The van picked us up at 6:40am for our drive to Cruz del Condor where we would, hopefully, observe the giant birds. The first stop was the plaza in Yanque where there were lots of local people dressed traditionally selling their wares , dancing and posing for photos with alpacas and hawks. Dave bought another pair of alpaca socks since he wore his other pair today and they felt really good! Breathtaking views of the terraced agricultural hillsides rising from the canyon floor. These terraces pre-date the Incas by as much as 500 years and are still used today by local farmers. The last half of the 60km drive was on a very rough, gravel road that had been previously destroyed by an earthquake. It had huge potholes and several water crossings. When we arrived at ... read more

Uneventful flight from Lima to Arequipa, however, still blown away by the crowds at Lima Airport. During the approach into Arequipa we were quite surprised by the arid, tumbleweed terrain broken by deep, rocky gullies. To our surprise, as we stepped off the plane, we were awestruck by the snow-capped White Mountain and Misty Volcano. The city of Arequipa is at an elevation of over 6,000 feet and sits on a high plateau. We were greeted by blue skies, 70 degrees and Omar Rodriquez. Omar and his driver, Percy, took us on a scenic route through the colonial city and stopped at two viewpoints before they dropped us at our hotel. Omar set us free for a couple hours to explore and have lunch before meeting us for our afternoon walking tour. Not wanting to waste ... read more