Hiking Colca Canyon | Man vs Mule - Who will win?! | Arequipa, Peru

It's Ged and Kelsie 🙋🏽‍♀️ we are two Aussies making our way through South America. We finally arrived in Arequipa after an extremely long, overnight bus from Nazca. Luckily, our super awesome hostel gave us a super early check-in at 5am. After a quick nap we were up and about to see the town on foot, as our legs were in desperate need of the movement.

In a new town, a walking tour is always a good idea and our tour of Arequipa was one of the best we have experienced on our trip. It was informative and funny (tour guide was a comedian), we braved the hills to see stunning views points and after couple of days we were somewhat acclimatised to the altitude. An important step before we ventured out, well before dawn, to take on the Colca Canyon hike. This two day hike almost ended us.

Day One commenced with a bus ride out to a viewpoint of Colca Canyon. We watched huge condors glide across the canyon, and sipping on a ‘Colca Sour’ (strong for the morning beverage). We should have known the day started too well… the hike down to the bottom of the Canyon was hard! 7kms all downhill with a few falls, cuts and shaky knees - we just made it to the lunch stop. Another 7kms of ‘Peruvian Flat’ (read: hilly) and we arrived to our night’s accommodation and a very welcoming, cold pool.

Day Two and - you guessed it - up well before the sun to start the 5km, 1.2km accent out of the Canyon - well for one of us anyway. Having decided her limits were met, Kels opted for the ‘Peruvian Taxi’ (mule) option to get out. Always trying to find ways to motivate himself, Ged decided to make it a competition to see if he could beat Kelsie out of the Canyon (with a generous head start). Just over 2 hours of hiking/dying/holding on for dear life, with stunning views to gasp at, we both made it. Ged was the victor and Kels made new friend in the form of a lovely mule called Torñado. All this before breakfast! The rest of the day was spent relaxing at the hot springs and trying to pat some local wildlife.

Returning to Arequipa we had high ambitions of seeing and doing more, but our poor little legs had had enough. So it was with sore muscles and fantastic memories that we said goodbye to Arequipa.


When 🗓️: September 2023

Accommodation 🏠:
Econunay Hostel
https://www.tripadvisor.com.au/Hotel_...

Attractions 🧑‍💻:
Yanahuara Scenic Overlook, Arequipa
https://maps.app.goo.gl/999Ksq3jEBexs...

Sangalle Oasis, Colca Canyon
https://maps.app.goo.gl/zURqWe6iu5kw4...


Tours 🧑‍💻:
Colca Canyon 2 day Trek
https://www.perubabylama.com/tour/cla...

Walking Tour Arequipa
http://freetourperu.com/product/free-...


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Music:
Music:
Nincompoop (No Vocals) by Josh Woodward (Free Music Archive: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Jo...) (CC BY: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...)

Omaha (No Vocals) by Josh Woodward (Free Music Archive:https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Jo...) (CC BY: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...)

Gallows Hill (No Vocals) by Josh Woodward (Free Music Archive: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Jo...) (CC BY: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...)

Insomnia (No Vocals) by Josh Woodward (Free Music Archive:https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Jo...) (CC BY: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...)