WAQRAPUKARA

The archaeological site of Waqrapukara is an Inca fortress located on top of a mountain south of Cusco. Its name comes from a Quechua word that means ‘Horn-shaped fortress’ as this construction is between two rock formations in the shape of horns. Its walls, terraces, temples and enclosures are made on the basis of structures from the Canchis culture, which inhabited this area of ​​Cusco until the Incas conquered it and built their buildings. In 2017, Waqrapukara was declared by the Government of Peru as ‘Cultural Heritage of the Nation’.

Itinerary

The meeting point is at the Plaza de Armas or at your hotel between 4:30 am and 5:00 am.

We will travel to our breakfast stop in the town of Cusipata at around 6:30 am, then we will take a detour via Chuquicahuana to Pomacanchis where we can see the town’s lagoon. From here we will take the route uphill passing through the Abra de ”QuelwaQocha” at 4350 m.a.s.l. and then begin a descent passing through the village parallel to the canyon of ”Apurimac” to reach the community of Santa Lucia loacted at 3690 m.a.s.l.  This will be the starting point of our hike.

Passing through this community, we will continue the journey for another 20 minutes until we reach the path that will take us to Waqrapukara (4250 m.a.s.l.). We will begin the walk at 3950 m.a.s.l. and for the next hour (2km) we we will pass beautiful landscape made up of flora and fauna typical to the area to reach our destination Waqrapukara. Here we will have a guided tour, exploring the most important places of this archaeological site, visiting Intipunku (Puerta del Sol), the main square, towers, andenería, enclosure of Viracocha, Uña Waqrapukara, and Intihuatana.

After the visit to Waqrapukara we will stop for lunch which will be served in front of the archaeological site. We will then begin the hike back (2km) to the starting point  at Santa Lucia, whch will take around an hour. Our transport will be waiting for us to take us back to Cusco arriving at approximately 9pm.