Colca Canyon is the second largest canyon in the world. Its walls rise to more than 4,200 meters above the river level, which means it is twice as high as the famous Grand Canyon in the USA. Colca Canyon is 120 km long and the difference in levels between its opposing ends is over 2000 m. Its name derives from the language of the Indians living here and means rocky granaries. It refers to cavities and caves hidden in the slopes of the canyon where the Indians kept the stocks of food in the past. According to many legends, in numerous unknown cavities they hid treasures of the Incas, who thus secured their wealth against plunder by the conquistadors.
