Peru Kayaking: Colca & Cotahuasi Rivers
“Dear Marc The trip was absolutely incredible. Last year I thought the Cotahuasi was excellent, but the Colca completely blew me away. Besides the canyon and the river itself being so impressive, the guides were a
huge part of what made it such a success and such an enjoyable experience. Gian Marco truly shone on this trip. The group of guides he assembled was unbelieveably skilled and experienced, in addition to having such wonderful
personalities. I thought he did an excellent job at letting us know each night
what was in store for the next day, including the potential dangers that we needed to know… he is quite skilled at finding that balance between letting
us know enough, without saying so much that we might be terrified… easily imaginable on the Colca! I tend to be a very safety-conscious person, and I was so relieved to feel I was in such confident hands. Just seeing someone so
much in his element is always fun, but understanding that the success of the trip completely hinged on his skills made me feel so greatful to be down there with him, and also so proud to now be able to call someone like him a friend.
walk-in was long but great, food was excellent, and logistics went without a hitch… the latter of which is certainly a feat, as I’ve come to appreciate after
working a few years in Peru.
Thanks again for a great trip!
Taylor F. Schildgen
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences
77 Massachusetts Ave 54-1022
Cambridge. MA 02139 USA
PERU KAYAKING - COTAHUASI RIVER - COLCA RIVER - 12 Days
Adventurous kayakers, come one, come all! Join us in Peru on a self-supported Peru kayaking expedition through two of the deepest, most dramatic river canyons in the World - the Colca and the Cotahuasi (pronounced "Cota-Wasi"). Grab your paddle and kayak through the Colca and Cotahuasi Canyons with 13,000 foot vertical walls towering overhead, beautiful, clear blue water and high-adrenaline Class IV-V whitewater.
The alluring mystique of these two Peruvian river canyons is well earned. Logisitics are daunting, the whitewater is challenging, and the location extremely remote. You must be a solid Class IV kayaker with some Class V experience to enjoy this adventure which combines steep gradients, fast flows and amazing drops. This Peru kayaking trip combines incredible scenery, unexplored Inca ruins and some of the wildest, most continuous expedition paddling found in the world. Let Bio Bio worry about the logisitics, you just get ready to paddle!
We begin our adventure in Arequipa where we depart by bus to the small hamlet of Huambo, our put-in point for our Colca River journey. We meet the mules right in the Plaza de Armas, load up one kayak per mule and then begin our 8 hour descent into the Colca Canyon. We arrive in time to camp on the beach, take a swim in the river, and have a fireside dinner.
Day two, the kayaking begins! The first 3 miles of the Colca River run is Class II-III at very low water until the Rio Mamacocha enters from the right. About 1500 cubic feet per second of beautiful, clear, blue water enters at the confluence. From this point on, the only way out of the canyon is downstream! We are now more than 10,000 feet into the earth with sheer wall canyons rising on either side as far as the eye can see. The next few miles present us with some solid Class IV-V whitewater which can be scouted and/or portaged. We will kayak and explore a side canyon and camp on a sandy beach.
After spending three days kayaking the Colca River, we drive over a 15,000 foot pass to the Cotahausi River lying just north of the Colca. This drive takes us right around the 2nd highest peak in Peru. 20.000 foot Coropuna.
We load up our mules in the town of Cotahuasi and hike in 14 miles to our put in at the edge of the Cotahuasi River. We hike along a beautiful trail deep into the Cotahuasi Canyon passing 300 foot Sipia Falls. The red rock cliffs and saguaro cactus are reminiscent of the Grand Canyon in Arizona, but now we are following an ancient Incan trail by which runners would race to the sea and back to deliver fresh seafood to the Inca in Sacasayhuaman (now Cusco).
Our next four days are spent kaying through an even deeper canyon than the Colca River's, a Cotahausi River challenge which combines magical Wari & Inca Ruins with continuous Class IV-V whitewater. This river’s rapids will have you grinning ear to ear! They truly never stop! You could actually call running this river “the Cotahuasi rapid.” We make camp each night on ancient Inca terraces and explore all the ruins and remains we find along the way. The canyon is deep and dramatic and considered the deepest in the world.
On our eleventh day, we arrive at take-out around noon and drive back to Arequipa. We check into a comfortable hotel for a well-deserved hot shower and farewell dinner. We toast and celebrate our incredible kayak mission! There really is no trip in the world like this one!
Piero Vellutino , your Peru Kayaking guide and expedition leader, has more descents of both the Colca and Cotahuasi than anyone. He has a personal history with the Colca since, when he was a child growing up in Peru, the first whitewater team who successfully ran this river (a Polish team) based themselves out of the Vellutino household who has a longstanding whitewater association. Piero is a world class kayaker with descents on the world’s toughest rivers and many first descents in Peru. He is a swiftwater rescue technician and instructor and has taught courses throughout the US and South America. Piero is one of the most gifted whitewater experts we have ever known and a huge asset to any whitewate expedition in Peru - or elsewhere.