Arequipa

Today our destination is Chachani mountain a huge volcanic complex situated 55 km northwest of Arequipa city, it is made up of 4 peaks and the summit reaches 6075 meters. This exiting expedition starts almost everyday at 00:00 hours (midnight) picking you up from your hotel to go towards northwest and take the Cabrerías unpaved rood, this journey takes almost 3 hours ascending gradually along a winding terrain that takes us through the most important National Reserve named "Salinas and Aguada Blanca” around 3:00 am we reach the starting point commonly known as el Collado (5000 m / 16,500 ft). Once we get there it is time to prepare ourselves and if the season requires carrying any equipment like: ice axe, crampons, among others we will provide you, put them in your bag then our mountain tour guide will give to everyone some instructions to have a good performance to avoid any inconvenience during the climb but before we leave we have to enjoy a mountain breakfast including coca tea.

Salinas y Aguada Blanca National Reserve

The beginning of the hike seems to be very easy since it is not steep at all, but take it easy it is just the beginning we will be hiking over 5000 m on a volcanic terrain, which presents certain obstacles along the way, let’s let the mountain tour guide set the best pace to progress effectively and maintain an adequate heart rate. Chachani has a very special volcanic environment surrounded by endemic vegetation, trails covered with ash, sand and huge volcanic rocks product of several eruptive events from thousands and millions years in the past. This first part takes about 3.5 km (1.5 - 2 hours) to get the fox camp, where we take a good break to rest, rehydrate and enjoy everything that surrounds us, It is inevitable to look for Chachani summit observing its huge picks, do not worry you will see it later, the darkness show us an amazing sky and most of the climbers realize that they are in a privileged place where the view of the Milky Way and the constellations is truly surprising.