Access is relatively easy via a 12 hour bus ride from Arequipa (try Virgen de Chapi from central terminal in Arequipa). The journey takes one up to the Altiplano at 16,000 feet and past the smoldering crater of Sabancaya, and the massive peaks of Corapuna and Solimana. As the road descends off the Altiplano to the town of Cotahausi it will pass Umahuarco or the “the place of execution”. Be sure to ask the driver to point out this interesting pocket carved into the face of the cliff. Here the Inca bound their prisoners by the wrists and neck until circling condors descended onto their prey. After the passage of centuries of time it is amazing that sun-bleached human bones still litter the base of the cliff.

The town of Cotahausi is a beautiful Andean Pueblo with stone streets and white-washed adobe buildings and cathedrals built by the Spanish. Local residents move around principally on foot, horseback, burro or mule.

Scouting the Aimaña gorge prior to first descent

The ideal time to run the river is from mid May to mid June when flows exceed 1000 CFS although I have heard of recent trips running the river at extremely bony levels into late November. The crystal clear water is snow melt and cold throughout the year. Bring a fly rod as whopper trout live below Sipia.

The river is comprised of four distinct sections. The first section is called the headwaters and it lies up stream of the town of Cotahuasi. The second section is the Aimaña gorge, the third is Flatwater Canyon, and the fourth is the lower canyon. The Cotahausi has become one of the most sought after commercial raft trips in South America. Commercial trips skip the first three sections of the river and miss out on five days or 88.5 KM of white-knuckle whitewater with a total drop of 1825 meters (over 6000 feet)

A description of each section follows:

Headwaters

A new road provides access to this class 3-5 section of river whose put in is 71.5 Km above the town of Cotahausi at the village of Chulea (elevation 3525 meters) which we will call KM 0. The gradient of the headwaters section is as follows:

Chulea to Huacctapa 6 km 4 m/km
Huacctapa to Antabamba 27.5 km 25.5 m/km
Antabamba to Alca 20 km 5 m/km
Alca to Puente Coyota 16 km 14 m/km takeout 2525 meters
A nice thing to do is stop and soak at the local hot springs called “Termas de Alca” which are on river right just below the town of Alca. Even if you do not run this section of river a side trip from the town of Cotahuasi can easily be arranged.

Aimaña Gorge

The second section of the river begins about 3-road kms above the town of Cotahausi at Puente Coyota. This 10 KM stretch ends at the spectacular 150-meter waterfall called Sipia. (a mandatory portage!!!!!) The upper Aimaña gorge is 2.25 km of class 5 whitewater dropping at 34 m/km. When you come under the swinging bridge called Chapito it is time to get out on the right and scramble up the scree slope to a road some 200 meters above and portage (on a dirt road) about 1 km. You do this to avoid approx 300 meter stretch of viscous liquid that was accidentally run without injury at extremely low flows. The hike back into the canyon is on a hard to find trail. Once at river level the die hards in the group can hike alongside the river back up to the exit of the un-runnable section. Here begins the more difficult lower Aimaña Gorge. From here it is 5 km until the canyon walls open up. The gradient is a stomping 45 m/km and includes several huge rapids, the most notable being “Mungi” which is found where the river horseshoes to the left. Once the walls taper down the river relaxes for a short while on the approach to Puente Ullao. From Puente Ullao to the next bridge Puente Sipia is a radical ¾ km stretch with the huge drops of “Harry Peludo” and Cheloc Cahuita”. From Puente Sipia it is non stop action to Cataracta de Sipia 2 km downstream. This class 5+ stretch drops up to 70 m/km and has been run on several occasions without portaging. The last big drop is called “Saltos de Diablo” and lies 100 m upstream of the 500′ waterfall.

Gian Marco Velutino above the 500´Sipia falls

After spending some time at the falls of Sipia it is time for what will be for most people the most spectacular portage of their life. Preferably burro or mules have been arranged in advance to help haul boats thousands of feet up the mountainside and down the other side to the Pampa of Chaupo. Most people elect to use Don Rene Urquizo whose casita is located a few hundred meters upstream of Sipia. Along the animal trail you will pass through a tunnel through the rock face and may find yourself at eye level with soaring Andean Condors. From the Pampa of Chaupo boats and gear must be carried by hand down a steep trail to the river below. The first part of the portage with animals will take a minimum of four hours and the latter part by hand an additional hour.There is an alternative put-in which arrives at the absolute base of the falls at an obscure gully called “Huanca Huacana” (Quechua for place where stolen cattle are slaughtered). This put-in is an intense adventure involving rappelling and frequent rock falls and is not recommended.

The Commercial trips do not put in at Huanca Huacana or Chaupo but instead continue on the trail to the village of Velinga some 6 km further downstream.

Flatwater Canyon

The reward for putting in at Chaupo is an awesome 1-1/2 km class 5 stretch dropping 57 m/km called “flatwater canyon”. The first rapid is formed by a massive mud flow and is called “Barro Rojo”. Below this radical stretch is 3-1/2 km of additional good class 3-4 whitewater dropping at 29 m/km. This section ends below the village of Velinga (elevation 1750 meters). Look carefully for the concrete lined hot springs on river left hidden within a patch of bamboo. It as at this point that commercial trips begin their journeys.

Shreddin´in the Flatwater canyon

Lower Canyon

At 1750 meters the canyon has very pleasant temperatures and a climate completely different from town of Cotahuasi. Avocado, orange, and papaya trees can be found in the villages nestled high up on the canyon rim. The geology begins to change from the limestone walls and sediment canyons found in the upper stretches to metamorphic and granite canyons.

From Velinga it is 6 km to the swinging bridge below the town of Quechualla. Here the average gradient is 22.5 m/km but there is significantly more in a tight little canyon stretch just below Velinga called “Broken Neck Canyon”. From the swinging bridge it is 12.5 km and 265 meters of elevation drop to Campimento Minero (21.2 m/km), an abandoned mining camp with good camping. Before reaching this point you will pass the ruins of Toccecc or river right. This is another good place to camp and to explore the ruins.

The next stretch of river contains several class five sections including “cable dancer”, “meter canyon”, “centimeter canyon”, and necktie canyon”. The 9 km stretch begins at 1300 meters and ends at 1040 for average drop of 28.8 m/km. this section of river is full of ruins. It is easy to get caught up in the whitewater and forget to look around. If you take the time to get out of you boat and do several hikes you will encounter the ruins of the lost city of Marpa whose terraced fields, amphitheaters, burial sites (Chulpas), can be found right up to and through meter canyon. On some of your scouts you will standing in ancient terraces that due to the arid climate are better preserved than those of Machu Pichu. I like to camp at a beautiful beach on the right at a place called Maccintyra (just a name on the map as there is no people in canyon). You know you are there as there is a view of huge basalt plug just downstream. Sunsets here are spectacular as is the fishing.

Kiwi Mike Savory boating thru the ancient terraced ruins of Marpa in Meter Canyon

From Maccintyra it is some 15 km to the confluence with the Maran. Along the way there are is continuous class three and wherever it gorges up class 4. With the added juice of the Maran the river takes on a new character. Big, fun, roller coaster waves in a open canyon lead to the town of Chaucalla which sits 100 meters above the river at the confluence with Rio Chichas entering on left. Chuacalla is an interesting place to check out. Extremely dry it is well known for its local wine. The town is built of dry adobe blocks and all the homes have chiles drying on the roofs. From here elevation 700 meters to Iquipe (elevation 440 meters) is 26 km of class 3 whitewater. In Iquipe there is access to a new road to the coast.

An option is to continue boating the remaining 70 km to the ocean. Although the water moves a strong headwind and the cold coastal fog called Garua make the journey arduous. It is, however, a rewarding feeling to know you have paddled 240 km and dropped 11,650 feet from snow capped peaks to Pacific Ocean. Upon reaching Puente Ocoña at the ocean or when leaving Iquipe, make your way to town of Camana. From here there is regular bus service to Arequipa.

This page is still under construction.

Further information is available at http://web.cocc.edu/fhelfenstein/riocotahuasi/

Lower Canyon Trip Report – August 2011

Here is a trip write up that maybe helpful for people who want to organize and do their own Cotahuasi Canyon Trip.

We took six days on our canyon trip and started August 1rst 2011 by Fields Marshall, Christian Polar and Carlos Vizcarra owner of Arequipa Hostal Solar (a helpful resource if you are planning your own self support kayaking trip in Arequipa. )

The flow was average for this time of year – It would be called a medium flow. We had a group of conservative (and experienced) kayakers and we took our time. I personally didn’t run any class 5 opting to portage because of the remote nature of the canyon nonetheless the river started off strong and didn’t slow down for 5 days until we reached the Maran river confluence. Once we were in the Canyon weather was dry and warm ( very nice ) until we reached the Maran Confluence where cold up river winds started increasing blowing very strong in the evening.

Bugs were not a problem if you had some DEET / repellent. That is to say there were bugs but if you put some repellent on then you did not notice them.

Anyways read on below and check out the photos.

Day 1 – Cotahuasi – Bus to Velinga – The Put In

The night before we took a bus from Arequipa and arrived at the town of Cotahuasi at 3 am. We then camped out and waited for the bus to Velinga. We took the bus to Velinga and actually got off a few KMs before Velinga in a very small town called Barranquillos spelling ?

This road was created in 2010 before this date you would of had to hire a mule team from the town of Cotahuasi to the river. We did hire a mule team to carry our boats 100 meters or so but this was more of an effort to support the local economy than anything else.

We entered the river at about 11am after lunch and packing our boats and paddle some class 3 and 4 rapids about 6 kms in total down to the rapid known as “The Wall” near the very small town of Quechualla

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Day 2 – Quechualla to Tochuecc Ruins

Day 2 of our Cotahuasi river trips started out at 10 am in the morning. Christian ran the wall rapid near Quechualla and we continued our way down stopping for lunch. We had one portage Class 5 rapid before lunch and then continued down in total about 8 kms camping just below the Ruins of Tochuecc.

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Day 3 – Tochuecc Ruins to Centimeter Canyon Rapids

Day 3 was the day of big rapids from what we had read most of the action started on this day so we got up early at 6:30 and we hit the water by about 8:00 am or so. Right away we came to Marpa ruins / rapids. The more conservative element of the group – myself and Carlos Vizcarra portaged the rapid while Christian Polar ran it without issues.

After Marpa ruins/ the river slowly canyoned up forming the rapid known as Meter. In early August with medium flows their appeared to be one dangerous rapid so instead of running this rapid. We all choose to do the mother of all portages about 2 hours (not that much time wise but with the hot Peruvian sun beating down ) we were left exhausted. If you look at the photos you will see me going to be very early that night 5pm or so.

Despite all the adrenalin and the hot sun. This place of Incan ruins and steep cliff was undeniably beautiful and with the warm winds and cool water an ideal climate also.

After lunch and our intense portage we camped at another well known rapid called Centimeter.

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Day 4 – Centimeter to High Side For Your Life

After a long night’s sleep and with our boats getting lighter we rallied a bit less early hitting the water at about 9:30 am or so .. A portage or two lay ahead with the notable portage being right around noon. Carlos got overheated as I did the day before but I had picked up a lesson from the previous day and immediately jumped into the water to cool off before walking a long distance in the hot sun. We cruised down and made camp right above the rapid known as High Side for your Life – typically known as the biggest rapid on this stretch of the lower canyon. While it looked big – it did not appear to be as consequential as other rapids we had portaged.

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Day 5 – High Side For Your Life to Maran Confluence

I started off the day portaging High Side For Your Life but Christian ran it and proved that it was indeed forgiving We continued down scouting and portaging 1 more time until we reached the confluence with the Maran river. Here the river added more volume and the gradient slowed down.

We camped about 12 KMs away from the town of Iquipi on a beach. Up until this point the weather had been perfect but I was unprepared for the strong cold wind that blew up from the ocean. I had not brought any cold weather gear and getting warm was a challenge. The wind was strongest at about 4pm and then died down by 9 pm.

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Day 6 – Maran Confluence to Iquipi

As mentioned we camped about 12 KMs away from the town of Iquipi on a beach. In the morning kayaked down class 2/3 rapids avoiding shrimp catching traps until we arrived at Iquipi. We had a GPS to help us find Iquipi but it would have been fine without one. We started seeing more and more civilization as we approached Iquipi.

We had a celebratory lunch in Iquipi and then we took a bus to an unknown and illegal mining town called Secocha. Due to the high price of gold this town was full of new cars and due to the fact that people were illegal mining ( They had no rights to the land) it was a highly toxic and dilapidated. $3000 blocks of stone were being mined for gold mercury was being buried in the ground and there was a menacing and lawless aspect to all of the inhabtants.

We immediately left Seococha and paid for a private car to Camana. From Camana we got another private car(mostly because we arrived late) to Arequipa where the trip started.

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Cotahuasi River Video Documentary by Christian Polar

There are multiple sections of the river one may chose to run depending on time and ability. The fact that a paved road follows the majority of the river allows for easy access and unlimited bail out opportunities. In the Canyon Del Pato 100 km below Huaraz the water is taken out of the river for a hydroelectric project. This 10 km dewatered stretch is a mandatory portage.

The town of Huraz lies at 3000 meters. From this point one can put on at just about any point along the river’s descent to the Pacific Ocean. A description of the length and gradient (highlighted in green) of each section follows:

To airport at Anta 25 km to 2791 meters 9 m/km

Anta to Carahuasi 10 km 2600 meters 18 m/km

Carahuasi to Mancos 15 km 2450 meters 10 m/km

Mancos to Caras 20 km 2200 meters 12.5 m/km

Caras to Sucre 16 km 2000 meters 12.5 m/km

Sucre to Bocatoma (exit pipes) 15 km 1850 10 m/km

Canyon Del Pato 10 km 1200 meters Portage 65 m/km

to Rio Tablachaca 65 km 500 meters 11 m/km

to Pan American Highway 65 km 15 meters 8 m/km

Usefuls maps:

Santa 20-H, 19-H, 18-H, 18-G, 18-F

The Cañete Rivers offers boating for both novices and experts alike. With year round flows and it’s proximity to Lima it has become one of the country’s commercial rafting centers and has been the training ground for most of Peru’s kayakers and rafters.

Buried in one of the Upper Cañete’s rapids

Flows in the rainy season can be several hundred cubic meters per second (> 5000 CFS) and in the middle of the dry season a paltry 5 CMS (150 CFS).

The whole river corridor is paralleled by a road, which at the time of this writing (1997) is paved up to Pacaran. Kilometer signs indicate the distance from the Pan American Highway and are sometimes (but not always) visible from the river.

Small falls on Upper section

Commercial rafting and the bulk of the day runs are centered around the town of Lunahuana at KM 34. The various sections of river are as follows:

Lunahuana to Paullo Class 3 day run from KM 34 to 27
Catapalla to Lunahuana Class 3 day run from KM 39 to 34
Pacaran to Catapalla Class 3-4 (5) day run from KM 55 to 39
Catahausi to Pacaran Class 4-5 day run from KM 82 to 55
Magdelena to Catahuasi Class 5-5+  four-day run from KM 127.5 to 82

Only the upper stretch from Magdelena Del Rio to Catahuasi is described in any detail. There is a small window to run this section of the river Late March/April at the end of rainy season. The radical stretch at KM 87.5 is not runnable at this time but becomes a great steep creek run at lower flows in July. The river contains an abundance of Class five whitewater in a beautiful semi-open canyon. Long stretches of radical whitewater are followed by calm stretches. Water is cold from Andean snowmelt with warm days and cool nights.

Getting dropped from bus near Magdelena in 1997

There are no hotels on the trip. There is a hostal in Pacaran that costs 10 soles per person and some restaurants. While in Pacaran ask around for the local distillery of Pisco. The owner will give you a free tour and as much Pisco as you can handle. From Lima a bus or car needs to be taken South on the Pan American highway for approx 100 KM to the mouth of the Cañete river valley. The road then climbs the river valley for 128 KM. The bus destination is Yauyos. There are two companies that travel Lima-Yauyos, “Expresso Yauyos” and “Empressa san Juan de Yauyos”. The price is approx. 10 soles with an additional 5 for kayaks, which can be strapped onto the roof rack. The put for the upper stretch is at KM 128 in the village of “Magdelena Del Rio” which is 128 KM upriver from the ocean. This is the point where the road no longer parallels the river. The bus climbs away from the river to the town of Yauyos one thousand meters above the river so it is important to get off here, as it is the last possible place. Much of the river can be viewed on the drive up and at any point you can get off when you decide you have seen enough. Travel time is 11 hours from Lima in bus. The takeout is in Pacaran at KM 55, which lies at 1650′ of elevation. From here a micro can be taken to Imperial for 5 soles and then a bus to Lima for 6 soles. An alternative is to continue downstream on the class three section to LunaHuana at KM34.

Old lady in doorway of where we stayed Magdelena 1997

On our first descent in March 1997 (high water El niño year!!!)  we had an estimated flow of 1200 CFS. A summary of the trip is as follows:

Day 1 Magdalena (6720 feet above sea level) KM 127.5 to KM 120 (6040 feet elevation) 620 feet drop in 7.5 km or 132 feet per mile average. One radical 5+ rapid at KM 120

Day 2 KM 120 (6040 feet elevation) to KM 111 (5320 feet elevation) 820 feet in 9 km or 24.6 m/km average or 125 FPM average with individual sections approaching 40 to 50 mpk.

Day 3 KM 111 (5320 feet elevation) to KM 103 (4640 feet elevation) 980 feet in 7 km (52 m/km) or 260 FPM average gradient. This stretch is basically one continuous class 5 rapid we called Santa Rosa. There is heinous rapid just below a bridge called Puente Colonia that should be portaged.

Day 4 KM 103 (4640 feet elevation) to KM 86 (3600 feet elevation) 1040 feet in 17 km (18.5 m/km) or 92 FPM average gradient. The morning starts out with mellow flatwater paddling then explodes into a class 5 fury for remainder of day. At KM 87.5 it becomes ultra wild with 400 FPM gradient. We portaged 500 meters of this section along the road then put back and ferried across river to make camp.

Day 5 KM 86 (3600 feet elevation) to KM 55 (1650 feet elevation) 1950 feet in 31.5 km (20 m/km) or 100 FPM average gradient. The stretch just above and below the bridge at KM 85 is pretty robust. After passing a village the river mellows out but soon leads into another class 5 rapid. Below this and to the town of Catahuasi it is very mellow water. At Catahuasi the river drops a few hundred feet in an explosive 1 km stretch. Below town of Catahuasi a stream enters on the left. From here to Pacaran it is a marathon 4-hour paddle session through one class 5 canyon and numerous 4+ sections.

For reasons I can not grasp the river was not run until August 2007. August of 2007 was a low water month with a flow of 400-600 CFS of very cold water. I would guess that the ideal time to run the river is mid May to early July and an ideal flow would be 1200 to 1600 CFS.

The Velille can be found on the Topegraphic map labeled Cuzco at 13 degrees 56′ latitude and 71 degree 53′ longitude.

There are two distinct ways to reach the river from Cuzco. We took both so will describe each one. The first way is to leave Cuzco and travel 61 KM to Paruco (1-1/2 hours). Just before reaching the plaza veer to the right and follow the Rio Paruro to the Apurimac. (note last several km of Rio Paruro look runnable).  Cross the Puente Huarancalla and climb several hundred vertical meters until you come to a “Y” in the road. The left fork follows the Apurimac and goes to Colcha but take the right fork and start climbing towards Ccochirhuey and eventually to Acha. From Acha it is a 45 minute descent to a bridge over the Velille River called Puente Jaralacho. From Paruro to this point it is 64 km  (4-5 hours) making the overall trip from Cuzco 6-1/2 hours.  The elevation of the river here is 2860 meters above sea level and there is good camping on other side of the bridge.

Our return trip was via a different route. From the river we returned to Acha then to Pilipinto then Acos, then Acomayo, Sarasaca and finally down the Pumacanchis River to cross the Chuqicahuana Bridge over the Vilcanota. From here we  followed the paved road for 86 KM back to Cuzco. The return route took 6 hours.

On my trip Piero Velutino and myself camped with our families then in morning recrossed the river and walked up road towards Occotuna. At the first major bend in the road to the right we took a trail and began boat hiking our gear up river until we reached some flatwater among the cliffs approximately 30 minutes later. We boated back to our camp at the bridge which was 2-3 km with 50 meters of drop or roughly 20 m/km. We had 2 scouts and no portages on what felt and looked like a mini Apurimac.

We need to return and run the river from the bridge to the Apurimac which is another 12 km and 260 meters of vertical drop

Dogs going for swim Ocobamba put-in

To reach the river you can come from the Sacred Valley and town of Calca or from below from Quillabamba. KM markers along the road are measured in distance from Calca.

We ran the river on October 25, 2005. We camped the night ebfore on a beach on river right below Quebrada Honda. We reached the campsite by taking a side road towards Puente Tinchuay (km 146).

To reach the Ocobamba take out and put in continue downstream to village of Quesquento and follow a side road to a new bridge over the Yantile River. this is the takeout of the lower stretch of river.

To reach put in continue upstream until the confluence with Ocobamba and then drive up the Ocobamba valley. We were short on time and put in at town of Toldeo which is at 1000 meters elevation. the 10 km stretch of river we ran to takeout (875 meters) drop 125 meters in 10 km or averaged 12.5 m/km. It was a class 3 run with 5 km on Ocobamba that had around 600 CFS and then 5 km of bigger water boating on Yanatile with some 3000 CFS.

The road continued above Toledo to town of Ocobamba 24 km upstream at 1500 m of elevation. although I did not see this section of river I assume it was good class 4-5 boating with average of 21 m/km or 105 FPM.

Map Quebrada Honda 2445 series J631

Put in for the Lucumayo River

First drop on Lucumayo River

The easiest way to access the river is from the North via Ollantaytambo in the Sacred Valley or from the South via Quillabamba. There is regular bus service between Cuzco and Quillabamba but you will need to be paying attention so that you can jump out at the proper place to start your trip.

The road from Ollantaytambo to Abra de Malaga is paved 40 km stretch. From here the descent via switchbacks into Lucomayo drainage is unpaved and slow travel. I do not have the exact km but would guess it was approx 50 km from the pass to Inkatambo where the river was large enough to boat.

We ran the upper stretches of the river on October 26, 2005. The river had started to rise from initial rains at the beginning of the rainy season but was not “high”.

To reach the put in we stopped in the small village of Inkatambo and hiked down a trail to the river beside a church. At the river we crossed Puente Kur-Kur and put in on the opposite bank. At this point the river had a small flow of around 200 CFS (20 CUMECS). Within 100 meters a tributary entered the river and doubled the flow to 400 CFS.

The run was basically an ultra-continuous class 4+ run with volume steadily increasing as we went downstream. As the river reaches the foot bridge of Santa Rosa the action increases with some class 5 rapids. Soon after a concrete bridge called Puente Chilca Chilca the river enters a canyon with a distinct change in the character. Within the canyon it is at times impossible to scout and/or portage. A clear flowing tributary from the village of Huamanmarca enters the canyon on river right and provides an escape in case of an accident. (on our trip we had a broken kayak and this was the bail out point for one unfortunate boater).

As the canyon opens the river quickly returns to its former gravel bar character and within 2 km Puente Lauramarca comes into view. This was out takeout and was 10 KM downstream from put in. The run had taken us  2-1/2 hours. We were lucky enough to have a vehicle and a shuttle driver that drove down a secondary road and met us at the river. Puente Lauramarca is below the town of Amaybamba.

In the town of Amyaybamba is a restaurant called “El Chalan”. The owners are Betty Pinedo Giron and her husband Eliseo Sulca Becerra. Betty and Eliseo were our hosts for the evening. Not only did they serve us dinner and breakfast, but they also let us sleep on the floor of their restaurant which with the heavy rains in the evening was a welcome alternative to camping without a tent. Eliseo is the local Police officer and ran our shuttle for us. Eliseo can be reached via phone at 204086 (Ollantaytambo Comisaria) and encourages anyone visiting the area to contact him for help with logistics.

With higher flows this section would become dangerous and the section from Amaybamba down to the confluence with Urrubamba River would be become a great class 4-5 alternative.

I do not yet have a map of the river but would guess the 10 km stretch we ran dropped an average of 30 m/km or some 300 km in altitude

Click here for a topo map – URUBAMBA.PDF 1.69 MB

Topo maps are in Adobe PDF format, you will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view.
CLICK HERE to download a free copy.

The upper Mantaro is not an exciting river opportunity due to poor water quality from the numerous industrial sites and population centers.

The lower Mantaro (Pampas to Canaire 144km) is a much more viable river trip and these notes are from Richard (Harry) Pethigal who made the first descent in October 2001. Richard owns and operates a restaurant bar on the Coast of Brazil part of the year and spends the rest of the year in Peru boating and teaching paarapente.

The Mantaro was quite an amazing place with a canyon similar to Cotahuasi (3,200m) at its deepest spot but not as vertical as the Colca. The River has a big water feel (around 30,000cfs).The only drawback is the water quality which is very murky with weird chemical smells from the mines 120 km upstream. The smell lasted the first 40 kms then cleaned up with the many effluents. The gradient wasn’t much with 350m drop in first 44km, 100m in next 10km, and 450m in final 100km but with the large volume it provides for lots of big water action. The second section is the mightiest. The majority of the 100m drop seems to be concentrated in the last 5 km( a very nice section with two solid class V’s and many class IV’s). The beginning and end of the first section had box canyons with minimal escape routes.The first we portaged although it may have been runnable and this involved 1-1/2 days hiking with mules. At the second box canyon (8 km) I said goodbye to my friends since they didn’t want to go into this one either. I traded my kayak for the cataraft and took off alone. The box canyon had 100m vertical walls 20 m apart. I had to scout 4 rapids by doing technical climbs and had to run one class IV blindly. The only class V during this section I managed to eddy out right side before the exit hole (called jaws, very big) and portaged a semi-dry waterfall on the right side. After this 8 Km section the canyon opened up a bit and scouts were possible on the Rocks. Nice beaches everywhere but not too many with clean water (since you can’t even cook with the river water without filtering first).
On the fourth day after leaving the Canadians I passed the first village. 10 kms downstream I rowed around a bend in the river and startled 6 sendero soldiers on the beach. They pointed their guns nervously at me, called me over to the beach, grabbed me, and tied my hands behind my back all the while asking me how many of us there were. It took 3 hours before they believed that I was alone then they untied me and strip-searched me. After organizing my stuff we went hiking two hours into the jungle arriving at their base-camp. It had camouflaged netting, solar panels, radios, and appeared to be well equipped. I talked to their superiors who said that they were going to confiscate all my equipment and send me hiking to Canaire (next town 4 days walk through jungle). I invented that I was a journalist and that I would be willing and able to write a story about their situation. After making some radio calls they decided to let me keep my equipment (except my compass and monocular) and the next afternoon they let me go. They wrote a page for me about their current situation and let me take fotos. 3 hours later I arrived in Canaire.

There are two choices for a put-in with the first being at 1,450m elevation and the second at 1,190. The takeout is 500m at Canaire. From Canaire it is a 4hr taxi boat ride to San Francisco where you can find buses to Ayacucho (12 hour ride). The first 50 kms of the descent was arid, cactus (typical Peruvian dessert canyon), the next 35kms was a transition from desert to jungle and the last 65 kms is dense jungle mountains. Biting insects are not much of a problem with a few small biting Flies (nothing like Apurimac) during the day but nothing at night. If you take away the bad water quality and the chance of senderos stealing your navigation equipment (maybe even your boats), this would be one of the classic class IV/V canyon runs of the world. If someone is going to take her on I would recommend the second put-in because of easy access (road crosses river heading from Huancayo to Surcubamba or Huachocolpa. The first put-in is near Pampas (bus from Huancayo) and has a 5 hr mule ride into the canyon and a wicked box canyon that has yet to be run. Supposedly a Hungarian kayaker went in a few years ago and two days later came walking back after losing his boat.

It is now commercially rafted in an enjoyable 9 km, class 3-4 stretch. Trips start in Cuzco and usually encompass several days of multi-sport activities such as mountain biking, bird watching, and whitewater. If interested in commercial trip contact Pepe Lopez of Apumayou Expediciones of Cuzco http://www.apumayo.com

Trips normally start at or above the town of Patria elevation approximately 650 meters and takeout 9 or more km downstream at Pillcopata elevation 527 meters.  3 Km below town of Patria the river join the Pilcomayo then another 2 km downstream the Rio Queros enters and from this point the river is called Madre de Dios.

One can take out in Pillcopata, but if well planned, a logistically more challenging option is to continue downstream at least two more days to the Manu National park. Here one can visit the park and possibly return by small plane to Cuzco or put all gear in a pecky pecky motorized river boat and begin long trek downstream to Puerto Maldonado.

To reach put in or takeout from Cuzco take main road south towards Sicuani 15 km and turn east on gravel road for 17 km to Huancarani then another 49 km to Paucartambo. From here it is an arduous 25 km climb up to Tres Cruces which at sunrise offers spectacular colors in the sky due to refractions of light coming off the jungle canopy thousands of meters below.