123 Peru > Destinations > Ica > Canyon of the Lost

Lost Canyon

Ica, Peru

The Canyon of the Lost

The Cañon de los Perdidos is a tourist destination in Ica that became well known in the last 5 years and was discovered by fishermen who got lost looking for a faster way to access the sea of Ica.

This canyon was the bottom of the sea millions of years ago so you will observe rock formations made by the force of the sea, also there have been found remains of fossils of marine life that are now in several museums in Lima, one of them the Museum of Natural History in Lima.

This place is perfect because you will feel firsthand the immense and majestic that nature can be and how small we are compared to it.

How to get to the Cañón de los Perdidos in Ica?

The only way I can suggest to get to Cañon de los Perdidos is through a tour agency because the route is not very busy, desert and you have to know the way to get to the canyon or you could run the risk of getting lost in the middle of the desert, also in the desert and in the canyon itself there is no signal from any cell phone operator.

How much does the tour to the Canyon of the Lost in Ica cost?

The cost of the tour is approximately S/. 80 soles (USD 25 dollars) per person. Normally, small children who occupy seats pay 10% less.

How long does the tour of the Cañón de los Perdidos in Ica last?

The full day tour through a tour agency lasts approximately 7 to 8 hours.

Is the tour to the Canyon of the Lost in Ica suitable for children?

In my experience yes, I have visited the Cañon de los Perdidos with my 6 year old nephew and everything went well although you have to be careful with the area as it is quite rugged.

What to expect and how to prepare for the Cañón de los Perdidos in Ica?

Bring a hat or cap, the sun is quite intense.

Sunscreen to protect your skin.

Cell phone or camera, portable charger.

All-terrain shoes because to descend into the canyon you do it through steep and slippery areas and the whole area of the canyon is a bit problematic.

Bring snacks and water, because of the lack of time only at the beginning of the tour you can buy something to eat in some stores along the route. There is no lunch stop so you will have to wait for the tour to end around 4:00 or 5:00 pm.

Carry cash (Peruvian soles), preferably coins or small bills, as some stores only take cash.

Last but not least, never leave your group or your guide, we lost the group for more than 15 minutes and the truth is that in the middle of the desert and with a 6 year old child it feels like an eternity.

Los Perdidos Canyon, Ica

Interior of the Cañón de los Perdidos, Ica

Our experience in the Cañón de los Perdidos: We got lost in the Cañón de lo Perdidos

Every anecdote starts with “everything was going great until…” Well, we are already on our way back to the place where the bus was parked to go back to downtown Ica.

Kevin, my nephew, my mom and I were very happy as we had spent a day as a family, with jokes, hugs, scolding my nephew from time to time, but finally grateful for having the opportunity to travel together once again, until my mom said she wanted to pee and, to please wait for her for a minute, at that moment Kevin and I looked towards the last person we saw about 50 meters away (we were the last in line), thinking that it wouldn’t be a problem to wait for my mom and that we could catch up with them quickly, after less than a minute we all started walking together again and kept walking…

We walked and walked and didn’t catch a glimpse of anyone in the group, so at that point we were already starting to get worried and asking is this really happening?, I was constantly asking Kevin if he really did not see anyone (he was ahead of everyone), I thought he was playing a joke on me when he turned around with a scared face and told me in Spanish: “no veo a nadie” and I answered him in English: “no es momento de bromear, Kevin” , by that time it had been more than 10 minutes that we did not see anyone in the group, so I told everyone: “we better walk faster because we are losing them”.

After a couple more minutes of talking among us trying to remember the way we went down to the canyon, I decided to take out my cell phone to call the bus driver and I found to my surprise that I had no signal, Kevin also checked and he also had no signal on his cell phone and, at that moment, I really got scared for the first time after 15 minutes of being lost.

I immediately remembered (I don’t know from what source) that the only way to know where you are is to climb up high, and I told Kevin, “We have to climb towards the top because we are lost” since if we stayed down no one was going to see us because of the undulating rock formations in the canyon. My nephew immediately started crying after seeing our worried and scared faces and my mom started laughing from nerves, but at the same time comforting the child.

I took my nephew by the hand and told him “don’t worry because we are together” and we started to climb slowly and with effort over the huge rock formations while Kevin was shouting “Help” “Help” “We are here”, for several moments I felt embarrassed as Kevin was shouting too much and probably nobody heard him, but finally he made it (as he was already far ahead, while we stayed further behind) and he caught a glimpse from far away of people from the tour looking everywhere as they were looking for us. ‍

I didn’t see Kevin for a few seconds afterwards, but he appeared again with the guide and a traveler who kindly carried my nephew and took him very close to the bus. The guide explained to us that “he was already about to come down for us” hahaha that was very funny. As a sign of truce he gave my nephew some shells that he said he found in the canyon. The truth is, we were grateful because they waited for us and didn’t decide to leave. ‍

When we got on the bus, my mom and I took it as just another anecdote, because we Latin Americans almost always go through extreme things and nothing scares us anymore . But Kevin was still very scared because things like that don’t happen very often in Europe. Until now we remember it with a lot of joy and laughter. The truth I am thankful that another one was not the story because if we were not found at that moment we were going to be in the news after several helicopters were looking for us for hours and, for me, that is not the way to become famous .

Unfortunately we don’t have videos or a picture of that moment, because lost in a canyon with a child and half a bottle of water for 4 people, you don’t think about taking pictures and videos you just want to find a person or the bus. Thanks for reading this and I hope you liked our anecdote.

Los Perdidos Canyon, Ica

Cañón de los Perdidos Desert, Ica