Condor Travel Tour ended in tragedy in Colca Valley

By The Colca Specialist

Major of Chivay Dr. Rómulo Tinta declares that the circuit of Colca Canyon doesnt have the requirements needed to attend this kind of accidents. No hospitals, no doctors,no ambulances, just pick up vans. The video reveals the truth about the real situation of tourism in Arequipa.

Once more again the roads of Colca Valley, one of the most visited touristic attractions in Arequipa was the tragic scene of one of the most violent accidents of the current year that involved a tour operated by Condor Travel Travel Agency.

Some hours ago, a touristic van whose passengers were from Germany overturned several times downhill on one of the curves of Pallachilla area causing the death of Mr Thellen Kharleinz (62) and Mr. Landua Nolbert (61) one of them died instantaneously on the accident scene and the other on the way to the hospital of Chivay.

The tour guide of Condor Travel Elisa Juarez was one of the most affected passengers along with the driver whose condition is critical until the moment. The accident cause according to the witnesses was due to a mechanical failure. The authorities are waiting for the police investigations in order to determine the cause of the accident.

Passengers names:

Tour guide: Elisa Juarez

1 Germany Thelen Karlheinz Pasaporte CGXNXTLZ3 23/01/1956 

2 Germany Thelen Beate Pasaporte CGXNVM3LR 09/01/1962

3 Germany WIESER ALFRED JOSEF Pasaporte C5HKFT91F 03/07/1964

4 Germany BARON DOERTE ANNETT Pasaporte C0FKK8058 23/08/1964 

5 Germany BARON HEIKO Pasaporte C0FK1TFFL 06/08/1962 

6 Germany LANDUA NORBERT Pasaporte C5HKFZHR1 27/09/1957 

7 Germany Malik Helga Mathilde Pasaporte CFJ366GF1 27/08/1958 

8 Germany Malik Manfred Heinz Pasaporte CFJ31K3VF 07/10/1958 

9 Germany Koenig Renee Annette Pasaporte C3JHXPKRC 29/05/1956 

10 Germany Kubala Birgit Maria Pasaporte C3MFNN2GC 08/01/1957

11 Germany Breidenbach Siegrid Pasaporte C5N2CCYN0 05/10/1950

12 Germany Sulatycki Heidemarie Anna Pasaporte C5MZ1KFC8 14/09/1950

Historia del proyecto Majes

Por The Colca Specialist

Aqui tengo el gusto de presentarles a todos los lectores de The Colca Specialist un documental muy interesante acerca de la historia del denominado Proyecto Majes de vital trascendencia para el desarrollo de la Región Arequipa y el sur del país.

¿Porqué somos pobres en América Latina?

Por The Colca Specialist

El Dr. Armando de la Torre comenta en su exposición que América Latina no siempre ha sido pobre y afirma que hace cincuenta años, Cuba, Argentina, Uruguay y Venezuela gozaban de gran riqueza, casi comparada con la de países desarrollados, situación que se ha perdido por las decisiones políticas de los gobernantes, quienes se empeñan en mantener a los pueblos sumidos en la pobreza; refiere que países como Chile y Perú están haciendo grandes esfuerzos por mejorar sus condiciones de vida para salir del atraso y opina que Brasil y México se encuentran en proceso de ser futuras potencias. También, explica que la pobreza no tiene causas puesto que es el estado natural del hombre en tanto que la riqueza ha permitido a la humanidad superar la esperanza media de vida. Asimismo, hace énfasis en tres factores importantes para fomentar el desarrollo: libre competencia, esfuerzo individual y disciplina en el trabajo.

Armando de la Torre El Dr. Armando de la Torre es el director de la Escuela Superior de Ciencias Sociales de la Universidad Francisco Marroquín. Obtuvo un Doctorado en Sociología y Filosofía en la Universidad de Munich. Se especializa en el estudio económico del Derecho y en el Análisis de las Decisiones Públicas (Public Choice). Es autor de 100 obras, 1000 años y de numerosos artículos y ensayos. Además, es columnista del diario Siglo Veintiuno. Créditos Sociedad civil, democracia y desarrollo en Latinoamérica ¿Por qué somos pobres en América Latina? Armando de la Torre Edificio Escuela de Negocios, EN-601 Universidad Francisco Marroquín Guatemala, 28 de agosto de 2009 Una producción de New Media - UFM. Guatemala, septiembre de 2009

Cámara: Joni Vásquez, Manuel Alvarez; Edición digital: Adrián Mendez; índice y sinópsis: Sergio Bustamante; revisión de contenido: Eugenia Aldana; publicación: Mario Pivaral/Carlos Petz.

Beware with the fake mountainclimbing guides in Colca Canyon

by the Colca Specialist

Miguel Zárate the real discoverer of Juanita the snow maiden has denounced publicly along with the directives of the tour guides association from Colca Canyon ASGUIP TUCAY the presence of a “fake” mountain climbing guides in Arequipa.

Zacarías Ocsa is the name of this “fake” mountain climbing guide who presents himself as a specialist in rescue and as a professional mountain climbing guide.

After the investigations done by the directives of ASGUIP TUCAY it was discovered that Zacarías Ocsa is not a professional mountain climbing guide neither an accredited specialist in rescue operations.

Zacarías Ocsa is just a common tour guide from Chivay, Colca Valley who is trying in different ways to become promoted. He took part as a volunteer in the search of the dead body of the Peruvian student Ciro Castillo Rojo, lost in the Bomboya area.

The “vulture” Zacarias Ocsa took advantage of the situation and he travelled to Lima offering interviews to the worst 5 cent Peruvian newspapers like “El TROME” and “OJO” which were looking for information about the dead student.In the interviews Zacarías Ocsa, the fake mountainclimbing guide narrates ridiculous stories about the dead student .The real situation is that the unethical Zacarías Ocsa wants to use this terrible situation in order to promote himself and one of his books in which he tells his theories about the death of the student Ciro Castillo Rojo.

The local tour guides association from Colca Canyon denounced that Zacarías Ocsa appears several times in different limenian newspapers as “expert mountain climbing guide” which is not true! This situation provoked the reaction of the association of local guides from Colca Canyon ASGUIP TUCAY ,association which Miguel Zárate is a member of.

The major of Caylloma province Elmer Cáceres Llica and the manager of the International Commerce and Tourism in Arequipa, Mr Luis Venero La Torre were notified about this situation by the representatives of ASGUIP TUCAY.

The situation of tourism in Arequipa is concerning. Crowded by illegal travel agencies and by illegal tour guides whose services are notoriously poor quality , arequipenian authorities need urgently to take measures in order to solve the problem.

This situation provokes by this unethical tour guide Zacarías Ocsa who wants just to become promoted thanks to the death of a student reflects the terrible situation of tourism in Arequipa whose authorities do nothing in order to put an end to informality and illegality.

The investigation continues and now the association of tour guides from Caylloma province want to know which NGOS from United States are backing up his mountain climbing projects. We are sure that ASGUIP TUCAY will discover soon the truth behind the curtains of corruption called “Tourism” in Arequipa.

What is sustainable tourism Mr. Tour Guide?

By the Colca Specialist

This is a question that most of the tour guides are not able to answer. Not even our authorities who are thinking just about how to win the next elections.
Disgracefully Peru is one of the countries whose budget for education is very low and now we are seeing the effects of this chaotic type of politics well-known as centralism.

Sustainable tourism is not a trend but a need in these days especially in Arequipa where tourism is the second most important activity. Wikipedia offers a very concise article that can be very useful for everybody especially for the travel agencies, tour guides and authorities from Arequipa who maybe think that sustainable is just another “word” in the lexicon of tourism.

I chose it because The Colca Specialist loves education and as a teacher I love education. I think that the future of our country depends on our people especially on the new generations.
Our country´s economy is much dependant on natural resources so that is why mining is literally the activity which is moving the economy of Peru. But what will happen to Peru and to us when we run out of natural resources?

We have to invest in education and in our people. Ignorance is the enemy of the peoples.
If you check in Trip Advisor and in many other travelers forums you can find a lot of complaints coming from tourists from different countries around the world, all of them complaining from the bad service received in Colca Canyon, complaining from the tour guides commissions which are increasing each time more, but inside the complaints we can realize that part of the problem are TOURISTS too. Specially the very cheap ones who want to travel in all Peru with 500 bucks taking poor quality services, eating in places whose collection of bacteria would break a record Guiness and afterwards they write a complaint in Trip Advisor forum.

If there are many complaints in Trip Advisor against several travel agencies from Arequipa why I have to travel with those bad travel agencies? Very simple because I want something very cheap. Come on guys be reasonable. It is like eating in a restaurant.

In Travel and Living TV program I saw that in LAS VEGAS when you take a tour the guide charges 20 dollars per hour. A hamburguer in a exclusive place can cost 700 hundred US! In Chile the entrance fee to the hot springs in an exclusive place cost more than 30 dollars and here the "gringos" are complaining because the tour to the Colca Canyon costs 20 dollars! Come on guys be reasonable.

Economy here is different. The standards of quality are different but let me tell you something. Peruvian standards of quality are improving each time more and the prices for the next years are not going to be the same as in the past.

If I buy that 20 US tour I should not expect to have the best. 20 dollars for a tour with guide, hotel, transportation, etc it sounds a little bit strange.I would NOT like to sleep in the hotel or hostal offered in those tours. As we know those hotels are not classified and those beds should be terrible. I don´t want to think about the toilet. Those cheap hotels don´t even have a name. The same happens with those cheap 95 soles 2 day trekking tours inside Colca Canyon.

If I see that in Trip Advisor there are several complaints against a travel agency, it would be very stupid if I buy a tour in that travel agency and I would feel very ashamed of myself if my complaint appears with my name in Trip Advisor forum.

If there are hundred complaints about that bad travel agency I don´t have to be idiot hundred one in the same list! Tourists should be responsible, smart and SUSTAINABLE too.

According to the Hindi wise men, the most intelligent are those who learned from the others experience by reading, hearing or seeing. The foolest are the ones who don´t hear the advice and they suffer the consequences of their headstrong attitude.

Those are the ones who continue writing complaints about the same bad service travel agencies.Why? Because they are the cheapest. The problem are not the bad travel agencies who are already identified. The problem is tourists attitude. Are we looking for trouble in our HOLIDAYS?

We don´t recommend tourists to buy tours in the hotels. All of them end traveling with those bad travel agencies.

So what is sustainable tourism?

Sustainable tourism is tourism attempting to make a low impact on the environment and local culture, while helping to generate future employment for local people. The aim of sustainable tourism is to ensure that development brings a positive experience for local people, tourism companies and the tourists themselves. Sustainable tourism is not the same as ecotourism.

Overview

Global economists forecast continuing international tourism growth, ranging between 3 and 6 percent annually, depending on the location. As one of the world's largest and fastest growing industries, this continuous growth will place great stress on remaining biologically diverse habitats and indigenous cultures, which are often used to support mass tourism. Tourists who promote sustainable tourism are sensitive to these dangers and seek to protect tourist destinations, and to protect tourism as an industry. Sustainable tourists can reduce the impact of tourism in many ways, including:

· informing themselves of the culture, politics, and economy of the communities visited
· anticipating and respecting local cultures, expectations and assumptions
· contributing to intercultural understanding and tolerance
· supporting the integrity of local cultures by favoring businesses which conserve cultural heritage and traditional values
· supporting local economies by purchasing local goods and participating with small, local businesses
· conserving resources by seeking out businesses that are environmentally conscious, and by using the least possible amount of non-renewable resources

Increasingly, destinations and tourism operations are endorsing and following "responsible tourism" as a pathway towards sustainable tourism. Responsible tourism and sustainable tourism have an identical goal, that of sustainable development.

The pillars of responsible tourism are therefore the same as those of sustainable tourism – environmental integrity, social justice and economic development. The major difference between the two is that, in responsible tourism, individuals, organisations and businesses are asked to take responsibility for their actions and the impacts of their actions.

This shift in emphasis has taken place because some stakeholders feel that insufficient progress towards realising sustainable tourism has been made since the Earth Summit in Rio. This is partly because everyone has been expecting others to behave in a sustainable manner.

The emphasis on responsibility in responsible tourism means that everyone involved in tourism – government, product owners and operators, transport operators, community services, NGO’s and CBO’s, tourists, local communities, industry associations – are responsible for achieving the goals of responsible tourism.

Responsible Tourism

Responsible Tourism can be regarded as a behaviour. It is more than a form of tourism as it represents an approach to engaging with tourism, be that as a tourist, a business, locals at a destination or any other tourism stakeholder.

It emphasises that all stakeholders are responsible for the kind of tourism they develop or engage in. Whilst different groups will see responsibility in different ways, the shared understanding is that responsible tourism should entail an improvement in tourism. Tourism should become ‘better’ as a result of the responsible tourism approach.

Within the notion of betterment resides the acknowledgement that conflicting interests need to be balanced. However, the objective is to create better places for people to live in and to visit. Importantly, there is no blueprint for responsible tourism: what is deemed responsible may differ depending on places and cultures. Responsible Tourism is an aspiration that can be realised in different ways in different originating markets and in the diverse destinations of the world .

Focusing in particular on businesses, according to the Cape Town Declaration on Responsible Tourism, it will have the following characteristics:

· minimises negative economic, environmental, and social impacts
· generates greater economic benefits for local people and enhances the well-being of host communities, improves working conditions and access to the industry
· involves local people in decisions that affect their lives and life chances
· makes positive contributions to the conservation of natural and cultural heritage, to the maintenance of the world’s diversity
· provides more enjoyable experiences for tourists through more meaningful connections with local people, and a greater understanding of local cultural, social and environmental issues
· provides access for people with disabilities and
· is culturally sensitive, engenders respect between tourists and hosts, and builds local pride and confidence.

Sustainable tourism is where tourists can enjoy their holiday and at the same time respect the culture of people and also respect the environment. It also means that local people (such as the Masaai) get a fair say about tourism and also receive some money from the profit which the game reserve make. The environment is being damaged quite a lot by tourists and part of Sustainable tourism is to make sure that the damaging does not carry on.

There are many private companies who are working into embracing the principles and aspects of Responsible Tourism, some for the purpose of Corporate Social Responsibility activities, and others such WorldHotel-Link, which was originally a project of the International Finance Corporation, have built their entire business model around responsible tourism, local capacity building and increasing market access for small and medium tourism enterprises.

Responsible Hospitality

As with the view of Responsible Tourism, Responsible Hospitality is essentially about creating better places for people to live in, and better places for people to visit. This does not mean all forms of hospitality are also forms of tourism although hospitality is the largest sector of the tourism industry. As such we should not be surprised at overlaps between Responsible Hospitality and Responsible Tourism.

In the instance where place of permanent residence is also the place where the hospitality service is consumed, if for example a meal is consumed in a local restaurant, this does not obviate the requirement to improve the place of residence. As such, the essence of Responsible Hospitality is not contingent upon touristic forms of hospitality.

While Friedman (1962) famously argued that, admittedly within legal parameters, the sole responsibility of business was to generate profit for shareholders the idea that businesses’ responsibility extends beyond this has existed for decades and is most frequently encountered in the concept of corporate social responsibility.

There are numerous ways businesses can and do engage in activities that are not intended to benefit shareholders and management, at least not in the short term. However, often acts of corporate social responsibility are undertaken because of the perceived benefit to business. Usually in hospitality this relates to the cost reductions associated with improved energy efficiency (Pizam, 2009) but may also relate to, for example, the rise in ethical consumerism and the view that being seen to be a responsible business is beneficial to revenue growth.

As per the Cape Town Declaration on Responsible Tourism, Responsible Hospitality is culturally sensitive. Instead of then calling for the unachievable, Responsible Hospitality simply makes the case for more responsible forms of hospitality, hospitality that benefits locals first, and visitors second. Certainly, all forms of hospitality can be improved and managed so that negative impacts are minimised whilst striving for a maximisation of positive impacts.

Coastal tourism

Many coastal areas are experiencing particular pressure from growth in lifestyles and growing numbers of tourists. Coastal environments are limited in extent consisting of only a narrow strip along the edge of the ocean. Coastal areas are often the first environments to experience the detrimental impacts of tourism. A detailed study of the impact on coastal areas, with reference to western India can be an example.

The inevitable change is on the horizon as holiday destinations put more effort into sustainable tourism.[3] Planning and management controls can reduce the impact on coastal environments[4] and ensure that investment into tourism products supports sustainable coastal tourism.

Some Conceptual models in Coastal tourism

Some of the recent studies have led to some interesting conceptual models applicable for coastal tourism. The 'inverted funnel model' and the 'embedded model' can be good metaphors for understanding the interplay of different stake-holders like government, local community, tourists and business community in developing tourist destinations.

Community-based management

There has been the promotion of sustainable tourism practices surrounding the management of tourist locations by locals or more concisely, the community.

This form of tourism is based on the premise that the people living next to a resource are the ones best suited to protecting it. This means that the tourism activities and businesses are developed and operated by local community members, and certainly with their consent and support.

Sustainable tourism typically involves the conservation of resources that are capitalized upon for tourism purposes, such as coral reefs and pristine forests. Locals run the businesses and are responsible for promoting the conservation messages to protect their environment.

Community-based sustainable tourism (CBST) associates the success of the sustainability of the ecotourism location to the management practices of the communities who are directly or indirectly dependent on the location for their livelihoods.

A salient feature of CBST is that local knowledge is usually utilised alongside wide general frameworks of ecotourism business models. This allows the participation of locals at the management level and typically allows a more intimate understanding of the environment. The use of local knowledge also means an easier entry level into a tourism industry for locals whose jobs or livelihoods are affected by the use of their environment as tourism locations.

The involvement of locals restores the ownership of the environment to the local community and allows an alternative sustainable form of development for communities and their environments that are typically unable to support other forms of development.[citation needed]. However, recent research has found that economic linkages generated by CBST may only be sporadic, and that the linkages with agriculture are negatively affected by seasonality and by the small scale of the cultivated areas. This means that CBST may only have small-scale positive effects for these communities.

Stakeholders

Stakeholders of sustainable tourism play a role in continuing this form of tourism. This can include organizations as well as individuals.

Non-governmental organizations

Non-governmental organizations are one of the stakeholders in advocating sustainable tourism. Their roles can range from spearheading sustainable tourism practices to simply doing research. University research teams and scientists can be tapped to aid in the process of planning. Such solicitation of research can be observed in the planning of Cat Ba National Park in Vietnam.

Dive resort operators in Bunaken National Park, Indonesia, play a crucial role by developing exclusive zones for diving and fishing respectively, such that both tourists and locals can benefit from the venture.

Large conventions, meetings and other major organized events drive the travel, tourism and hospitality industry. Cities and convention centers compete to attract such commerce, commerce which has heavy impacts on resource use and the environment. Major sporting events, such as the Olympic Games, present special problems regarding environmental burdens and degradation. But burdens imposed by the regular convention industry can be vastly more significant.

Green conventions and events are a new but growing sector and marketing point within the convention and hospitality industry. More environmentally aware organizations, corporations and government agencies are now seeking more sustainable event practices, greener hotels, restaurants and convention venues, and more energy efficient or climate neutral travel and ground transportation.

Additionally, some convention centers have begun to take direct action in reducing the impact of the conventions they host. One example is the Moscone Center in San Francisco, California, which has a very aggressive recycling program, a large solar power system, and other programs aimed at reducing impact and increasing efficiency.

Tourists

With the advent of the internet, some traditional conventions are being replaced with virtual conventions, where the attendees remain in their home physical location and "attend" the convention by use of a web-based interface programmed for the task. This sort of "virtual" meeting eliminates all of the impacts associated with travel, accommodation, food wastage, and other necessary impacts of traditional, physical conventions.

Travel over long distances requires a large amount of time and/or energy. Generally this involves burning fossil fuels, a largely unsustainable practice and one that contributes to climate change, via CO2 emissions.

Air travel is perhaps the worst offender in this regard, contributing to between 2 and 3% of global carbon emissions.[8] Given a business-as-usual approach, this could be expected to rise to 5% by 2015 and 10% by 2050. Car travel is the next worst offender.

Mass transport is the most climate friendly method of travel, and generally the rule is "the bigger the better" - compared to cars, buses are relatively more sustainable, and trains and ships are even more so. Human energy and renewable energy are the most efficient, and hence, sustainable. Travel by bicycle, solar powered car, or sailing boat produces no carbon emissions (although the embodied energy in these vehicles generally comes at the expense of carbon emission).

Humane tourism

Humane tourism is part of the movement of responsible tourism. The idea is to empower local communities through travel related businesses around the world, first and foremost in developing countries.

The idea of humane travel or humane tourism is to connect travelers from Europe, North America, Australia and New Zealand seeking new adventures and authentic experiences directly, to local businesses in the specific locations they wish to visit – thus, giving economic advantages to local businesses and giving travelers authentic and truly unique travel experiences.

Humane travel or humane tourism focuses on the people, the local community. The idea is to enable travelers to experience the world through the eyes of its local people while contributing directly to those people, ensuring that tourist dollars benefit the local community directly.
Humane tourism is about giving opportunity to the local people, empower them, enable them to enjoy the fruits of tourism directly.

The Internet is changing tourism. More and more travelers are planning their travels and vacations via the net. The Internet enables people to cut off commissions. The traveler can search for new destinations to visit, talk or read about other people experience, and buy the services directly.

The Internet platform can encourage local people to start new businesses and that already existing small businesses will begin to promote themselves through the net and receive the economic advantages of this directly in their communities. The world is now in a new tourism age, with globalization and the Internet playing a key role.

The new travelers have traveled the world, they have seen the classic sites. Staying at a Western hotel is not attractive enough, and they are excited by the prospect of experiencing the authentic local way of life: to go fishing with a local fisherman, to eat the fish with his family, to sleep in a typical village house.

These tourists or travellers, are happy to know that while doing so they promote the economic wellbeing of those same people they spend time with.

Humane tourism is part of Responsible tourism. The concept of Responsible Tourism originated in the work of Jost Krippendorf in The Holiday Makers[9] called for “rebellious tourists and rebellious locals” to create new forms of tourism.

His vision was “to develop and promote new forms of tourism, which will bring the greatest possible benefit to all the participants – travellers, the host population and the tourist business, without causing intolerable ecological and social damage.” As one can see he already talked, back in the 80s about benefits for the host population and used the term human tourism. Humane travel focuses on that host local population.

The South African national tourism policy (1996) [10] used the term "responsible tourism" and mentioned the wellbeing of the local community as a main factor.

The Cape Town Declaration on Responsible Tourism in Destinations,[12] agreed in 2002, that Responsible Tourism is about “making better places for people to live in and better places for people to visit.” The decleration focused on "places" but did nention the local population.

From the Rio summit or earth summit on 1992 [13] until the UN Commission on Sustainable Development in 1999,[14] the main focus of the tourism industry was the earth, the planet, the places, "green" or "eco" tourism. Now there is a trend to include the local population. This trend or branch of responsible tourism is called humane tourism or humane travel.

The worst tour guides are from Colonial Tours

Tourists complain against Colonial Tours from Arequipa

by the Colca Specialist

I was reading Trip Advisor just few minutes ago and I saw this comments which I consider very useful so I decided to republish them here.

What is happening with travel agencies in Arequipa? It seems that they just care about filling their vans and buses with lots of tourists! What about the service? What about the clients?

It seems to me that these guys from Colonial Tours they just care about making money and not about the tourists.

Tourists are clients. Without them Colonial Tours is nothing.

Tourist are human beings not walking US DOLLARS notes.They are not walking credit cards my friends so it would be better if you recognize that your service is not good.

If you want to continue in this businness better think it twice because if you continue working the same way you will end on the street.

If you have problems with the tour guides is because you are cheap and stingy. Colonial Tours don´t have good tour guides because they are exploited and not well paid. That´s the main problem in Arequipa. Travel agencies don´t work with professional tour guides but with youngsters who need to work.Exploitation is everywhere in Southamerica. Peru in not the exception. Corruption is another disease that affects tourism in Arequipa too.

How good can be a 23 year old tour guide who has NO EXPERIENCE?

How good can be a 23 year old tour guide who is thinking about making a 10 soles commission per passenger?

How good can be a tour guide who is NOT FROM THE AREA who just know local discoteques and touristic restaurants?

To be a tourist doesn´t mean to be stupid!

As tourists we need to be sustainable too. We should NOT travel with companies that are just exploiting their workers!

Besides the voice of tourists should be heard too. Clients in the past they complained and their voices were never heard but thanks to internet the voice of the clients can be heard very loud all around the world. The compalints are a good oportunity to see what is wrong with our service in order to improve it. The decision is in your hands.

I recommend all foreign visitors to read this blog and if you like you can download the information about the Colca Valley and the Colca Canyon which is very useful for those tourists who are seeking for the local culture. Thank you very much for your attention and don´t forget that this virtual magazine is dedicated to all my tourists around the world.

The Colca Specialist

Complaint against Colonial Tours (taken from Trip Advisor)

We booked our 2-day trip to Colca Canyon Through our hotel and the company They Used WAS Colonial Tours. The canyon itself is well worth seeing but I am sure the experience could have been a lot better with a more professional company.

The canyon is well worth seeing Itself But I am sure the experience Could Have Been a Lot Better With A more professional company.

Right from the start it was clear that our guide wasn't going to speak much English, although the tour was supposed to be both in Spanish and English.
Luckily we understood some Spanish but I have to say that even then his commentaries and instructions weren't that clear.

All the way through the trip, he failed to tell us at each stop where we were; how long we were stopping for; what was worth seeing in the place; etc. 

Basically there was a complete lack of communication.During the 2 days, we learned hardly anything about the area.  He only bothered to say something if someone asked a question and even then the question wasn't repeated and the answer very vague.We approached the guide and told him that we felt completely ignored and weren't very happy about the tour.

This made no difference. Colca Canyon was an amazing place and I would definitely return to the area. However, I will never use Colonial Tours again! Esta crítica es la opinión subjetiva de un miembro de TripAdvisor, no de TripAdvisor LLC.

Another complaint taken from Trip Advisor

“Colca Canyon with Colonial Tours - Not recommended”

Our hostal in Arequipa (Colonial House Inn) set up a Colca Canyon tour with Colonial Tours. We had a very negative experience with Colonial Tours and I would not recommend them to anyone. We feel that we wasted our S/65 plus the S/35 required to enter the Chivay area. (Total = S/100 per person.)

Leo, our guide, made us feel like he could not be bothered speaking English since we were two of the few English speakers on the tour. The tour we were sold was supposed to include a 2 hour trek in Coporaque on the first day, which our guide felt was too much effort. (Instead, we stopped no less than 6 times on the way out to Chivay including a 45+ minute stop for snacks and tea at a restaurant. Granted a couple of the stops were decent, such as when we stopped to see Vicunas, but many of them were unnecessary.) Leo seemed much more interested in trying to get us to eat at overpriced (S/25) buffet restaurants for both lunch and dinner and I wouldn't be surprised if he was getting a cut of the profits. We did at least go to the hot springs in the afternoon (which cost another S/10 per person).

Rather than getting our group going at 6am so we could have as much time at the canyon as possible, he moved our start time to 7am. (His rationale was that it was New Year's Eve and some people wanted to stay up till midnight. It was obvious his bias was a later start time and he only seemed willing to listen to the people who agreed with him rather than sticking with the tour schedule that was sold to us.) The later start time made us late arriving at at Cruz del Condor and cut our time there in half. We then returned for another overpriced lunch (S/25) in Chivay.

Of the 4 hours we were most interested in (2 hours trekking and 2 hours at Cruz del Condor), the tour only delivered 1 hour at Colca Canyon itself. We felt ripped off at having to pay a S/35 fee at the entrance to Chivay when 90% of our tour was shelling out money to overpriced restaurants in Chivay itself.

If I were to redo things, I'd head straight for Cabanaconde (dodging the S/35 fee at Chivay) and set up a hiking excursion there. Note that the Colca Canyon at Cruz del Condor is only 1200 meters. Compare that to the 1800 meter depth of the Grand Canyon and you might be a bit disappointed. The deepest part of the Colca Canyon (4160 meters) is near Cabaconde, so I suspect the views from there are more impressive.

The best way to visit Arequipa

By the Colca Specialist

Arequipa,”the white city” is the second city in Perú.
In the past it was famous because of its countryside but since agriculture is not anymore a good business, huge extensions of land were sold for housing projects and Arequipa´s countryside is becoming each time smaller.

Travel agencies offer different tours to visit Arequipa. The most popular ones are the mixed tours (city and countryside tours) which are offered by some bus companies whose double-deckers visit part of Arequipa´s countryside. Most of these tours are around the downtown area of Arequipa whose pollution is each time more notorious.

Since these tours are mass oriented, they are not recommended for the tourists who are looking for quality services.

If you are looking for visiting the real arequipenian countryside, the best way is to take a private tour to Sogay which is well.known as little Colca because of its ancient terraces. Other option is to visit Yura district which is 30 kms away from Arequipa.

There you can find a nice valley in the area called “Yura Viejo” (old yura) and other attractions such as Capua Waterfall, Quiscos ,among others.It is possible to hike in the desertic area of Yura which is very interesting and at the end of your hike you can swim in the hot springs of Yura.Great!

If you are a little more adventurous you can take a river rafting tour with Cusipata or you can take a downhill mountain biking tour and go downhill one of main volcanoes of Arequipa.
All these options are full day private tours. You may pay a little bit more but you will get more too.

Think it carefully before buying a tour. Be different. Tours with big groups are nothing special.
Don´t forget my friends that your holidays are special and as the old saying says: Quality is better than Quantity! Good luck in Arequipa.

The Colca Specialist.

The worst one day tour to Colca Canyon

by Lisa Cooper

Finland

COLONIAL TOURS AREQUIPA

The other day I had the opportunity of taking a one-day tour with Colonial Tours wich is much recommended by Trip Advisor . We were picked up at 03:00 am in the morning for a one day tour to the Colca Canyon. The van was OK and the driver too. But the tour guide is the reason of this article.

The tour guide we had was a complete disaster and the English he spoke was really bad and we didn´t understand anything of the things he said.

How can be Colonial Tours be recommended by Trip Advisor? Colonial Tours service is terrible. The guide was not a professional guide because a professional guide introduces himself at the beginning of the tour. After that he should give a briefing of the tour and that never happened.
Hopefully we didn´t took the two day tour to the Colca Canyon. Two days with the same guide would have been terrible.

When we arrive to Chivay we were taken to a restaurant to have breakfast and then we continued with the tour.

He started to talk about the terraces in Colca Valley and he said that terraces “were carved” on the walls of the Colca Valley! Carved? Oh my God! Where did he study to be a tour guide? Then he continue talking about the wonderful terraces in Cusco area and how they were built. I don´t know if he realized that we were in Colca Valley and we wanted to know more about the place. His way of speaking English made me thought in some moments that he was drunk!

Then he stopped explaining and he started saying that he was a shaman and that he was not married. Those were the most dumb comments we ever heard during the tour.Another tour guide playing the inca game to call attention of the gringos.

We met other tour guides who were explaining their groups about the people, about their culture and traditions,etc and the one we had just spoke about the terraces of Cusco area and lots of nonsense about the condors. Does a condor live 80 years?

I don´t plan to recommend Colonial Tours in Arequipa because the service given was very low quality. I came to Peru because my main interest was to know more about the inca and preinca Peruvian cultures. Colca Valley and Colca Canyon are very interesting, but because of that terrible tour guide I feel that my holidays in Colca Canyon were just a waste of time.

I would like to thank the Colca Specialist for the wonderful free information published about Colca Valley and Colca Canyon and the next time if I come back to Colca Canyon I am planning to print the information in order to have a good cultural background of Colca Canyon.

Lisa Cooper
Finland.