4DAYS HORSEBACK RIDING TOUR
  (Arequipa & Colca Valley)

Overview

Arequipa is a beautiful city founded in 1540 on a place specially chosen for their natural beauty and warm weather, this beautiful city is located at 2350m at the foot of Misti, a gigantic conical volcano with 5825m. Arequipa is known as the white City, full of fine colonial buildings and has stunning natural landscapes, its countryside is a spectacle of green color: which falls in love with its natural light, its traditional towns, and terraces of bright colors, which contrast perfectly with the beautiful mountains.

On the other hand The Colca Valley offers a dazzling nature, a living culture and delicious cuisine, it is a magical place where we can enjoy both experiential tourism and adventure sports. This valley has a great diversity of flora and fauna, where the Andean Condor stands out, its terraces represent one of the most impressive cultural landscapes on the continent, and It has an enormous natural and cultural heritage, clearly highlighting the survival of two fundamental Ethnic groups: Collaguas and Cabanas.

USEFUL INFORMATION
Duration: Four Days
Starting Point: Hotel - Arequipa
Final point: Hotel - Arequipa
Destination: Arequipa - Colca Valey & Cayon
Theme: Horseback Riding Nature & Cultural
Length: 10.5 Km /6.5 miles
Riding Grade: Moderate
Group size: Min 2 / Max 6
Patapampa Highest point: 4910 meters /16.203 feet
Availability: All Year
Physical rating: Good
Weight Limit: 95 kg - 209 pounds

ITINERARY

Day 1
AREQUIPA - COUNTRYSITE - PAUCARPATA - YUMINA

7:30am or 11:30 am according your request, we pick-up from your Hotel then we transfer you to the ranch situated at "Campiña Arequipeña" (2500meters/ 8250 feet)  the area for riding is located on southeast of Arequipa City, this place offer great preserved terraces for agriculture activities of local people, there we will meet the horses and the Chalan, he will give us a safety briefing about ride instructions and explanation about how to get confidence with our horses, the path to ride will have some flat sections also uphill and downhill between pre-Inca terraces and few local houses, this riding tour also includes nice volcanic landscape scenery, small rivers, and friendly people working their fields, for people having experience can gallop on the flat areas but under permission of the Chalan only, otherwise will be not possible even if you are an experienced rider or horse breeder, the timing for riding will depends on your reservation after we enjoy this exiting ride we return to the hotel in the city - end of service.

Day 2
AREQUIPA - NATIONAL RESERVE (Salinas Y Aguada Blanca) - MIRADOR DE LOS ANDES 4910M - CHIVAY TOWN

7:00am We pick you up from your hotel, bus station or airport and then we begin our journey to the Colca Valley following the road that goes to the traditional Yura village, we also pass near to Quiscos valley and after 2:00hrs of travel we enter to Salinas and Aguada Blanca National Reserve, here we stop to enjoy the beautiful landscape, take pictures and know the life and behavior of the South American camels in this part of the Andes over 4000m (13.200feet) (llamas, alpacas vicuñas and guanacos) also to enjoy a delicious Inca mate, which is going to help you mitigate the symptoms of altitude sickness, and of course to buy some souvenirs made with alpaca wool then we continue to the wetlands where we can observe other wildlife species such as birds, rabbits and maybe Andean foxes later we get to PATAPAMPA at 4910m a natural viewpoint, the highest place of the entire route and where we can observe, beautiful the Mismi volcano origin of the Amazon River also the amazing Ampato volcano for having preserved the mummified body of the Inca Princess Juanita sacrificed more than 5 centuries ago as well as the second most active volcano of Peru Sabancaya giving a nice show for the visitors. after a long journey we will arrive to Chivay town (3651m) considered as the largest and most important of all Colca Canyon here we have time to enjoy the lunch with a wide variety of typical food then transfer to the village where your hotel is then we go to the ranch to meet and learn all about our horses that we will be riding. We will learn how to communicate with our mounts horsemanship techniques similar to those used by the famous horse whisperer and you will practice with the horses. This day we have a short ride in the afternoon and after it if the time permits we visit the hot spring then we enjoy a traditional dinner and we talk about the activity to the next day with our tour guide.

Patapampa Highest point: 4910 meters /16.203 feet
Yanque height: 3550 meters - 11715 feet
Accommodation: Hotel - Yanque village
Meals: Lunch, Dinner snacks
Riding length: 18 km / 11.25 miles
Riding Time: 3 – 3.5 hours

DAY 3
YANQUE - ICHUPAMPA - LARI - PINCHOLLO

7:00 am we have breakfast at the hotel then we go to the ranch to start this exiting ride, today we go on a long ride through the Colca valley on our friendly horses as well as with the Chalan and the Tour Guide we enjoy the scenery of the valley of fire its spectacular Chila Volcanic Range and its beautiful Mountais, pre-Inca terraces, colonial churches, pre Incas ruins, the Atun mayu, (colca river) villages (Ichupampa and Lari ) among others, all this on the right bank of the valley, the trail is mostly even with some uphill and downhill sections.

At around 12:00 pm after 4 hours of riding we arrive to Lari, where we will have an stop to rest and to get our snacks - box lunch later on we continue riding between the terraces, going down to the bottom of the Colca River to crossing it through a bridge and get the left side of the valley, then we ride uphill up to Pinchollo village (3400meters) where will stay in a basic accommodation, but in a nice green area surrounded by Dinner will be served around 7:00pm

Paso Lari : 3800 meters /12.540 feet
Pinchollo height: 3550 meters - 11715 feet
Accommodation: Home stay family Pinchollo village
Meals: breakfast, box lunch, dinner snacks
Riding length: 39 km / 24.37 miles
Riding Time: 5-6 hours

DAY 4

PINCHOLLO - CONDOR CROSS LOOKOUT - CHIVAY - AREQUIPA

7:00am breakfast is served and after that we do the last part of this beautiful ride, we pick the horses up, then we go for 2 hours to the principal lookout point named Condor Cross (3600m), at this place we appreciate and observe the fly of king of the Andes, the Condor which sometimes is seating on the big rocks on the cliffs, we will be here for more than an hour looking the biggest flying bird in the world, also it is possible to see many villages at the deep part of the Colca canyon.
At this place it is time to say Thanks and good Bye to the Chalan and horses, they will go back home, then we have to return to Chivay, doing some tourist stops along the way, to visit a handicraft market, a local church, thermal baths to relax the muscles etc. later on, we have a delicious lunch in Chivay town, and after that we take our way back to Arequipa 3 hours later we will arrive to your hotel. End the service.

Condor cross: 3785 meters /12.490 feet
Meals: breakfast, buffet lunch, snacks
Riding length: 11 km / 6.87miles
Riding Time: 2 hours
thermal bath: Yanque Village

Horseback Riding tour Includes

· English-Speaking tour guide
· Private van (according your request)Superior Service
· Tourist transportation Standart Service
· Second night in a hotel Yanque and the third night you will stay in a homestay in Pinchollo
· Entrance to the Colca canyon
· Entrance to hot spring
· Meals ( 2 breakfast - 2 cold lunches - 2 dinners)
· 3 1/2 hours horseback riding on the first day
· 3 hours horseback riding on the second day
· 5 - 6 hours horseback riding on the third day
· 2 hour on the four day
· Peruvian Paso and Criollos horses
· Saddles, helmet, chaps
· Chalan to help you with horses
· All food and accommodation for our camp staff
· Food and place to stay for the horses
· Camping gear (Four season tents & mattresses) only if you like camping on the third night (Private Service only)
· Oxygen bottle and first aid kit for participants and our camp staff 

Excluded

X Travel and accident insurance
X Alcoholic and soda drinks
X Breakfast and lunch on the first day
X Tips for guide and camp staff

What You Need To Bring/Carry

· Day backpack if you take private service, you can put your staff in the vehicle
· Rain jacket or poncho (December - April)
· Strong comfortable and waterproof footwear (December - April)
· One complete change of clothing
· Sweater and jacket (something warm)
· Bottle of water and purification tablets (Microspore are recommended and can be bought in local pharmacies in Arequipa)
· Flashlight and batteries
· Hat or cap to protect you from the sun
· Sun block (sun protection cream)
· Selection of small snacks, chocolate, dried fruit, biscuits, etc.
· Camera, plenty of film and spare batteries
· Sunglasses
· Extra money (soles) for tipping or to buy some souvenirs

NOTE

· THE SUPERIOR SERVICE is Private and the tour will be exclusive
· THE STANDARD SERVICE shares a group with other participants
· The times quoted in this itinerary are approximate
· You will receive a basic course to ride Paso horses in the safety of our corral (beginners)
· We strongly recommend taking the private VIP service and you will receive the supporting of the vehicle in case you don't want to ride any more
· Private VIP service is recommended because the program on the Second and last day will be more flexible according your request
· STANDART SERVICE - BACKPACKER SERVICE join a group of tourist, you will have limits to stop or to fellow your request
· To participate on this tour we suggest to have experience on long rides (5-6 hours)
· The horses are great and well cared,they are very quiet, peaceful and friendly animals.
· The price of the excursion does not include cost for transfer through PAYPAL

WEIGHT LIMITATION FOR RIDING

According the weight of our Peruvian Criollo horses the maximum weight they can carry is between 25% and 28% of their weight (400/540 kilogram or 882/992 Lbs) - So, the limit of weight will be 95 kilograms (210 pounds) as maximum weight for each participant - We recommend avoid to bring additional weight as big backpacks or other heavy things on this trip.