Arequipa, A place of Adventure

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After spending another sun filled day in Copacabana I took a bus to Arequipa. This meant a border crossing into Peru, the beginning of a two month journey through the country. Arequipa has a lot to offer in the sense of adventure, so needless to say this was going to be a place for me. On bus trip I found Jutta and Leah two German girls I had met on my first day in Copacabana. So we decided to head to the same hostel. The next day we saw the city, Arequipa is a beautiful city, many museums and convents that kept us busy and happy for the day. During this time we also checked out what was on offer in the adventure world. The nearby Calca Canyon was a must see for all of us. After a bit of talking we had decided to take it on without a guide. So with no time to lose we got ready to leave the next day. We decided to go the opposite way to the tour companies. It was an incredible 3 day walk. We caught the local’s bus to a place called Cabanconde. This meant sitting in the aisle as there were not enough seats despite the tickets we purchased!

Here we started at 3200 m down to an oasis at 2100 m stayed the night. The walk was a knee destroying downhill, but we couldn´t complain as we watched people climb out. The Oasis was a great reward at the end. The next day had lunch at 2500 m then finished at 2000m and the last day walked up to 3200m. I can honestly say the last day was the hardest and most rewarding. We got up at 3 am, had breakfast and started walking at 4am because we wanted to see the condors at the top; they only come out in the morning! We got to the top at 830am. The feeling of elation at the top was amazing. We then hitched a ride in a back of a ute to the lookout where we saw 3 beautiful condors!

My next adventure in Arequipa was originally supposed to be up Chachani Volcano. However the night before my trip the company rang my hostel, my other group members had suffered from altitude sickness and unable to attend. Would it be possible to do Misti instead, Misti is 200m lower but a harder, steeper climb. What the hell? Let’s do it! So the next morning we driven to the base of the mountain at 3200m. We began hiking at 10am, by 3.30pm we arrived to 4300m. The walk ascended through boulder fields, somehow fixed on the side of the steep classically shaped mountain. We had an early dinner at 5.30pm and watched an incredible sunset over a barren land except for the city of Arequipa. As soon as that sun had set, it was bedtime. We had a 12midnight start, Yup! Hiking at 1am. Head torches donned we set off. Well breakfast did not treat me well at this time of night so for the first hour I was fighting the overwhelming desire to throw my guts up. We stopped at 2 am for a rest, my feeling of nausea passed. By 3 am we had passed 5000m and were starting to breathe heavily. This part of the walk was challenging, the sun had not risen and every step needed significant effort whilst fighting off overwhelming desires to sleep. But soon the sun began to peak and immediately warm us bring the temperature above zero I felt energy entering my limbs and soul. From this point I knew I would make it. Sadly it was not to be. At 5500m one of our party strained a muscle and we had to follow mountain rules and begin the descent. I am still proud to say I made it higher than Everest Base Camp!

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Photos

The Canyon
Looking down it was we could not even see the bottom.

Misti Moutain
Looking at the mammoth and wanting to climb!

The Shadow of Misti
As sun rose the next morning it was a god send.