Colca Canyon Trekking Edgar — Local services in Arequipa

READ BEFORE YOU BOOK. I shopped around a lot and chose Edgar’s tour very carefully after reading the reviews. However, unfortunately, my experience was terrible.

I was picked up at 2:45am by a guide who introduced himself as Edgar. There were only 8 people in our group which made for a comfortable journey to the canyon and after the initial introductions we got to know each other. After breakfast, however, I was told that the group will continue onto their 2-day trek and I’ll be left to join another group as I was only doing the day tour. So at 9am we parted ways and I was added to a group which was returning from their 2-day trek. It turned out their guide was the real Edgar and the first one had lied to me and his name was something else. How dodgy is this and what’s the purpose of lying? The group I joined already knew each other and most were looking to sleep on their journey back while I was excited about my first day at the canyon, which felt like it ended as soon as it had started. To make matters worse, another girl from the second group had just decided she could move my stuff and take my seat. So I was tossed around like a ball from one group to another, from one seat to another, not knowing anyone on the new group and feeling isolated. It felt like I was just filling in an empty seat. The surroundings were beautiful but I didn’t enjoy myself and had an uncomfortable journey back, having to take the last available seat no one wanted when in fact I was the first one picked up at 2:45am. I tried to speak to Edgar directly but he showed absolutely no interest. This entire day was wrong on all levels. They only care about their profit and not about your experience. I spoke to another girl from one of the other vans whose guide was Peter and her experience had been exactly the same. Mini vans felt like collectivos passing passengers around with the sole intention of maximising their profit. Combining one-day tours with 3-day tours is a terrible idea. Having joined this group on their last day, I also didn’t get any information from Edgar about the places we stopped at. I do not recommend this agency if you don’t want to experience the same. Ask agencies who the guides are as they seem to be the same people regardless of what agency you paid.

Further issues arose when a time and place were set after one of the stops but then changed with no notice. We were the last group to depart the thermal springs with a 25-min delay so by the time we got to the restaurant for lunch, most food was gone. I personally asked Edgar how much the lunch was the day before and he said 40 soles. When we got to the restaurant they said it was 45 soles. Shameless and desperate money grab is what it was! Do not book with...

Would highly recommend - Edgar is amazing!

We did the 3-day Colca Canyon trek with Edgar. Before departure, the communication via Whatsapp was already good and fast. His English is excellent and he's really friendly! During the trek, he really paced the hike to our needs (which meant taking plenty breaks).

He is also very knowledgeable about the area, local history, and people living there (or the people who used to live there). He also helped me scout for birds as I'm a birdwatcher for a hobby. And the 3-day option enabled us to enjoy the scenery at a leasurely pace, and enjoy the pool fully on the second day (with the 2-day option you arrive when the sun is allready gone which makes the temperature drop).

The accommodations he works with were great, and the food was amazing and plentiful.

He also proudly talked about the guinea-pig farm of his parents. Eating guinea-pig's at special occasions is part of Peruvian (Andean) culture. So the day after the trek, Edgar invited us to come visit his families farm. We got to meet his lovely family and look around (and help on) the farm. It was an awesome experience to see more of the local Peruvian culture. He's planning on also providing tours to this farm, and I would highly recommend it. So far, it's been the best day of our trip through Peru!! Mainly because they were so welcoming and proud to show us the farm they worked so hard...

We had an amazing time trekking Colca Canyon 2D/1N with Edgar! Getting in touch with him through WhatsApp was easy, his English is excellent and he sorted out all the details, including arranging our onward trip to Puno after the trek.

We started off with a shared transfer to Cabanaconde with a few stops along the way to have breakfast, take some nice pictures and see Andean Condors, but the trek itself was just us and Edgar. Edgar suggested us to do the trek in a different order than the other groups, which turned out to be a great call. We had lunch at the Oasis, where we also got some time to enjoy a swimming pool - since we were doing the trek the other way around this meant we had the place basically to ourselves.

After the lunch and swim break we continued to San Juan, where we also stayed overnight. The accommodation Edgar chose for us was very comfortable, a real treat after the day's trek. Edgar also arranged all the food throughout the trek, taking special care to accommodate our dietary preferences. All the food was delicious and plentiful.

All in all, we highly recommend going with Edgar as your guide. The private and flexible experience he offers is something special. He not only shared many interesting insights along the way but also took care of everything smoothly. Plus, he's a genuinely warm and friendly person, which made trekking Colca Canyon all the...