Colca Canyon – The deepest* canyon in the world

We just spent 3 days with Fenton, hiking down into and then up out of Colca Canyon. It is apparently the deepest canyon in the world, twice as deep as the Grand Canyon (but the canyon next door is deeper).

Before any hiking, we stopped off at a viewing point for Andean Condors, which are the largest flying birds in the world. They have a 3m wingspan, and are 1m in height when standing. Every morning, they catch thermals rising out of the canyon and use this to lift them out. Very impressive to watch them glide just a few metres over our heads....making a swoosh sound like a parachute as they pass by.

The hiking itself was easy enough when spread over 3 days (with just 3-4 hours per day). Great scenery as you’d expect. The cool thing about the canyon is the little villages down at the bottom. They have no roads down to them and the only way to get to them is by hiking (or by mule if you’re a loser).

On the picture below left, those white streaks in the opposite side of the valley are the little villages (with no roads down to them).

* As our guide explained: “Colca Canyon is the deepest canyon in the world....well, there’s one nearby that’s about 150m deeper, but Colca Canyon is more famous so it’s the deepest.” Go figure!