met Mrs. Honorata and she welcomed us with a tour of her house. We did business with her buying some fresh corn... Mrs. Honorata asked me “Why did you bring such an enormous man?” Looking at Michael. He was distracted checking out a fruit tree. So, I said: “He is my husband” And she told me:“He should stay to star a new race in the village” She was dead serious -- lol :))

As curious outsiders we browsed the Honorata's house and we noticed on top of a guinea pigs cage, a dead young condor, it was headless. She told us that the bird had been made drunk for a traditional party called Yawar Fiesta (Feast of the Blood); the custom is to tie a condor on the back of a bull.This ceremony is once a year, it represents the social interrelationship between Hispanics and indigenous since the Spanish conquerors arrived to Peru. We highly recommend reading the Yawar Fiesta book by the Peruvian writer Jose Maria Arguedas. We had been concerned with this crime, being the condor a symbol of the Peruvian Andes.
We were impressed with this natural window with the kiwicha and quinoa plant and their gorgeous red color.A small cemetery with flower growing around, pig resting in some entrances, grass on the roof of the houses and again the add for the Dr xxx marking the 3 hot peppers in some political elections.

Luicho has thermal bath. We camped there with the natural noise of the river. We met Victor, who was super excited to talk to gringos and help them setting up the tents and stuff. He loved my goggles! I gave them to him. His mother cooked dinner for us. Michael made friends with these kids who live on top the mountains... he got this video when they were ready to leave the place... don't miss the video!




Their little faces tanned from the cold and high altitude tropical sun and their tender infantile curiosity to meet the foreigner, they wanted to be taken pictures. Their personality gave us a kind of energy. (Watch the video)





We had lunch by a little stream surrounded by sheep and a very shy dog.









Everything was yellow with retama flowers. Eduardo cooked some spaghetti with tomato sauce, corn with
cheese and we had some Chilean wine "Casillero del Diablo".

In the afternoon a visit to Alca district. In the main square, we sat down and suddenly in front of us we saw in one of the big mountains some little tiny red dots moving on and through our binocular we noticed that these dots were the skirts of the country ladies who were climbing such a great mountain also with them were some school kids. Who were these native hikers climbing that mountain?
Among us was Jenny a schoolgirl dreaming of becoming an accountant. She explained to us about that mountain with the people climbing. On the hill there is a town called Cahuana, and these ladies climb every day including the students and the baker who sells bread each morning. ---She made fun about some fat ladies who can not climb that mountain. It was a surprise to know that Jenny lives there. She noticed our lack of knowledge when we said that the climbing time would be 2 hr, she said: it is only 45 min to get there.
Then in front of us was a family walking toward us, the lady had a cute orange skirt, we greeted them and asked for some permission to take pictures, they agreed and we, as expert paparazzis took pictures of them.
We asked the child’s name and father told us: “His name is Hitler” We were shocked! I tried to explain who was Hitler according the story, but Michael said that it is no necessary to be detailed with the truth and I asked “So, why Hitler?” The man said: “Because, Hitler was a very powerful man. Winner of the II World War, he was a hero”. -- Gringos speechless. We said to him that Michael is German and we would like to take a picture with Hitler, the child. Here they are.

DAY 4 – Cahuana, Puica – Wednesday, April 2
It was Michael’s idea to go up to the Cahuana village as the tiny orange dots did. I was afraid, but I put all my efforts and finally I was there with the group. Cahuana is a real paradise… soft breezes blow over us, the sound of the streams flowing everywhere… trees, vegetables, red flowers of the kiwicha, birds singing, pleasant sheep. We met a teenager named Antonio he was a kind of guide there. Cahuana has an old church of Spanish style with a enormous tree in the yard, the Miski Puñuy hotel (Sweet Dreams Hotel), new house blessings.
The path up to the hill was built with stones in perfect grades design with some wooden banks for resting.


Do you want to taste these prickly pears? There are a lot around Cahuana. Michael took these pictures as all the rest.



We met Mrs. Dedication Tito a woman who carries some vegetables on her back, she looks pretty with her colored lips that she made with a local fruit capulli (a kind of cherry).





Inside a house a man was trashing the ear of wheat with a stake I’ve tried to help him (I guess I didn’t do a bad job). His mother was beside and she only speaks Quechua.






By the way, we learned some Quechua phrases: May llajtmanta canqui –what is your country?; Maimanta canqui? Where are you from?; Ima sutiyqui – What is your name?; Manan - No; Ari – yes
Our returning to Alca we walked down, it was so windy and I was afraid to loose my hat with the flowers that Dedicacion gave me. Beside us was a woman with her child running by like lightning. She said –Excuse me, I am little hurry.
It was so nice to be on the hill!



Later, we visited Puica another town, its name comes from the Quechua word “Puiqui” which means “part so high”. Certainly, it was one of the higher towns that we have been during these days. Xxx masl. The road was very dangerous, narrow and all up hill.
In Puica we met Oscar another schoolboy who was playing with his stilts that he made by himself, he was showing us his abilities saying us ‘Welcome’. Afterwards, Oscar touched Michael’s shoulder to share with him a piece of a cheese. It was a nice scene!




DAY 5 – Coming back to Arequipa- Thursday, April 03
The time of this adventure left us like a seal of a lot of impressions in our souls. We would like to come back to see again the new friends there.





It is so high it seems that we are in the heaven, the clouds are under us.



Our return we could see again all the volcanoes, llamas, alpacas, vicuñas and viscachas.
Some of the llamas had their little babies.








I stole some ichu (grass) from the mountains I wanted to decorate some pots at home, Maria Elena helped me with this but unfortunately US customs confiscated them along with some Peruvian dry meat (chalona) which made me cry.




Through the road we saw a pile of little stones, it is known as ‘apacheta’ which is a kind of ceremony and adoration to the Apu (lord of the mountain)… that unbelievable sight was something that transmits a lot of energy.

Special thanks to all the people from Cotahuasi for such nice place!