OK, let’s stop here!

And now it’s bye bye, Peru! After seven weeks in this wonderfully varied country, we’re finally leaving for Chile tomorrow. For the past two weeks we’ve been based around Arequipa, Peru’s beautiful second city. Built from white stone, it sits at the foot of the majestic volcano El Misti and has an almost constant spring-like climate. The name Arequipa is derived from the Quechua phrase “OK, let’s stop here!”, which is allegedly what the fourth Inca emperor said to his generals on his way back home from one of his battles. This only goes to prove that the Incas had a sense of humour.

We’ve really enjoyed staying here. The people are among the friendliest we’ve found in Peru and it’s been a pleasure to be in a cosmopolitan, developed and relaxed city again. The highlight here has definitely been the Moorish-inspired Santa Catalina monastery, a maze of streets and courtyards enclosed within four high walls, almost a town in its own right. Arequipa also boasts fine Mestizo-Baroque architecture and one of the grandest plazas in South America.

However, our main reason to come to Arequipa is the magnificent canyons and valleys in the region. This area contains the two deepest canyons in the world, at Colca and Cotahuasi, each almost twice the size and depth of the Grand Canyon. Colca Canyon is unique in South America in that it is the only place where it’s possible to get really close to condors, the biggest vultures in the world. These magnificent beasts have a wing span of three metres and stand 1.3 metres tall. It was thrilling to see them glide past just metres from us, as they soared up on the thermals from the depths of the canyon. This was definitely one of the highlights of our world trip so far.

Dropping down to below 3300 metres, Cotahuasi Canyon is in fact the deepest in the world. Our trip there was one of our most memorable in Peru, passing through stunning altiplano landscapes. Herds of graceful vicunas, llamas and alpacas grazed among frozen streams with a backdrop of snow-capped mountains; cliffs and dunes of red, gold, green and grey flowed past us; and primeval lunar landscapes of shattered volcanic rock told stories of the region’s violent past. The canyon itself overwhelmed us with its huge cliffs dropping down to the green terraces below and the gorge snaking through its length. We spent a day there, climbing up to the Forest of Stones, a high formation of strangely eroded rocks, and wandering to a couple of waterfalls. From there we went to the Valley of Volcanoes, a bleak landscape of craters amid badlands of rock, cinders and cacti.

In all, we’ve really enjoyed our stay in Peru. We’ve met some warm and friendly people, seen wonderful sights and tasted some delicious food (though we never tried the guinea pig… ). It’s also been much easier and safer than we expected. We’d recommend it to anyone, especially Huaraz and Arequipa.

That’s all for now. We’ll get some photos up soon. See you in Chile!

- Neil and Marilena

02:23:48 - Sunday, 11.09.05

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