Arequipa, the white city known for its pearl white Sillar colonial homes and the Santa Catalina Monastery, the Colca Canyon, one of the deepest canyons in the world with its Andean condors and Puno on Lake Titicaca. 3 highlights in one day.
Even the way to Colca Canyon, from Arequipa to Chivay, along the Salinas & Aguada Blanca National Reserve is well worth it. It leads across scrubby, strange, beautiful Pampa highlands, past alpacas, llamas, Vikuñas, up to Patapampa Pass to Chivay, where customs and tourism clash.
In the early morning at 3 o’clock, we start our trip to Puno, u.a. about Chivay. The route leads through the wild and beautiful Pampa Cañahuas at 3,800 m, a very idyllic highlands, with wetlands and all Peruvian camel species: alpacas, llamas and vicuñas.
We stop in Patahuasi, the only place in front of Colca Canyon. Here you can see bizarre sandstone formations scattered over the surrounding mountainsides. The next stop is crossing the Patapampa Pass, at an altitude of 4,850m, from which you have a wonderful view of the volcanoes, all higher than 6,000m.
We drive through Chivay, known as the gateway to the Colca Canyon, and at 8am, we arrive at our first highlight: the “Cruz del Condor” vantage point, where you almost always have an incredible experience, the Condor’s Flight , the largest flying land bird, which floats here from the valley over the thermals into the sky. Special snapshots succeed with the condor in the front and the impressive terraces and small villages in the background.
On the way we visit the colonial church in Maca, built in the 16th century and see farmers growing their fields, where mainly maize, kiwicha and potatoes are grown.
We finally reach Chivay along the Colca River, perhaps relax in the thermal baths or walk to a nearby Inca Bridge with a wonderful view of the gorge and the valley, with its terraces and small lakes.
After lunch, continue towards Puno. We pass the Ampato Mountain Pass, a volcano where “Juanita, the Ice Virgo” was found in1995. Then you pass some small lakes where you can see the Andean goose, the Caracara or even pink flamingos and always along the Altiplano with its countless alpacas and llamas eating the Andean grass “Ichu”.
Our last stop before Puno, there is Lake Lagunillas, which is located in an impressive landscape at 4,100 m altitude. Here, the local farmers breed high quality trout, which then land in the gourmet restaurants of Puno and Arequipa.
After this wonderful, unforgettable drive, we arrive in Puno in the late afternoon and of course bring you to your hotel.
