Introduction
The Colca Canyon is an area of outstanding beauty. Once thought to be the deepest canyon on earth - that accolade now goes to nearby Cotahuasi Canyon - visitors now flock here to witness giant Andean condors gliding on rising thermals.
Almost 2000 years ago the valley was home to the Pre-Inca Cabana and Collagua people, who built a colossal system of terraces in the landscape to trap melting run-off from nearby snowcapped volcanoes.
Nearby one of the most active volcanoes in the Americas, Sabancaya, still steams alongside the more docile Ampato, a peak once appeased with human sacrifice and still revered by local villagers.
