Colca Canyon - Condors and Arequipa

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Arequipa is a very nice colonial city and we saw both highlights here. One of which is the Santa Catalina Convent - a city within a city. Located in the center of Arequipa, Santa Catalina is the pride of its townspeople, covering an area of more than 29,426 square meters. The nunnery was founded in 1580 and visitors have been able to stroll through the streets and cloisters since 1970. During colonial times the cloisters were a refuge of female nobility who had decided to shut themselves away from the world and dedicate themselves entirely to prayer.
We took an hour long tour around the grounds and saw some really beautiful architecture and art. The pictures show the beautiful gardens and views of Volcano El Misti in the background.

Whilst here we also saw the museum of the frozen mummy Juanita. We were unable to take photos inside but it was amazing to see an Inca mummy that was almost entirely intact and preserved, and amazingly over 1,000 years old! Juanita is one of a number of children that have been found mummified in the Andes. She was sacrificed and this will have been an honour. Juanita would have been proud to be offering herself to the gods. The truly impressive fact is that, as a consequence of finding Juanita, archeologists have been able to gain an even better insight into the community of the incas, even down to the type of food Juanita will have eaten before her death! This experience was slightly eerie but demonstrated fully how far human belief can be taken.

We set off on the "truck" (our driver gets very offended if we call it a bus) at 2.30am the next morning, still slightly tipsey, to make our way to the Colca Canyon and hopefully, catch the condors for 8-ish. We were lucky to see both beautiful sunshine and condors in action, flying very near. We were at 4,600 ft and the altitude was strange also. The air becomes much thinner and you can feel yourself struggling to even walk! (This was good training for the Inca Trail anyway). At least we now knew we were not going to get altitude sickness as if we were going to be affected we would have been at this altitude for sure. The condors were both beautiful and we felt grateful to have seen such a rarity.

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Comments

[Dave adam]

Beautiful
Thank you for highlighting the beautiful things you are seeing great to share in all these amazing views.

[Carl Read]

Giant Condor
Wow that is a big bird! The photo's are great, looks like a beautiful city, i'm actually learning more from your blogs than i did at university, for sure :) They're great, stay safe and enjoy the lakes! Carl xxxx

[Looby Lou]

ocht aye
de noooooo I wanna be wit youuuuu guys in the misty mountainssssss it's crazy in da city of juanitasssss xxxx

[Jane]

Jealous!!!
Hey Girs, it looks like you are having the most amazing time. I love seeing all your photos, I am very very jealous. Looks like your making the most of it!!! Enjoy and keep having the time of your life. I can't wait to give you tips on Sydney life!!

[Sarah]

Hey Erin Loving the blog! Looks like you are having so much fun! I will be in Thai land in November, would be great to meet up depending on where you are . Miss you lots! xx