The White City of Arequipa
Trip Start
Jul 07, 2009
1
7
10
Trip End
Jul 21, 2009
Arequipa, Arequipa, Peru
Friday, July 17, 2009
This morning we were up at 0600 am for a good breakfast and then off for the 30 km ride to the Colca Canyon, and what a ride it is in the fresh morning air. The road is rough but beautiful as you look out across the huge expanse of the Canyon. We arrived early at the Condor viewing area it was nice to have some quite time in such a beautiful place before the tourist hordes arrived. Initially we could just see one or two Condors as specks in the distance, but close to 8 am all of a sudden about 8 to 10 birds suddenly rose up in front of us, everyone suddenly fell quite and all you could hear was the click of hundreds of Cameras. The birds seemed as curious about us as we were about them and they hovered so close for about half an hour, wheeling back and forth watching us with their keen eyes.
After a quick morning tea we set off back to the hotel to collect our bags and hit the road for Arequipa. First we did the massive climb away from the canyon up to the views of the Volcanoes at 4880 metres, what a site such a stark difference from the canyon, also very cold. We then started our descent into the beautiful city of Arequipa, what a great place. That evening we went out to a local restaurant called 'Zig Zag' the food was absolute gourmet, we could barely waddle back to our hotel. What a great day, we were all exhausted and ready to collapse into bed, ready to explore Arequipa tomorrow.
