Peru - Arequipa

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After another delightful overnight bus trip we were in Arequipa. We liked it here, a really nice town with old buildings made from the famous white stone. From Arequipa we took a 3-day trekking tour of the Colca Canyon, believe it or not this canyon is twice as deep as the grand canyon. On the way to start the trek we stopped at a spectacular view point to observe the Andean Condors. These giant birds, upto 3 meters in wingspan would soar literally a few meters overhead - incredible.

The first day we trekked 1000m down into the base of the canyon, which was chuffing steep. We spent some time getting to know our fellow travellers; a couple of super-efficient Germans, an american, a french guy and a british couple, who we discovered were also avid fridge magnet collectors (note to self: on the subject of fridge magnets, need to purchase fridge to put them on).

Day 2 was a fairly lesurely strole along the base of the canyon through traditional Peruvian villages. We stopped at some old womans house, in the kitchen were Guinea Pigs everywhere free to roam, it was a bit sad to think that one day these would be deepfried, served with chips, maybee even a side salad and eaten. The old woman also had a batch of Chica on the go, which is what the villagers drink. Chica is made from corn which is chewed and spat out to break it down - not pleasant. We reluctantly sampled a bit, it had the consistency, look and maybee even taste of baby sick (I haven´t tried baby sick for a while, so am unable to confirm this..) Day 2 ended at the oasis, a delighful place at the foot of the canyon with swimming pools and palm trees.

The third and final days trekking was not good. The problem with descending 1000m into a canyon is that you have to get out again! The other problem with a canyon, is that it is very steep. A few tiring hours later we had reached the top, we would not be trekking into a canyon ever again.

Also from Arequipa we went on a half day white-water rafting trip. There were 5 of us who had signed up to tackle the Rio Chilli rapids, rated at grades II, III, with a bit of IV. None of us had ever done rafting before, later we found out it was our instructors first time on this river, we were not filled with confidence! Predictably me and Hannah were placed at the front of the raft meaning we would be thrown head first into the force of the Rio Chilli. Despite this, it was a fantastic experiance, at times just drifting slowly down the river with the views of gigantic mountains behind us, so relaxing you could almost sleep. The next second you are being yelled at to hold on for dear life as you are thrown off a waterfall. We all got very wet, but thankfully no one fell in.

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