PERU

ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE –NOTHING IS CERTAIN.

To make our Peru vacation short you could say "after the multiday is before the multiday". After the tenday warm-up on the Marañon in northern Peru, the real adventure began for us three paddling women (Vera Knook, Anne Stevens and me, Lena Grüb) the adventure really began.

We had set our minds to spend our paddling vacation vacation as far as possible by public transport. Roughly speaking, we covered about 6400 km in public rickshaws, cabs, minibuses and coaches to paddle the most beautiful streams of Peru. Even though the logistics were an exciting part of our trip and fortunately brought us a lot into conversations with the locals, the focus was clearly on paddling dream streams, marveling at deep canyons and sleeping under the stars.

Around Cusco we paddled with the locals various rivers of the region as well as the famous Río Apurímac. The Peruvian canyons had done it to us. We learned that two of the most impressive canyons in the world are located in southern Peru: Colca and Cotahuasi Canyon. We informed ourselves, packed up food for a week and convinced and once again convinced a bus driver, that it would be no problem to take us with kayaks, bag and baggage. Our Peruvian paddler friends were more excited about our departure than we were and were reluctant to let us go off on our own.

From the beginning the Colca Canyon was incredibly fascinating. For about 70 km and three days we saw almost no green (Atacama Desert says hello), the high rock walls rose continuously on both sides and yet the landscape was unthinkably varied.

In the deep Cotahuasi Canyon there are many smaller canyons one after the other. Especially the centimeter canyon surprised us. I stopped in the last minifutzi sweep and was glad not to have to drive the barely boat-wide slot between the undercut wall and the big siphon. After an exhausting day with many rapids and this scary spot at the end, it was time for us to set up camp.

The good thing about the arid climate is that you don't need a tarp because it doesn't rain anyway. Or as our driver said: " It didn't rain yesterday, so it won't rain today". In addition, the wood is always dry and can be easily lit with a lighter.

What is really special about Cotahuasi are the Inca ruins, terraced throughout the valley and connected by the Inca Trail.

Ancient remains can be found in countless places. Also skeleton parts, remains of bowls and old clothes lie in the canyon. So you get out not only to scout places, but also to look at these "old stones".