The Great Urubamba River in Peru
Is a partially navigable tributary of the Amazon River. It rises in the Andes to the southeast of Cusco, near the border of the Puno region, in a place called c”, which at 4338 meters, it lies between the snowcapped Chimboya that rises to 5489 meters and the Mosaya snow peak, at 5400 meters. Here, at its origin, it is called the sacred Vilcanota River. Another main source of water for this sacred river is the snowcapped mountain Ausangate that rises to 6384 meters. As it flows in the Sacred Valley between Pisac and Ollantaytambo the river is called the Willcamayu or “Sacred River of the Incas”. It flows north-northeast for about 724 kilometers before joining the great Apurimac River to form the Ucayali River. Together they join the Marañon River and the Napo River to form the Great Amazon River near Iquitos in the north part of Perú.
DAY 1 – Vilcanota River:Cusipata Section
We drive south from Cusco or sacred valley, through farmland and valleys for about two and a half hours until we arrive at the small village of LLaucat, to begin our rafting trip. After the safety instructions and the gear preparation, we put-in and paddle for about two and half hours in class II and III+ rapids. We will run first the long rapid class III then we will continue with the tail of the dragon another class III+ then we will run popcorn rapid a class III+ then we will float for a while in class I;II rapids with incre3dible scenery of the vilcanota mountain range. With great variety of flora and fauna such a Andean gull, black phoebes and giants hummingbirds.as well we will be paddling in grass land and Andean scrub bush vegetation with tress like pepper corn and tanning.as well chachacomos and queñas which is part of our native forest “the Introduction” rapid, which is class III. From there we go through a section of class II rapids until we reach Cusipata Canyon, which has class III rapids.
We continue through sections with some waves and some flat sections of class I and class II rapids, then more class II rapids. All along, we will be enjoying beautiful views of the Vilcanota Mountain range and the flora and fauna of the Andean forest. We cover a distance of 18 kilometers on the river before we take-out at a beautiful spot, change into dry clothes, and have lunch. Our drive back to sacred valley or Cusco is about two hours and a half
Difficulty: Good for beginners and first timers.
Included:
We Provide and Include: Itinerary transport round trip from Cusco-Licensed,C;P;R,SWISS WATER RESCUE COURSES Bilingual, history and naturalist Tour Guides-All Itinerary Meals, including vegetarian & snacks, Safety orientation and River Equipment , optional activities-First Aid kit and Oxygen-Tour specific,-Dining tent, Cook & Services. Emergency phone, Safety Kayak. Portable toilet. Pictures and video optional
