FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)

How many days are needed?

Colca Canyon hikers will be happy with anywhere between 2 days and 7 days. Check our recommended hiking routes.

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What guidebooks do you recommend?

Lonely Planet Trekking in the Central Andes. LP is our favourite hiking guide, by far. Be sure to get the most recent edition as it is frequently updated. Consider too Lonely Planet Healthy Travel Central & South America.

We strongly recommend you use this book to plan your trip and carry it for details on flora, fauna, history, etc.

This book is essential to do the 5-day trek independently. But it does not include the 2-day hike to the Oasis, so you would not need it for that.

You also need a general travel guidebook, of course.

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Other recommended books?

There are hundreds of books on Machu Picchu & the Inca Trail, but very few that do more than mention Colca Canyon. Too bad.

You might still consider these:

The Lost City of the Incas, by Hiram Bingham who rediscoverd the ruins.

The Inca Trail, Cuzco & Machu Picchu, by Richard Danbury. Even those not hiking the Inca Trail like this compact guide.

White Rock, by Hugh Thompson. Explorer’s adventures seeking Inca sites.

Monuments of the Incas, by John Hemming & Edward Raney. Black & white photos.

Exploring Cusco, by Peter Frost.

E-mail recommendations for other recommended books.

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What are the best Colca Canyon websites?

There are surprisingly few useful websites on this hike. But (again) thousands for the Inca Trail.

We’ve linked to sites throughout & listed the best under Links.

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What is the best map?

IGN 1:100,000 Chivay (sheet 32-s), Huambo (sheet 32-r) & Orcopampa (sheet 31-r) cover the hike, but inaccurately.

We did not buy 3 topo maps. The simple map in Lonely Planet Trekking in the Central Andes got us through with only a little bit of route-finding.

One trekking guide in Arequipa suggested we photocopy the 3 topos, then cut & tape them together. We didn’t bother.

If you insist on buying the topos, try first at South American Explorers Club Cuzco or Lima (Miraflores). If they do not have them, next try in Arequipa at the Colca Trek agency.

More information and a listing of on-line maps on our Map page.

Colca Canyon

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