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Published: August 19th 2007
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Arequipa
We took an overnight bus (which was freaking cold as they have no heating) and arrived in a town called Arequipa. We lucked out and ended up staying in the best residence we´ve had yet. It was so good we didn´t want to leave it! From here, Sam did a couple of hours of white water rafting on the Chile River, I´ve already got amongst the rapids when I lived in the Canadian Rocky´s so I didn´t fell the need to give it a second go.
The town of Arequipa proudly displays the worlds best preserved ice mummy, Juanita, and she is on display at the local museum. She was discovered only back in 1995 on the top of Mount Ampato and is believed to have died back in 1450AD. She was only 12-14 years of age, it was a common practice for the Incas to sacrifice a young girl and give her as an offering to Pachamama in return for good fortune and weather, and apparently the young girls saw it as a great privilege to be chosen for the sacrifice!
Colca Canyon
From Arequipa, we also took a three day tour into the deepest canyon in
the world. At approximately 3600m it is over twice the depth of the Grand Canyon in the US. On day one, we started from a tiny town called Cabanaconde and trekked for three hours down the canyon until we reached the Colca River where we crossed over, and then hiked a further hour and a half to our first campsite which was actually a home stay with a local family. There are communities spread all over the canyon, and their main source of income is from the land that they farm. We were even pretty lucky to get hot showers that night.
Day two, we hiked back down into the guts of the canyon where the locals have designed and built Ecolodging and Oasis pools. Walking up to it, it is like looking at a mirage. The pool we got to swin in was heated naturally by the sun, surrounded by rock waterfalls, and the lodging, shop, tables and chairs, were all made from local materials to give it that enviro-friendly look. We spent four hours sun-baking and swimming, and then it was time to set back up the canyon to Cabanaconde for the second nights stay in a
hostel. We had the option to hire a mule to make the three hour climb to the top a lot easier. Sam decided to do it the hard way but I couldn´t resist. Mules are a cross between a horse and a donkey, and are specifically bred to work these unforgiving paths as they are so sure-footed, and I tell ya no horse would have made it three metres up that track. These little fellas are amazing creatures.
Day three, we took an early bus to a place called Cruz Del Condor, where, you guessed it, it´s the perfect place to spot Condors - the bird with the largest wing-span in the world. We got lucky and during the twenty minute stop we had there got some pretty good shots of a few of them. They glide really close to you at times so you get to appreciate how big they really are. Happy with ourselves at seeing the Condors, we endured a gruelling bus ride back to Arequipa, where we stayed on another two nights to recuperate, before heading to the town of Puno.
Puno - Lake Titicaca
It only took about six hours to get to
Puno from Arequipa so we took a bus through the day. It was a nice change of scenery to be right near Lake Titicaca, the worlds highest commercially navigable lake at 3801m above sea-level, and a whopping 8372 square kilometres.
We took an afternoon boat ride over to the Uros floating islands. This little community of 42 islands situated about half an hour boat ride away from Puno is an amazing place. The islands really are floating! They are constructed of a reed called the Totora Plant which has to be constantly replenished in order to keep them floating. One island we visited actually had a bar, working telephone, and mini-market. They´ve come a long way since their pre-Incan days!
The families that live there not only make the islands out of the reeds but also make their boats, houses, furniture, and souveniers out of the same material. It´s really quite amazing to see so many different things made out of the same plant.
The altitude was really starting to take it´s toll here, and a short walk to the shop can leave you breathless. It makes you fell so unfit, ah well, we have a little
while up high before we make our way down to lower ground.
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