Blogs from Colca Canyon, Arequipa, Peru, South America - page 10

Monday night we had dinner out with our new friends Rob and Dave. We went to a cute place in the centre, called "On the Terrace". We had to walk up a million stairs to reach the top but the restaurant was way up high, overlooking the plaza. Gorgeous view! We also got free Pisco Sours (National drink made of grape brandy and something else???) as well as poncho blankets to keep us warm! Dinner was nice as we enjoyed the company of our new friends once again. I also got to try alpaca meat, as Dave ordered it. It tastekind of like a mild steak. Although, I was not brave enough to try the guinea pig that Robb ordered! It was looking at me and I felt uncomfortable. After dinner we said goodbye to our ... read more

Today we started on our way to Colca Canyon, stopping at many viewpoints, villages and markets along the way. We learnt the differences between llamas and alpacas (finally!) - llamas are bigger (120kg) with longer necks and ears, multicoloured coats and long faces like kangaroos. They can carry 40kg on their backs and their wool is used for rope and blankets. Alpacas have longer hair (the "suri" subtype have longer hair than the "guacayas"; the former can grow to 20-30cm) which is better quality thus used for clothes. They have hairy faces and are shorter (60kg). Their meat is very low in fat (even better than the lean kangaroo apparently) although the best meat is supposedly guanaco, which is a protected relative so we will never know. Vicuña (another endangered and protected wild relative) has the ... read more

After a long weekend of relaxing in Cuzco after Machu Picchu we took an overnight bus to Arequipa, a 10 hour journey south. We were here to organise a tour to Colca Canyon to see the condors that it is famous for. Arequipa itself is a pleasant city. Sitting at an altitude of 2380m it enjoys spring like weather all year round. The central Plaza de Armas and surrounding streets are attractive and a good place stay, have drinks, or grab something to eat. The trip to Colca Canyon was excellent. An early start on day one and a bit of bumping around in the mini bus but once there it made for a challenging and interesting trek. The sky was full of condors at the main view point Cruz Del Condor. We stood for almost ... read more

South America has yet ceased to amaze me. Every single corner I turn seems to bring with it a brand new breath taking view and I have to say that Peru is currently the winner. This morning was a 5am wake up to see if we could see any condors flying through the canyon. We were so lucky. On the way to the condor view point we saw 4 sitting atop a hill and as they began to fly, 14 more decided to join them. What a great display - fantastic to see them flying through the valleys. And given that there are only around 70-80 condors in Peru, I felt very fortunate to see 18 all at once. Then there was a trek through the canyon for an hour, taking in the scenery. After the ... read more

Arequipa Walked around Arequipa all day with some friends that I met at the hostal, a couple from San Diego, Mike and Jackie. A English guy, Jeremy who is currently living in Ireland. And another lady, Penni, from England. They had all been volunteering in Pisco rebuilding homes and helping the communities. The White city def. lives up to its name. Beautiful Spanish colonial arcitecture, with the most elaborate buildings made of the white volcanic stone from the area. The churches and government buildings are covered in carvings and molds, with huge columns. We ended up checking out several markets and doing some souvenier shopping and pricing. Looking at everything from sweaters, hats, scarves, slippers, bags, everything you can think of as a Peruvian export. Asking the price at most the places, we would always ... read more