Arequipa

For Veterans Day weekend, we took the opportunity to visit Arequipa, Peru's 2nd largest city (Lima has roughly 10 million, Arequipa not quite a million). It lies at 7,500ft, but even so has two volcanoes towering up over it. Many tourists go through on their way to adventuring in some of the dramatic scenery several hours out of town, but as weekenders we satisfied ourselves with getting a taste of Arequipa itself.

Even our watered down version of adventuring was pretty fun, as we went about 15 minutes up the city's river, the Rio Chili, for a short rafting trip. The river cuts down between the shoulders of the volcanoes, and even though the outskirts of Arequipa are still up on the rim, down in the river canyon is was pretty and scenic. At the start, it was a little more rugged but later the river rolls through neatly terraced farm plots. Carter had gotten himself nervous about the trip, but also mastered himself and, of course, once in the rollicking of the waves he didn't want it to end. Jennifer and he got out and walked around the one Class 4 rapid. We're not convinced it was truly a Class 4, but the river still was plenty fun for a family like us.

 This picture is from the town square, with the Chachani volcano in the background. These volcanoes are part of a string around here, many of which have revealed tombs of Inca sacrifices. We took a tour at the museum that houses the "Juanita", the ice princess...so called because she was sacrificed and buried so high up that she's been frozen for a thousand years and remarkably preserved. Amazing to see in person.


On a side note, all the postcards, etc., show the other nearby volcano (El Misti) with snow, but apparently global warming has meant that there hasn't been snow on Misti in 5 or so years (as per the taxi driver).

The photo shows the large church, built from the white stone that makes Arequipa famous. We stayed right in the colonial zone, with streets lined by colonial buildings made of large blocks of this stone. Even our hotel's common areas was once a colonial mansion, with paintings and vaulted ceilings around a courtyard.

I tried cuy for the first time (guinea pig). I asked for it as traditional as possible and the photo shows the result. It was greasy, not very meaty, with most of the food value in skin. Given a choice, a hungry person would probably opt for something else, but I'm not certain. But hey, it came with fries. In the evening I enjoyed another local specialty, a bisque of Andean crayfish. As I mentioned on Facebook, both lunch and dinner featured food with the head still on.

 As parents of a 6yr old, even here we spent a fair amount of time at the playground. Both days we walked to a local park that featured play structures and various small amusements. On Sunday, it was full of families, including many that showed the typical traditional style; very particular hats, blankets artfully tied so as to be carryalls. The older woman in the photo had two long, black braids down her back, and then a knit thing that kind of tied the two braids together.

There were some animals to look at, including a monkey I photographed drinking an Inka Cola right next to the sign saying "Don't Feed the Monkeys". There were also enough small biting flies that I am still scratching now as I type.

 We also explored the historic convent (Monasterio Santa Catalina) that takes up a very large city block right up from our hotel. For hundreds of years, wealthy families would donate to have the honor of a daughter going into this seclusion. Behind the walls, hidden from view, is a warren of paths and rooms, even "streets". Like a small village, there were areas for novices and others for more senior nuns...some even seemed to have been elites, with larger rooms, servants, a piano. Bright colors, paintings and decorative touches, and a kind of idyllic charm — as long as you don't mind the idea of locking women away for their whole lives on a single city block.

Below is a photo I took from the balcony on our hotel floor. Jen and I sat out here Sunday evening for a sunset game of Scrabble. Not shown in this idyllic picture are the roofs we also looked over, with some funny roof dogs cavorting and occasionally barking at us for being fellow roof dwellers.

Arequipa had a wonderful climate, warm sun with cool breezes, and a big sky. Lima would make anyplace seem bright and quiet(er). It is a city that has a strong identity, a mix of colonial and mountain cultures, and we were sorry to leave.