Arequipa, Peru

“Reminds me of Europe!” That is what many people in my group said when we arrived in Arequipa. The streets are narrow and the architecture is beautiful. Arequipa is known as The White City. A lot of buildings in the town are made out of a white rock that comes from the volcanoes that surround the city. “El Misti” is the volcano that overlooks the town and we finally got a chance to see it on our last day in Arequipa!

One of the streets in Arequipa

El Misti: A Volcano

The first day that we arrived, Friday, we decided to take naps and then head out to the city. We arrived to our hostel around 9am and were let into our rooms. We had a group of 13 so we had three rooms between us. We had an 8-bed room and when we arrived there were two travelers from the night before still occupying the beds. Although we were careful to be quiet when we went into the room to take naps, one of the travelers (who we later learned were from Boston) threw what we would call a “hissy fit” when we arrived. She yelled at the man working for around 15 minutes, and the other traveler was embarrassed because of her actions. These girls did not want other people in their room which defeats the whole purpose of a hostel, especially a room that is a “dorm” room. After that issue was over, we took naps until around 11 before heading out on the town! We ventured to the town square and we greeted with an offer for a bus tour of Arequipa. This was a 4 hour tour that was listed as 45 soles each, but because we had a group of thirteen they decided that 15 soles each would be sufficient. A 4 hour bus tour for about 6 US dollars was definitely worth it!

This woman was weaving. At this same location there were mounds and mounds of Alpaca wool.

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We originally planned to take a 2-day tour of Colca Canyon, Peru’s equivalent of the Grand Canyon. We found a better deal at a travel agency in the town square for a one day tour on Sunday. What did we decide to do Saturday? RAFT! We went river rafting down the Chili River for only 60 soles a person. That is less than $25! So on Saturday we were picked up and taken to change into our gear. We were given wetsuits, water shoes, tarp pants/jackets, helmets, and life jackets. Because we had a large group, we had to take 3 rafts on the river. My raft (the coolest raft there was!) consisted of me, Jose, Jessica, and Brenda. Our tour guide, Roberto, was entertaining also. He told us the boat rules (other than the rafting rules): 1) When he puts his paddle up everyone has to “high five” his paddle with theirs and 2) The first person to fall out of the boat has to buy everyone a drink. Close to the beginning of the trip, what happened? Our boat flipped over and we all fell out! I guess we got to buy our own drinks. Although I will never get the chance to go rafting down a South American river again, I will be rafting again in the US! I have never been river rafting before and I am definitely hooked!

We looked attractive in all of our gear!

Sunday morning the bus to go to Colca Canyon picked us up at 3:00am. We traveled for 3 hours through the mountains to get to the place where we ate breakfast. I was very surprised when we reached this town called Chivay. I read about this place in an article for my Indigenous Politics class and this city is more or less the capital of the canyon. This city was extremely small, more of a village. When we traveled through the canyon we were able to see many other villages from above and none of them were very large. Also, they could not be reached by vehicle and were connected by a series of paths. Because Lima is so warm, many members of the group were unprepared for the freezing weather that awaited us during the early mornings in Arequipa. We were grateful when the sun came out and warmed the air so we no longer needed a jacket. Colca Canyon was beautiful, but not what I had expected. When we arrived it reminded me of the valley we traveled through going to Machu Picchu. I have been to the Grand Canyon and Colca Canyon was nothing like it. After we had traveled a bit into the canyon by bus, our tour guide asked us if we were ok with hiking a bit. The hike was worth it, but I am still surprised that no one was stung by a bee. They were everywhere and I was honestly afraid that I would get stung. We hiked to the Cruz del Condor, which is known to be the place that there are always condors (gigantic birds) flying around. Unfortunately, we were disappointed that there were no condors in sight. The bus picked us up and took us to another spot to look for condors. Finally, after a bit of waiting, a condor flew above us and around the canyon. Even though it wasn’t the flock of condors that I was told by Peruvians I would see, I at least was able to see one! After a lunch buffet, we headed back to Arequipa. Long day, but worth it!

Looking out over Colca Canyon

Traditional dress

Finally saw a Condor. You can't tell how large the wingspan is, but this bird is gigantic!

Climbed up a rock! Right behind us... HUGE drop to the floor of the canyon

Going back to the warm air of Lima was a relief after having to be in the cold during the early morning. Although I do miss winter, for the next 26 days I am going to enjoy soaking up the sun!