Titankayocc Puya Forest

Titankayocc holds what is generally described as the largest concentration of Puya raimondii in the world - estimates run to around two hundred thousand plants spread across the slopes above Vischongo between roughly 3,800 and 4,200 metres, a density that turns a hillside into something like a forest of spiny rosettes. Puya raimondii is the largest bromeliad on earth, spends most of a century as a ground-level rosette, then sends up a flower spike of eight to twelve metres carrying thousands of blooms, sets seed and dies. In a stand this size there are always some in flower, mostly between April and July, and the hillside carries scattered spikes standing above the rosettes. Titanka is the Quechua name for the plant. The site is reached from Vischongo, which is also the access point for the Inca complex at Vilcashuamán and the baths at Intihuatana, and it is normally visited on the same trip.

What you actually see

• The stand - around two hundred thousand plants, the largest known anywhere.
• The spikes - eight to twelve metres tall, several thousand flowers each.
• The one-time bloom - a plant flowers once near the end of a century of life, then dies.
• The slopes - rosettes covering hillsides between about 3,800 and 4,200 metres.

When to go

May to September for access; flowering spikes are most numerous between April and July. Half a day, usually combined with Vilcashuamán.

Honest expectations

Rough road and a rough track to the stand. Between 3,800 and 4,200 metres with no shade or shelter. The plants are spined and dense; walking among them is awkward and damages seedlings. Numbers of flowering spikes vary year to year.

Nearby

Vilcashuamán and Intihuatana are close; Ayacucho is north.