Come with us; Canyon Colca part 1

"At 14,339 feet deep, the gorge has been recognized as the deepest canyon on earth by both Guinness and National Geographic. Six people were on the trip, two in single, fiberglass kayaks and four in a tub-floored raft, captained by Jerzy "Yurek" Majcherczyk. It took the group five days to find sufficient water depth and over the following 11 days, it advanced only 26 miles, running what they could while portaging 21 times around Class VI rapids. On day four they lost one of the kayaks and flipped the raft, barely managing to retain their scant provisions. On the eleventh day, hungry, dead-tired and disheveled, they arrived in the oasis Indian Village of Canco, where they stayed briefly to recover before moving on to Arequipa. The sorry shape of the team and equipment by this time required 10 days of recovery before resuming their odyssey.

Seven days later, they reached the end of the canyon at Andamayo. During this final, 56-km segment they were forced to do only three portages. As original explorers, the group was able to name several places within the canyon, including the first of the largest rapids, which they named Rapidos Shippee and Johnson, to commemorate the two American pilots who first flew over the Colca Valley in 1929. The tallest waterfall near Canco was named John Paul II Falls to after the group's connections to the Polish Pope. On June 13, 1981, the group emerged from the canyon's depths, 33 days after they started.

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Travel & Events

Tags:

• Canyon
• Colca
• Yurek
• Jerzy
• Majcherczyk
• Peru