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Colca Cañyon

Colca Cañyon

The road from Arequipa to the Colca valley crosses the lower slopes of Mount Chachani and runs along plains studded with ichu and home of alpacas herds. The road crosses a high point of 4,350 meters before dropping down to the valley, an area of breath-taking landscape of beautiful terraces surrounded by snow-capped peaks.
The valley used to be called the Valley of the Collaguas, from the name of a pre-Inca tribe that lived in this area and that left the grain storerooms known as collcas from which the valley took its name.
On the western slope of the Peruvian cordillera the Colca Canyon runs from east to west for over 100 km marking the great expanse of cold puna lands punctuated by volcanic peaks that reach altitudes of over 5000 and 6000 meters above sea level. The average depth of the canyon, from the border above 4000 masl to the inner river gorge, is around 3300 m. Until recently, it was thought that it was the deepest canyon in the world, although it is now generally accepted that the Cotahuasi Canyon, also in the department of Arequipa, is deeper. The deepest point of the canyon is beyond Cabanaconde, close to the Valley of the Volcanoes and accessible only on foot.

Colca Valley, Cabanaconde

The average depth of the canyon is around 3300 m

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Colca canyon stock photographs

This is the land of the Condor, and although this species is endangered by extermination, here is relatively easy to see this beautiful bird hunting in the morning or late afternoon.

Colca canyon

This is the land of the Condor

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The Colca Valley is one of the most intensively terraced regions in the Andes. The "andenes", long series of agricultural terraces on the hill sides in use even before the Inca period, give to the landscape a particular beauty. Glaciated peaks above the puna on both sides of the valley supply the water for the irrigation. Today only half of the terraces are cultivated, agricultural lands extend above the 3500-3600 masl upper limit of maize, the more frost-tolerant quinoa and potato crops are grown up to approximately 4000 masl.

Colca Valley terraces

The Colca Valley is one of the most intensively terraced regions in the Andes

This and more photographs can be found at:

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Colca valley stock photographs

There are 12 towns based on both riverbanks, the most famous being Cabanaconde and Chivay. They were founded in the sixteenth century by the Spaniards to settle the Collagua natives, who were scattered around the area. Influenced by colonization and religion, the ethnic architecture make the villages throughout the Colca Valley rich in beauty and charm. The people preserve the ethnic richness of their past more than any other region of the country. Each town has its own church, example of architectural sobriety and purity based on the sillar stone. The villages, have changed little since, the Colca Canyon was largely inaccessible and the inhabitants lived in almost total isolation until the 1970s, when the road from Arequipa was built. Now the area is visited by many thousands of tourists every year, but despite the time, the towns have preserved their original characteristics, their richly-decorated colonial churches and traditional festivals and local women still wear the characteristic embroidered skirts and blouses with colourful designs that contrast with the bleak landscape.

Chivay

There are 12 towns based on both riverbanks, the most famous being Cabanaconde and Chivay

This and more photographs can be found at:

Traveller Dreams

Commonly found along the slopes of the canyon the nopal (prickly pear) leaves are infected by the cochineal, a natural pest. Cochineal are insects from which non-carcinogenic red dyes are produced, the insect is harvested from the older plants and are a source of additional income for the inhabitants of the area.

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  - Peru Stock Photography Index - Birdwatching
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Colca Valley, Cabanaconde

Colca canyon

Colca Valley terraces

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