Cotahuasi

View from the plane looking down on the Andes

The deepest Part of the Canyon

Looking down on the town of Cotahusi and the Cotahusi River

We have completed the Cotahusi canyon. The deepest Canyon in the Americas. It proved to be well worth the effort of traveling for several days nonstop. Highlights included mega ruins, endless sick rapids and massive canyon walls. It took us 3 days and our final push to the city of Iquipe yesterday was huge. We are all ok. Both Alexs suffered major stomach illness on seperate days in the canyon. Mike has hurt his wrist and John has been cruising along. This trip usually takes about five days but we boogied so that we will be better able to complete Colca canyon next in a timely fashion. The biting flies were horrendous and we all look like we are suffering from some sort of chicken pox plague. The rapids and canyons were outstanding including many sections of great continous rapids in an inexcapable Incan paradise. We stopped at a village that you can only access by mule and purchesed 2 liters of locally made wine and the 3 biggest avocados any of us had ever seen. The camping was all among terraced ruins of the Incan and pre Incan civilization as the Cotahuasi was the major trail between Cuzco and the ocean for the Incas. Our final day on the river we guess we paddled 15 miles of class four and five boulder pile rapids followed by 20 plus miles of class two and three. It was a non-stop day paddling from 7am to 6pm and we finished our trip hitchhiking into town exhausted. Our whole trip we have been able to arrange private transportation untill today when we caught our first bus. Right now we are in an ocean side town called Camana and staying in one of the best Hotels. Mike may have to leave the expedition early due to his wrist but right now we are plotting our next mission on the Colca.

Wolfgram