2-Day Custom Colca Canyon Trek from Arequipa

We had an unforgettable 2-day tour with Ventura Travel! Everything was perfectly organized from start to finish. Our guide was knowledgeable, friendly, and passionate, making each stop truly meaningful. The itinerary balanced cultural insight, nature, and local cuisine beautifully. Transportation was comfortable and punctual. Highlights included scenic landscapes, authentic local experiences, and a warm, welcoming atmosphere. It felt like we saw and learned so much in just two days. Highly recommend Ventura Travel for a well-curated, stress-free adventure!

We were recommended Ventura Travel by acquaintances and we can only pass on the recommendation. The organization in advance with Raul worked wonderfully. We were picked up in the morning at 6.30am by our guide Christian at the hotel in Arequipa. Actually we had booked the group tour, but there were only two of us. We had a lot of fun with Christian, who showed us a lot and explained us and responded to all our wishes. The restaurants we went to were great and individually selected down to the last (the last restaurant was a bit touristy for us, but food was ok). We finished our trek in Chivay, from where we continued to Puno. Raul had already reserved the bus to Puno for us in advance, we didn't need to worry about that either. Very super great tour!!

I just got back from Peru, wonderful trip! For the trek to Colca Canyon we leaned on ventura travel Peru. We had a great time, everything organized to perfection. Our guide, Remi, was Fantastic, prepared throughout. For me it was fundamental given my moment of crisis given by fatigue. The only flaw is that they should equip themselves with transport a little more comfortable for groups of 5 people like us. Recommended!

We did the 2 days trip in Colca with Ventura travel. We booked (and paid half of the price) via internet several months ago and everything went perfectly. Raul, the boss of the agency is perfect, very profesional and serious. We met at the hotel the day before the trip with our guide Carlos. Carlos is one the best guide we have ever had! He explained us a lot of things and we really discovered this region, and the way people live thanks to him (he knows everyone in the Canyon!). The Canyon is wonderful and the stay in Sangalle Oasis is one of our best experience in Peru. The transportation is also high-level in a brand new SUV, and the driver (the brother of Raul) is excellent and very safe (which is a major criteria when travelling by car in Peru). We thank again Raul and Carlos and strongly recommmend this agency. Charles and Sophie.

We took the two day private trek and were met on time at our hotel in Arequipa by Christan who was clearly experienced and was very keen to make sure we enjoyed the experience. We went with his driver Manuel in a very clean new van and he pointed out lots of things on the way to the Colca Canyon. We headed into the canyon from around 11am at a good pace until we reached the river from where we headed uphill to the lunchstop, which was very nice and provided plenty of food. We walked from there for a few hours in the afternoon and reached Sangelle around 5.30pm. The cabin and dinner were more than adequate and a bit of a surprise considering the remoteness of the location. Christan made every effort to make sure we were informed, comfortable and happy and he was there to greet us at 4.30am when we headed up the mountain in the dark, arriving at 7.30am. We walked to breakfast in a nice hotel not far away and then onto the condors which were great to see. We recommend the hot springs after the trek and found it helped us both get over the aching legs from a pretty full -on two days . Both Christan and Manuel looked after us and provided lots of interesting facts about the canyon and its history. We recommend Ventura Travel and do your best to get Christan if possible, although I'm sure all the guides would go out of their way to look after you.

The first contact was via Whats App, where we already asked three times, whether the tour is doable for someone who is afraid of heights. After we didn’t receive a straight answer, we invited Raul to our Hotel, to clarify the issue. Raul said the tour is much easier than the Death Road. When he realized that we did the Death Road, he thought it won’t be a problem for us. Obviously, Raul has never been to the Death Road. Since the Death Road is a road for cars and trucks crossing each other, it is always wide enough and therefore doable for someone who is afraid of heights. After a four hour drive we arrived at the starting point of the hike. There our guide Willy, who by the way did an extraordinary job, explained the route. And very soon it was clear, that this route is not made for someone who is afraid of heights. So we had to take an alternative route, which was the same we would take the next day. Finally, we come to the conclusion, that Raul lied to us, just to sell his very expensive tour. We definitely do recommend to look for another tour operator.

Before we booked the tour, we asked explicitly whether it is possible to make the tour, if someone is scared of heights. Raul came for a briefing to our hotel where he said: ,,this is absolutely not a problem, the path is always 4 meters wide”. When we arrived there, the guide (Willy) explained the path and he confirmed that it is very narrow on the 4th km and it goes down very steep i.e. nothing for someone who is scared of heights. Already at the beginning I saw that this is nothing like 4 meters wide. Then we realized that Raul did lie to us to sell the tour! Willy, the guide, who works independently and not for the Ventura company, did a very good job and took an alternative path (the same we would have taken on the next day i.e. we walked the same way twice, once up and once down). Willy confirmed that it would have been a mistake to do the other path with someone who is scared of heights. I probably made the mistake that I ve told Raul that I did the Death Road in Bolivia, he then thought that I cannot really be scared of heights and that’s probably the reason he lied. He obviously has never done the Death Road as one doesn’t even have to look down as there is plenty of space (4 meters wide is the minimum there and it is a road for cars and trucks). In addition, we asked at the briefing with Raul for a private bathroom. He said it’s not a problem. Of course we didn’t get any, as the hostel didn’t even offer these. I recommend to use another company. It’s luck anyway if you get a good guide or not.

We had booked our 2 days trek with Ventura and it was excellent. We had booked a semi-private tour, that needs min 2 and has max 5 people. SInce no else signed up it was just the 2 of us. Trekking to Colca Canyon is beautiful, but it's the first day steep down and the second day steep up. Views on the way are amazing and our guide Nestor was very knowledgeable and helpful. On the way back to Arequipa we stopped at several interesting points and good a good explanation of everything. I would definitely use Ventura Travel again