A trip to Colca Canyon takes place on our longer Peru Explorer and Andean Explorer tours however it is well worth a visit on its own. The drive to the lodge is a bumpy gravel track from Arequipa. (The hotel on the lower left is the one we use in Arequipa on our tours.) You take a long winding road down to the bottom of the canyon which is of the same scale as America's Grand Canyon. You pass from high altiplano desert to more lush and warm valleys which have been terraced for centuries to grow food for the people who live here. Colca Canyon Lodge is solar powered, has a small restaurant and a set of amazing hot pools beside the Colca River where the lodge is situated. From Colca, one takes day trips which include viewing the Andean condors.