Corpse of peruvian student was found in Colca Canyon

by the Colca Specialist

The corpse of the Peruvian student Ciro Castillo Rojo was found this April 21 on the cliffs near Bomboya mountain after an intensive search of 6 months.

Ciro Castillo Rojo and Rosario Ponce,a couple of students from Lima got lost in Colca Canyon when they were doing a trekking circuit from Madrigal to Tapay village.
Unfortunately the couple got lost in the surroundings of Bomboya area getting inside an abysm without an easy way out.

Rosario Ponce was found after ten days dehydrated but still conciouss but her couple Ciro was not found with her.

According to Rosario Ponce version , Ciro Castillo Rojo left her in order to look for help in Tapay area but Ciro never arrived there. Many different rescue teams took part in this search of Ciro but after several months of speculations and failed expeditions, the corpse of Ciro Castillo Rojo was found by a local mountain guide from Pinchollo Eloy Cacya.

The authorities actually investigate if Ciro Castillo Rojo was killed or not. Rosario Ponce is being investigated too.

Was Ciro Castillo the first lost student on the Bomboya?

Definitively no. Ciro Castillo Rojo was not the first one neither the only one. There were many tourists who got lost in the same circuit. The main mistake of these students was traveling without a local guide. Local guides know the area very well and in that circuit it is very important to hire one because on the area there are several paths that nobody knows very well where they end.

Bomboya is not the inca trail. There are no signs,nothing. If you get lost there you are in trouble because you are walking in the mountain range area which is very wide and wild.Walking with the aid of a touristic map is not a good idea.It is stupid!
Bomboya cannot be done in three days but five and you need a local guide in order to take the proper way.

If a tourist get lost in Colca Canyon nobody will look for him/her. There were many tourists that got lost in Bomboya area and nobody looked for them.

Ciro Castillo Rojo and Rosario Ponce belong to rich and important families from Lima. That is the difference. If I get lost in the area nobody will look for me but if the daughter of a congressman gets lost be sure that all the army is going to look for her. So before planning an expedition on the Andes Mountain Range is important to know what to expect in case you get lost.

Besides the rescue teams in Colca Canyon don´t have the necessary equipment for rescue expeditions. There is no helicopter designed for this kind of operations.So it is better to take the proper measures before doing an expedition in Bomboya area. Mistakes can have a tragic end like that of Ciro.

I am taking a trekking tour in Colca Canyon!

Well done,but what about if you fall on the way. Are you traveling with a professional tour guide or you are traveling with a non-professional trekking guide?
Think it twice before taking a trip. Situations like this should never happen anymore!

The Colca Specialist

The family of Ciro Castillo left this banner on the walls of the church of Chivay saying thank you Chivay for your help in the search of Ciro.

Carol Chamán and Ramón Flores ,members of a rescue team called "Los Topos de Mexico" helped the family of Ciro Castillo in the search of the lost student.

Carol Chamán and Ramón Flores were living in this hotel called "La Casa de Anita" keep this name in mind because this is the worst place in Chivay. Carol Chamán and Ramón Flores belongings were stolen in this hotel.

Somebody got inside the room and took all the results of the investigations done by the couple. GPS and other specialized equipment were stolen in this hotel. It is a shame that until the moment the police has done nothing about this situation! The couple came to help people in disgrace and they were stolen! The one in charge of the hotel is a man called ELVIS ROMERO.Take care much and don´t stay in this hotel.

On the wall you see several advertisements and if you pay attention the real name was put in the upper part of the left side in order to hide the name of the hotel after this event.

Eloy Cacya, a mountain guide from Colca Canyon. He was the one who found the dead body of Ciro Castillo Rojo. Eloy is from Colca Canyon and as we said before the role of local guides is very important for the development of tourism in the area. A local guide knows his homeland very well much better than tour guides from Arequipa.Eloy Cacya now has a dream: to open a school for local guides in his native village, Pinchollo in Colca Canyon.

What is responsible tourism?

To help enjoy the richness of Peru, we suggest you think about the following during your visit.
Be sensitive to local customs.

Conduct that may be acceptable in certain Western communities (ie. Drug use, nude sun bathing, loud and gregarious public conversation) is not appropriate in this region and culture.

Don’t hand out sweets, loose change or small gifts, this only serves to corrupt and create begging mentality where none existed before.

Churches are often viewed as tourist attractions; however, their primary purpose is as houses of worship for local residents; visitors should be quiet and respectful.

Be aware of people’s sensitivity to be photographed; always ask first.

Be perceptive of your own cultural values and how they affect your judgment of others. There are many different concepts of time, personal space, communication etc. which are not wrong or inferior, just different.

Act as an example for other travelers who are less informed than you!

Be flexible in your expectations

Approach your travels with an open mind and you won’t be disappointed. Sometimes plans change and an chance for more in-depth learning or a unique cultural experience presents itself.

Adapt yourself to the situation rather than trying to change the situation to you.

Bridging the cultural gaps

Take the opportunity to be a cultural ambassador. Much of the world’s image of western tourists is based on the unrealities of television and magazines. Look for situations for cultural exchange whereby learning about each other’s lives is mutual. Getting to know the person sitting next to you on a local bus or the person cooking your food takes is often a rewarding experience (and a good chance to practice your Spanish!).

Practice environmental minimum impact

Follow the international “Leave No Trace” rules. Pack out everything that you bring in, including toilet paper (if there is no toilet) or plastic water bottles. Relieve yourself at least 70 meters from any water source. Remove litter that others leave behind.

When hiking, stay on the trail. Don’t trample delicate vegetation or remove any form of plant or animal life.

Don’t approach, surround or chase animals you may observe in order to get a photograph.

Pachamama Home: Cabanaconde´s worst restaurant

by the Colca Specialist

Cabanaconde is an interesting place but it still has many problems to be solved. One of the main problems is the lack of knowledge about tourism.
I won´t make of this article an essay about tourism but there is much to do in Cabanaconde.

The last time I visited Cabanaconde, was last year, and I took part in a mountainbiking event in Colca Canyon.
We arrived early to Cabanaconde and we were recommended to have breakfast in a place called Pachamama Home.

The bus driver recommended us this place to all the group, and said to us that the owner, a man called Ludwig was his friend and that we were going to be treated properly.

Well, it seemed to us that we were going to have a good breakfast. We went to the place and the cooks were really friendly, and the guys from the TV program we were traveling with, decided to interview them.

We had breakfast. At the end the bill comes and the price was not the one agreed. They overcharged everything. We understand that all things and goods are taken from Arequipa, but come on guys you have to be reasonable.

Tourists we are not stupid. A bottle of wine costs in Arequipa 20 soles and the same wine here 60 soles. I am not going to make a list of costs, but if you say that the BREAKFAST has a specific price, please respect it. Don´t lie to the clients,because of people like you the imagen of tourism in Peru is terrible.

We tried to talk with the owner and we were told that he was not there in that moment.
His “replacement” was a gringo backpacker who tried to cheat us with the prices of breakfast. What he was doing there? If I have a business, especially one that deals with tourists I have to hire a person with knowledge about tourism with a friendly, reliable attitude. I am not going to hire a couple of jerks because I will go bankrupt in a couple of months.

After the event I decided to check the web page of these guys and everything is good. The classical web page. Web pages cannot be trusted much because all of the owners and services they offer are good. All of them work properly, and the most funny thing is that all of them say that are involved in charity activities.

Not even one of these hotels, restaurants or travel agencies has a certificate of quality. Neither an award or something that says that they are really good. I can tell many things about myself but in reality can be other thing.

If these guys say that they provide a high quality service why the hotel had an unpolite backpacker in charge of the restaurant and the hotel? It seemed to me that he was picked up from the streets from Arequipa, dirty, unpolite. What kind of service is that? If I were you Mr. Ludwig I would fire those guys inmediately before your business goes bankrupt.

The next day, I went by myself and I ate in a local restaurant in Cabanaconde and it was really good. Besides, the food was better quality and gladly I would have payed more for the food. The lady there didnt´t speak English but she was good, smiling all the time. We asked for a lemon. She didn´t have one, but without hesitation she went to market to buy some lemons for us. Different from the attitude taken by the Pachamama Home workers.

The local authorities have to realize that if theywant to increase the flow of tourists to Cabanaconde the services have to be improved in all different areas. If not, be sure that everybody is going to go away. Cabanaconde is a beautiful place but if the tour guides are not professional and if the services quality is low, tourism in Cabanaconde won´t go far.Nothing important can be done with unpolite, uneducated people. Be sure of that.

Next time I go to Cabanaconde I don´t plan to visit Pachamama Home anymore...Neither I will pay attention to the bus driver. I will find out by myself.

The Colca Specialist.