Apurímac Canyon

The Apurímac cuts a canyon between Cusco and Abancay that is over three thousand metres deep in places, measured from the peaks above to the water, which puts it among the deepest gorges in the Americas depending on where you take the measurement. Apu rimac means the great speaker or the oracle, and the river is heard long before it is seen. The Cusco to Abancay highway crosses it at Puente Cunyac, dropping through cactus and dry forest to river level and climbing out again on the far side, and that descent is what most travellers experience. Rafting is the other use: the upper Apurímac has some of the best-known whitewater in South America, run as three or four day trips from Cusco through remote gorge with condors overhead, on rapids that are serious and have caused deaths. The river is one of the accepted hydrological sources of the Amazon.

What you actually see

• The gorge - over three thousand metres deep from rim to river in places.
• The crossing - the Cusco to Abancay road descending and climbing out at Cunyac.
• The whitewater - multi-day rafting trips through a remote inner canyon.
• The name - Apu rimac, the great speaker, from the noise of the river.

When to go

May to September is the rafting season; the river is dangerous at high water. The road crossing is passable year-round. A day to see it, three or four for a rafting trip.

Honest expectations

The rafting is genuinely serious whitewater with a fatality record - use established operators and be honest about your experience. The canyon floor is hot and dry with strong sun. The road descent is long and hard on vehicles.

Nearby

Curahuasi and Choquequirao are west; Cusco is east.