We took the short flight to Arequipa in the South of Peru, a city which many of the travellers we have met rate as their favourite city in Peru. Arequipa is full of colonial architecture and while well and truly on the gringo trail is less crowded with tourists than Cusco, Peru’s principal tourist destination. Arequipa is also one of the wealthiest cities in Peru, with a large middle class, who live in condominiums outside the colonial city centre complete with American style shopping malls.
The Plaza de Armas is the centre of the city and is one of Latin America’s most complete colonial squares that unlike many others which have at least one or two buildings not in keeping with the colonial architecture. The gardens are immaculately kept with palm trees and seasonal flowers complete with well-tended grass. At one side is the main cathedral complete with its twin bell towers and Volcan Misty making a picturesque backdrop. The cathedral was damaged in an earthquake in 2001 when one of the towers collapsed. It has now been carefully restored and inside the cathedral is a beautifully clean and symmetrical architecture without some of the ostentatious wealth that reside in many of the other churches. A carving of the devil also sits under the pulpit.
The other three sides of the square contain lovely symmetrical colonnaded buildings, many of which now have restaurants, gift shops and travel agencies that support the large tourist industry. Since our last visit to Arequipa back in 2011 the whole of Plaza de Armas has been pedestrianized, where as previously the choking traffic constricted the whole square. Today it is a peaceful and most delightful location simply to sit and watch the world go by.
Arequipa’s other main attraction is the Monasteiro de Santa Catalina it is still a living and working monastery complete with nuns who have chosen to live the monastic life. The monastery with its red and blue painted cloisters is a very attractive site, especially when combined with the blue Arequipan sky and the potted plants. Some of the streets could be in Southern Spain and indeed are named after the Andalucian cities.
Nearby to Arequipa is the Colca Canyon and takes the best part of two days. The Canyon is one of the deepest in the world and to get there the road goes right up to an altitude of 4,950 metres. The views on the journey to the canyon are stunning with all varieties of reds, yellows and browns complete with the mountain backdrop.
The highlight of the Colca Canyon is the condors, which can be seen gracefully gliding in the sky above the canyon. At the Mirador Cruz del Condor there was a family of condors, two adults and four juveniles flying on the thermals above the viewpoint. The best time to see the condors is early in the morning when they are searching for their first meal of the day.
Of the many volcanoes in the area, Volcan Sabacaya was active and was constantly blowing smoke and other particles into the air. The volcano was some 70kms away, but together with Ampato and the other volcanoes made a very dramatic sight.
Date: 29/06/2018 to 03/07/2018