Cola Canyon - Arequipa

Took a short 30 minute flight from Cusco to Arequipa, the other alternative was a 10 hr bus ride - a no brainer. The scenery when landing in Arequipa is breath taking as the city is situated in a valley surrounded by the active volcano El Misti at 19,111 feet , Mt. Chachani at 19,931 feet and Mt. Pichu-Pichu at 18,500 feet. The weather is warm during the day and cool at night, typical of a semi-arid climate with 360 days of sunshine a year. Now that the World Cup is under way making small chat is certainly easier with taxi drivers and locals alike especially as Peru isn´t in the tournament and banter among who they are cheering is an easy ice breaker.

For our first day in Arequipa we took a 3 hr tour of the surrounding areas which included Yanahuara, Molino de Sabandia and Carmen Altoook. Unfortunately the smog of the city is very back and ruins any pictures that one may take of the city with the volcanoes and mountains in the background.

The highlight of the trip was our two day 1 night trip to the Cola Canyon, which is one of the deepest places on earth, reaching a depth of 11,155 feet. The sole purpose of our trip was to head to the Cruz el Condor to view the Andean Condor. As it turned the 4 hr drive to the village of Chivay where we headed out the next day to view the condors was awesome. The scenery and temperature changed dramatically as we climbed elevation from Arequipa at 7,333 feet to as high as 15,000 plus. During our drive we made several stops to view the sheppards herding their al pacca and lama herds as well as viewing the wild vicunas, which is the most expensive of all the wool - apparently more so than cashmere. In addition to the wildlife the magnificent back drops of Mt. Hualca Hualca at 19,700 feet, Mt. Ampato an inactive volcano at 20,600 feet and Mt. Chucura at 18,700 was an awesome reminder of how beautiful the Andes is.

Our bus trip was full of enthusiastic travelers, 4 other Canadians, 2 South Africans, 2 Swedes, an Argentinean, 1 Dutch and two Peruvians. After the 1 hr descent down via extreme switchbacks from the highest view point to the town of Chivay 11,800 feet we spent our free down time in the village town square. As we like to do, we started chatting up the children and taking pics, which led us to providing a digital slide show from our camera. Before we knew it we had about 12 kids around us, on top of us, and hanging off my back trying to be the first to yell out where or what the picture was - AREQUIPA! AL PACCA! etc.

Having checked into our hostel which was below freezing - no heat or insalation is the norm in this part of the continent, we headed to the hot springs of La Calera with the group where two pools awaited us - one at 35 degrees and the other 40 degrees. Dreading the thought of having to head back to the hostel to kill time before our group dinner, we had no other choice but to put on 5 layers of clothing and get under the blankets. Our dinner was very tasty, al pacca was the main entrée once again as no guinea pig was on the menu and given the rumblings of our stomach the past 12 days we had to stay with what we knew would provide a solid form of waste due to the next days tour and 4 hour bus trip. After dinner I unwillingly had a much to long of a dance with a local Peruvian girl - boy did she learn quickly that white man can´t dance or at least the Peruvian dance!!

After an hours sleep do to the freezing conditions we were up and ready to go at 530am to head to the Cruz el Condor to view the Andean Condor. Within minutes of arriving we were not disappointed, as three huge condors rode the currents of the Cola Valley below and above us.

The bus ride back was uneventful. This morning we did a quick tour of Santa Catalina Convent, the main attraction of Arequipa - not interesting from a photo point of view. We then headed to the airport of Arequipa to take a quick flight to Lima where tomorow we fly from Lima to Santiago. However, the taxi ride to our hostel here in LIma was a little uneasy to say the least as the taxi driver took the back roads and through some dodegy areas. We are still questioning ourselves whether its worse to arrive in a city sight unseen or to have the expectations of how to get from point A to point B and have the taxi take you in a completely different way. Both situations certaintly make you sweat under the collar!!

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