The land of volcanoes and canyons

How impossible would it have been for us to be in Peru for a few weeks again and not book a short trip away? The only hard part about that decision was choosing where to go! Since we had already been to Cusco and Machu Picchu our next top choices were Arequipa or the jungle. This time Arequipa and the Colca canyon won but we still plan on going to the jungle sometime.

Arequipa is the second largest city in Peru after Lima with a population of about 1 million people. In the heart of the Peruvian Andes, Arequipa is ~2400 m above sea level and lies at the feet of three majestic volcanoes: the mighty Misti, the snow-capped Chachani, and the serrated PichuPichu. The historic city centre was largely built using sillar or ashlar, a white volcanic rock, earning it the nickname of ‘the white city’. The rich mix of indigenous and colonial Spanish cultures, building techniques and characteristics of the historic city centre has earned Arequipa status as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Around the Plaza de Armas at sunset

Arequipa Cathedral at Plaza de Armas

...and at sunset

We arrived in Arequipa to a beautiful clear sunny day early on Friday morning and got started with exploring straight away! Our first tour was an open-top bus tour of some sights in the countryside and on the outskirts of the city. We visited a beautiful old mill in the countryside which is still functional and uses hydro-energy to power the mill for grinding corn to flour, the Mansion de Fundador dating from the beginning of the Spanish occupation, and viewpoints with awesome unobstructed views of the 3 volcanoes.

The mighty Misti volcano

Amazing views of Chachani on the left and Misti on the right

Up close with a friendly alpaca

The second tour for the day was a walking tour of the historical city centre. Our local guide was very knowledgeable and took us around the local fresh produce market, the Jesuit church, down interesting streets we wouldn’t have discovered on our own, and to the Santa Catalina Convent. Founded in 1580, the Monasterio de Santa Catalina covers a whole block and is like a self-contained city. It is obligatory to take a guided tour and just as well since it is easy to get lost in the narrow winding streets. We really enjoyed visiting the convent, the colourful narrow streets and the architecture. It’s a pity we were on the last tour of the day though; our tour guide was clearly trying to get us out in record time which was a real shame.

Monasterio Santa Catalina

Streets of Arequipa

...at sunset

There wasn’t much time for lunch inbetween our tours so we were quite ravenous by dinner time, the perfect reason to try out a popular local Peruvian restaurant. We really enjoyed our dinner at Zingaro in its sillar building with typical arched ceiling. Justin tried the traditional spicy stuffed peppers called ‘rocoto relleno’ followed by the alpaca stroganoff while Bron had the mint and bacon stuffed trout with a berry sauce, yummy! We were looking forward to tasting more of the local cuisine over the next few days.

Our two-day Colca Canyon tour started early on Saturday morning when we were collected by our lovely guide Mari Luz and confident driver Francisco. The route to our destination of Chivay was very scenic and interesting with constantly changing landscapes all the way. We found Arequipa to be a very dry city, a theme which continued to Chivay. This is surprising since the province of Arequipa is an important agricultural area in Peru. There were many stops on the way to Chivay to appreciate the desolate landscape dotted with volcanoes, to admire the herds of vicuñas, llamas and alpacas, and to try coca tea mixed with other (legal) local herbs. The highest point reached on the journey was 4910 m above sea level while the volcanoes towered above at more than 6000 m.

Scenery on the way to Chivay. Just for you Bren: a cement factory! 

Curiously the same company also makes dairy products...

Vicuña crossing

The mighty Misti with a fresh spring in the foreground

Gamboling vicuñas

Alpacas and llamas at a spring

Tony and one of his alpacas

Watch our for alpacas crossing the road! 

Interesting vegetation at + 4000 m

At the coca tea rest stop. Don't wander off too far, you don't want to be left behind in the middle of no where!

At the highest point for the weekend: 4910 m

A local wearing traditional dress at a viewpoint overlooking Chivay

We reached our destination of Chivay by lunch time. With a population of 5000, Chivay is the largest town in the Colca Canyon region and has managed to embrace tourism without abandoning its traditional ways. At 3650 m we could feel the effects of the altitude catching up with us, surprisingly though, we felt better than during our Cusco trip in November. After checking in at our hotel, we were shuttled to the local hot springs where we enjoyed a soak in the hot pool surrounded by steep cliffs and valleys. However, we have definitely been spoilt by our experience at the Termas Geometricas in Chile, hot springs will never be the same again! In the evening we joined the Belgian couple on our tour for dinner and some traditional music and dancing performed by enthusiastic locals. Justin was a good sport when he was called upon to join the fun donning a traditional skirt, hat and cape and twirling the impossibly short dancer around.

Justin being a good sport at the traditional dance evening 

Sunday saw an even earlier start with a 06:00 pick up time. Today was the day for Condor gazing! But first: a terribly bumpy ride down into the canyon with visions of the mini-van plummeting over the precipice at any moment. At its deepest point Colca Canyon is 4160 m deep, twice as deep as the Grand Canyon in the US and one of the deepest canyons in the world. We stopped at many viewpoints along the way to Cruz del Condor to admire the canyon with its hundreds of agricultural terraces. We were in awe of the beauty of the canyon and the ability of the people tame this wild landscape enough for farming.

Panoramic view of the Colca Canyon

Boibs at Colca

There were plenty of the long fingers-in-the-air cactuses around Colca

Cruz del Condor, Condor Cross, is a popular tourist destination for viewing the majestic Andean Condors. At 1-1.3 m in length and with a wingspan of 3 m, the Andean Condor is the largest flying land bird and one of the largest birds in the world. Weighing between 11 and 15 kg, these mighty birds prefer to live where they can make use of air currents to glide with ease. Young birds up to 9 years of age have brown feathers whereas adults have black plumage with a distinctive white collar and a white stripe on the wings. Females are smaller and males have a crest of skin on the head. Condors have become endangered due to hunting and decreasing habitat and have come under conservation efforts, however, these are slow since the birds take 9 years to mature, breed only once every few years, and only raise one chick at a time.

Around 500 Condors live in the Colca Canyon and we were privileged to see a handful using the thermal currents to fly. We saw both young and adult birds flying in the canyon, however none were circling really high above. They were a pleasure to watch though; they appear to glide so effortlessly. Two of the younger birds landed on a rock really close to the view point, we were really fortunate to see them so close up and watch them being affectionate for a while.

The canyon at Cruz del Condor

Looking down the canyon to the river Colca

Condors coming in to land

Young condors resting and being affectionate 

Our lovely guide Mari Luz tempting us with a tart cactus pear on the way back to Chivay

(yes, a cactus pear is different to a prickly pear)

On the drive back to Arequipa

From Cruz del Condor, we made our way back to Chivay on the same rocky road. After lunch it was time for the long drive back to Arequipa. After a morning of bumpy and winding roads, Bron was not a happy camper and threatening a bout of motion sickness but fortunately made it back to Arequipa with no incidents. After a full weekend a relaxed evening was in order.

Unfortunately, the altitude had taken its toll and while Justin was fortunately unaffected, Bron came down with an unpleasant stomach bug on Sunday night. This ruled her out from the planned Monday activities of river rafting on Rio Chili. It was a slow recovery day for her at the hotel while Justin had a really enjoyable river rafting trip. By Tuesday she was feeling better and ready to make the most of the last few hours in Arequipa before heading back to Lima. Thank you amazing husband for looking after me and fetching supplies!

For our last morning we had planned to visit the Museo Santuarios, home to Jaunita the ice maiden. Discovered in 1995 on Mount Ampato by anthropologist Johan Reinhardt, Juanita was a 12 year old girl sacrificed by the Inca high priests 550 years ago. Considered one of the world’s best well-preserved mummies, Juanita has provided amazing insight into the Inca culture thought to be long lost. Our visit started with a movie describing Juanita’s discovery and some thoughts on the moment of her death. Juanita herself is on display in a glass freezer as is the blanket she was found wrapped in and many of the items found buried with her, offerings to the gods and things she would need in the afterlife. Also on display is information and artefacts of other sacrificed children found since the discovery of Juanita. Chosen at birth from noble families and raised apart as special, it was an honour for their families, and these children believed they were going to join the gods. Contemplating the idea of human sacrifices aside, the visit to this museum was very interesting and definitely worth it if you are in the area.

The final stop for this trip was Mundo Alpaca or Alpaca World. From live animals to the finished product, Mundo Alpaca is a tribute to the wool industry of the Andes. We enjoyed the room full of vicuña, guanaco, alpaca and llama pre-processed wool, the exhibit of traditional weaving, and the museum of wool machinery from the initial sorter to the loom. If you are a knitter you will love the wholesale wool warehouse. Every colour imagineable available in those big old school wool skeins, too awesome! Unfortunately Bron was limited by weight and had a hard time choosing only a few standard balls of baby alpaca wool. New to knitting, it’s probably a good idea if she gets some practice in first. This store is a must for knitters and wool lovers!

After lunch it was time to head to the airport and make our way back to Lima =( Long weekends go by way too quick no matter how long they are!

We had a really great weekend away and thoroughly enjoyed our time in Arequipa and the Colca Canyon. A big thank you to Mari Luz and Francisco from Colonial Tours and everyone on our tour, we had such a nice group of people for the two-day trip and it really made the difference. Also, thank you to Maurice from www.cuscoperu.nl for arranging everything for our custom-built tour. We highly recommend him if you are planning a trip to Peru!

Until next time

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