Our next stop on our grand adventure through South America was Arequipa. Commonly referred to as the “White City,” due to its architecture largely being built with white volcanic rock, Arequipa certainly has felt the most European of destinations during our travels thus far with its many decorative plazas, walking paths, and waterways. Coincidentally, our intuition was quickly justified! We were soon to find out that Arequipa remained quite a loyalist stronghold during Peru’s fight for independence from the Spanish crown. Tisk, tisk, Arequipa.
This rather beautiful city was incredibly walkable, lively, and a wonderful hub for our future plan of traveling to Colca Canyon, so we couldn’t ask for more. Shout-out to Tajmani Hostel for making us feel quickly at home with favorite lunch spots, around the clock tea, and daily debriefs of our adventures.
Our days in Arequipa were never complete without at least one visit to Plaza de Armas. This bustling area was the perfect spot to savor queso helado, stumble upon a musical performance, people watch, or just sit and savor the sunshine (when we could be so lucky to snag a bench). Life seemed to move simultaneously fast and slow here, and we loved being plaza people.
We were fortunate enough to be in Arequipa on a Tuesday. This happens to be the one night a week that Monasterio de Santa Catalina is open at night. Guiding ourselves through the nooks and crannies of the expansive property that spans an entire city block by candlelight gave us goosebumps. Erie feelings aside, it was fascinating to see a glimpse into what life was like for the nuns that lived here.
There are no shortage of museums in Arequipa. One such museum is the Andean Sanctuaries Museum who famously has housed Jaunita, a 12-15 year old girl believed to be a human sacrifice to the Inca gods, whose body was found in 1995 well-preserved due to being frozen and found atop Ampato Mountain. Unfortunately, Juanita was off display for the few days we were in town. Maybe next time mummy!
Down, but not out, we were lucky enough to befriend some alpacas and llamas at Mundo Alpaca. This free museum filled us in on everything alpaca and llama. From their initial domestication to their current use in Peru’s monopoly on the wool industry, we had the chance to see these majestic creatures up close and personal, touch some of the softest materials, and watch the intricate weaving process. Good news: Colorado has a wonderful climate for alpacas to live in. Sounds like Luna might need a new friend.
It was soon time again for some drone photography work as Jack worked a deal with the owner of a completely unnecessarily large A-frame cabin just outside of town. After living together for so many years, it may seem silly to get giddy over having a whole place to ourselves, but traveling has made the moments that we get to play “house” together extra fun and special. Complete with a rather massive and veggie-filled home cooked meal, a private pool, and views of the majestic Mount Misti, this stay was a real treat!
Now for what we really came here for: Colca Canyon. There are a way too many route options for this trek, but we opted for the 3D/2N going through Cabanaconde -> Llahur -> San Juan -> Cabanaconde. This option spans 21 miles and consists of climbing about 7,000 feet. Supposedly the canyon is twice as deep as the Grand Canyon and known to be one of the deepest canyons in the world. After spending hiking day 1 going entirely down into the canyon, we can confirm it’s a pretty spectacular place…and REALLY deep.
This proved to be a similar glamping type trekking experience to the Quilotoa Loop we had done in Ecuador. While the views were vastly different, our ability to sleep in a bed and appreciate a warm meal are not! Night 1 concluded with us making it to Llahur Lodge, revitalizing ourselves with a vegetarian meal (who are we?), and enjoying some stargazing in the warm ( but not hot) springs on site. We felt a tad on edge not being able to spot the usual Big Dipper being south of the equator, but in time we were able to enjoy admiring a new sky.
Day 2 provided more variety with the opportunity to hit both the uphill and the downhill for which our knees were grateful. Admittedly, there was a solid mile or so where it felt like the trail was telling us it didn’t want us there. Between overgrown brush up to our eyeballs hanging over the trail to ample cacti ready to poke you if you take a step off the narrow trail, we carried on and were rewarded with seeing a condor gliding over us! Soon enough, we made it to our next stay Posada Gloria’s and enjoyed a shower, delicious meal, and a game of Yahtzee with some nice French gals.
As it turns out, when you hike down into a canyon, you do indeed have to climb your way back out. We had read horror stories of how challenging the last day of this hike would be. Low expectations = never disappointed. The somewhat endless switchbacks didn’t feel nearly as hard as we anticipated, but that’s not to say we weren’t feeling accomplished (& hot) after this one.
With our 3rd trek in South America in the books, the only thing left to do was sit back and relax on a long bus ride. During which we were lucky to see so many frolicking vicuña!! Up next is our fourth and final planned trek: Salkantay to Machu Picchu.