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Arequipa: The White City (11/06/2018-15/06/2018) Baby Alpaca or Maybe Alpaca?
Maybe you've been wondering... "Amy you're in Peru, where the heck are all the llamas and alpacas at?"
Well.. you're in for a treat, my lovely blog readers!
This blog will contains plenty of them! Yay! Seeing them.. cuddling them.. and erm, eating them!
Arequipa, with it's impressive chalky white buildings built from volcanic rock; is known as the White City and is the prettiest of Peru's cities. The city is surrounded by three gorgeous snow-capped volcanos - El Misti (5,822m), Chachani (6,075m) and Pichu Pichu (5,664m), and is not short of fun and interesting things to see and do.
Colca Canyon Colca Canyon, the World’s second deepest canyon (the first is also in Peru) and twice as deep as the Grand Canyon is an impressive 3,270m (10,730 feet) deep. It is also the top destination to see the Andean condors (a national symbol of Peru, a creature sacred to the Incas, and with a lifespan of over 75 years in some cases).
You can read more about Colca Canyon here from BBC Travel! Unfortunately I had been feeling rubbish for days and kept post-poning this 2 day trek but I forced
myself out into the cold, and was collected at 3am to drive 4 hours, stopping at one icy-cold view point, then onto the condor nest view point. I´m not much of a bird watcher, but wow, the condors literally blew me away even though I felt awful. 10 condors, swopping right above our heads, flying so close you could see their ugly little heads and beady little eyes scan around. Still feeling awful, I decided to ditch the trek and my guide kindly swapped me onto the 1 day "Japanese tourist" style tour. This meant zero hiking - and only stopping at several view points, visiting thermal baths, and cuddling llamas. The latter really brightened up my day.
The Museo Santuarios Andinos In order to appease the Gods, the Incas used to ritually sacrifice young children on the highest mountains. Juanita (a 12 year old girl) was discovered in 1995 when a melting glacier stripped away the top layers of her old tomb, which caused her perfectly preserved frozen body to slide down the mountain. Incredibly she still has all her hair and her skin... even her fingernails are intact. You can go face to face with Juanita,
like I did, at the museum just off Arequipa's main square. Fascinating, but freaky.
Zig Zag - Treat Yo Self! Me and two pals hit up a posh restaurant.. the kind of posh where the waiter puts the napkin on your lap for you. A
otro mundo (another World) from my usual dirt cheap Peruvian set meals, sat on a dusty chair surrounded by dogs and flies.
We ate a massive alpaca fillet (which came out sizzling, cooked on a hot volcanic rock - proper posh!) with a variety of sauces, crispy Andean rustic fries, and a large creamy goats cheese salad. Oh my! Taste explosion! Alpaca is low in fat, high in protein, and super tender. It melted like butter in my mouth.
Muy lindo y muy deliciosio (very cute and very delicious)!
Other Shenanigans... Other exciting activities you can do in Arequipa are the delicious Chaqchao chocolate making workshop, visit the alpacas and llamas at
Mundo Alpaca (Alpaca World), sample El Rocotto Relleno (Arequipa´s speciality dish), buy
jugo de frutas (fruit juices) from San Camilo market, and haggle cholitas in the countless clothing stores for "alpaca" goods, some of dubious quality...which always had
Spotting Endangered Andean Condors
The most magestic bird in South America; with wingspans up to 3.2m!us questioning, is it baby alpaca, or maybe alpaca?
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