Colca Canyon: 2 Day Tour from Arequipa

I was so looking forward to this trip after reading all the glowing reviews of Colca Canyon. Let's start with the positives: We enjoyed seeing the wild vicunas, and also the pre-Incan agricultural terraces. We only saw two condors but it was the wrong time of year as they were apparently nesting, so not the fault of the tour company. Now for the cons. Communication, or the lack thereof. Once the tour company got our down payment they ghosted us; we were trying to find out what hotel they had us scheduled for in Chivay, we were thinking about upgrading it but it took over a month of emailing and phone calls to get a response and by that time it was too late. On the first day they were more than an hour late picking us up, and never called to let us know what was up, leaving us wondering if they were coming at all. On the LONG 5-hour van trip to Chivay they didn't give us much information (historical, cultural, or otherwise) about the areas we were passing through. In Chivay we were basically dropped off at our hotel and abandoned (we were told if we wanted something to do we could walk around the plaza), unless we wanted to go to the hot springs. They did transport us to the hot springs but the entrance fee WAS NOT INCLUDED in the tour, as stated in the TripAdvisor write-up. The hotel in Chivay was more like a hostel, extremely basic and noisy at all hours of the night, we could hear everyone coming and going to/from their rooms. Of the 4 persons in our group one slept well, one slept badly and two didn't sleep at all. No electrical outlet in the bathroom and tub didn't drain. The guide was dropped off early on the way home, and after that the driver blasted obnoxiously loud music and periodically turned off the a/c until we asked for it to be turned back on. Upon arrival back in Arequipa we were all dropped off on a busy street corner in the middle of a not so great area of town with our luggage, instead of being returned to our hotels. All in all, a very long drive (5 hours each way), and a lot of discomfort. My group all agreed that in a very busy Peru trip, this was the one experience we would delete if we were to do it again.

Canyon was wonderful Hotel was 3 star, basic but adequate Bus was reasonably comfortable but hot at times and music was loud. Other stops were very touristy and we did feel herded around - and eventually chose to do some of our own things. Highlight was short 30 min trek at canyon - away from the masses.

Great tour, the colca valley is very beautiful, highlight of the tour, the flight of the condor. Very good tour operator, Luis Angel, our tour guide, was the best and the driver Julio led us safely to Arequipa through the traffic of the pan American highway!