Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Reserva Nacional Salinas y Aguada
Blanca
One of southern Peru's finest
reserves
( 054-25-7461; admission free; 24hr)
consists of a
vast Andean expanse of dozing volcanoes and brawny wildlife forging an existence sever-
al kilometers above sea level. Drives here take you to an oxygen-deprived 4910m where,
in between light-headed gasps for air, you can ponder weird wind-eroded rock formations,
trek on old Inca trails and watch fleet-footed vicuñas run across the desolate pampa. The
reserve was designed to protect a rich raft of high-altitude species such as vicuñas,
tarucas
(Andean deer),
guanacos
(a camelid) and various birds, most notably flamingos.
Both El Misti and Chachani volcanoes are included in the reserve.
Cañón del Colca
It's not just the vastness and depth of the Colca that make it so fantastical, it's the shifts in
its mood. There's more scenery changes along its 100km passage than there are in most
European countries - from the barren steppe of Sibayo, through the ancient terraced farm-
land of Yanque and Chivay, into the steep-sided canyon proper beyond Cabanaconde that
wasn't thoroughly explored until the 1980s. Of course one shouldn't turn a blind eye to
the vital statistics: the Colca is the world's second-deepest canyon, a smidgeon shallower
than its neighbor, the Cotahausi, and roughly twice as deep as the more famous Grand
Canyon in the US.
