Arequipa and the Colca Canyon

We arrived in Arequipa on September 24th after deciding we’d had enough of Cusco (I guess that makes us officially one month behind on this blog now). Our dear friend Melissa was flying in to spend a week with us on Oct 1 and so we had lined up a one week volunteer gig while we waited for her.

Arequipa is Peru’s second largest city and felt completely different to us than the rest of the places  we went in the Andes. The city is surrounded by volcanoes and most of the buildings in the historic center are built of a white volcanic stone called sillar that made for a totally different vibe. The town certainly has its share of tourists, but to a lesser degree. We were disappointed that it was more expensive than we had hoped it would be, but in the end we had some amazing meals at an incredible price (from a U.S. perspective anyway).

Plaza de Armas in Arequipa at dusk

Queso helado in the street

Chupa de Camerones (a local specialty) at El Nuevo Palomino

Chicha at Nuevo Palomino - fermented corn beer

Pretty sillar stone streets

The Colca Canyon lies about 3 hours away from Arequipa by bus - claim to fame being that it is the second deepest canyon in the world (second to Cotahuasi which is nearby as well) and home to many Andean condors. We bussed 6 hours out to a tiny town called Cabanaconde and spent a week volunteering at a hostel called Valle del Fuego. Run by a delightful eccentric named Yamil, we cleaned rooms and did laundry in exchange for room and board and enjoyed a totally chilled out week in this dusty little pueblo. Donkeys, horses and cows were herded (or ridden) up and down the streets every day and we met some ultra charming street dogs (but don’t worry Lilly, we haven’t adopted one - yet). A mirador on the edge of town let us look down into the canyon at sunset as well as spot a number of the famous condors gliding around (and the biggest hummingbirds ever!).

Yamil also owns a restaurant in Cabanaconde, and our stay there overlapped with a French couple Pauline and Arthur who had been volunteering and running said restaurant for the prior 6 weeks. We had so much fun helping them in the kitchen, eating their delicious food, playing card games, making pisco sours, and discussing politics and our countries’ respective problems. Best of all, we were meeting in the middle and doing it all in Spanish as they weren’t that comfortable in English. E.J. can still speak way more French than I realized, but sadly mine feels like it’s evaporated. Spanish it was, and it was a great week of practice.

E.J. battled his second stomach bug (Atahualpa’s revenge) while we were there. One day when I was looking for an open pharmacia/botica to get some more symptomatic treatment, I ended up sitting on a curb for 30 minutes with a local (who had called the pharmacist to open up said store for me). We discussed child-rearing and how her diabetes medications work and what she should or shouldn’t be eating. Next thing I knew, she took me into her house behind the hardware store she ran with her husband and gave me an herb that helps ease stomach pain so that I could make a tea for my novio. Luckily, by the end of the week he was feeling much better.

First views of the canyon

All the women in Cabanaconde wear intricately embroidered hats 

Typical Cabanaconde street scene

Pauline, Yamil, and Arturo in front of their restaurant 

Canyon selfie

The decor in Yamil's restaurants - decades of paraphernalia

We bussed back to Arequipa to meet up with Melissa, where we spent two nights eating, drinking and sightseeing. We visited the Santa Catalina Monastery - where I developed major patio envy and adored the brightly colored walls and potted plants. Melissa and I took a cooking class where we learned how to make ceviche. After eating it in Arequipa and Lima, I can’t wait to try it at home if I can get fresh enough fish.  Arequipa is a bit of a foodie town and we had two really memorable meals (at Chicha and Zig Zag) in addition to lots of casual ceviche joints, glasses of chicha (fermented corn drink), and queso helado (vanilla-ish ice cream with cinnamon on top).

Craft beer makes someone really happy 

Ceviche we made in our cooking class - with toasted corn and sweet potatoes

Turtle friend - one of two that lived in our hostel's garden

Reunited!

We turned around and headed back to Cabanaconde with Melissa (with a pitstop in Chivay to hit the hot springs) and did a 3 day/2 night loop (dubbed “El Clasico” by the locals) hiking down and across this canyon. Proud to say that we hiked out without the help of mules despite the “twice as deep as the grand canyon” fear factor. On our second night we stayed in Sangalle or “The Oasis” in rustic bungalows that had a pool fed by a natural spring. It was beautiful! Both places we stayed in the canyon had all of their supplies delivered by mules, one had electricity in the kitchen (but they’ve only had it for the last year), and one had electricity in the kitchen from a generator. We had clear skies both nights and the best stargazing I can remember (complete with lots of shooting stars).

Suspension bridge in the bottom of the canyon

Cooling our feet after the 3 hour descent

In the oasis on the last night of our hike

Spring fed swimming pool in the Oasis

Hiking our tired butts back out