Colca Canyon–Southeastern Peru

After Lima we headed south to Arequipa, which along with Trujillo is considered the second most important city in Peru. It is known as the “White City” because it was built with white sillar (volcanic stone) which is plentiful in this volcanic region. The city actually resides in the shadows of three volcanoes, the Misti Volcano, Chacani and the Pichu Pichu Volcanoes.



Like most colonial cities it has a main square with splendid religious architecture and lordly mansions of curved and tall fronts that are characteristic of the 15th & 16th centuries. We visited the museum, ate good food (we both tried alpaca which Sophie liked and I thought was so so…but passed on the opportunity to eat cuy, aka: guinea pig) and walked around the town for a few days but our primary interest for being there was to visit the Colca Canyon and the Lake Titicaca/Puno areas of the country. We splurged and chartered a van with driver and guide to take us to the Colca Canyon.

The Colca River originates in the highlands south of Peru and crosses the Western Andes before reaching the Pacific Ocean, a distance of some 280 miles. Over time, the river has carved a 100 kilometer (62 miles) section more than twice as deep as the Grand Canyon in the United States, making it one of the deepest canyons on the planet.




The name Colca refers to small holes in the cliffs in the valley and canyon. These holes were used in Inca and pre-Inca times to store food, such as potatoes and other Andean crops. They were also used as tombs for important people.

The drive deep into the canyon took most of a day as the roads are unpaved and you can’t go very fast because of potholes and people and livestock traveling along the road.

We spent the night in the canyon and had a rough time sleeping because it was cold and the beds were very hard–essentially a box spring (not an actual mattress) and a woolen blanket.

There is a video at the bottom of this posting that actually show the condors in flight

After not getting very much sleep we got up very early in the morning to visit 'Cruz del Condor' a popular tourist stop where we were fortunate to view many condors in flight. They soared gracefully on the rising thermals occurring as the air warms and are best seen in the early morning and late afternoon when they are hunting.

I loved the simplicity of life and the native people (Collaguas and Cabanas) who live much the same as they have for hundreds of years. They still maintain ancestral traditions and continue to cultivate crops using pre-Inca terraces. The fields are plowed with mules or donkeys and the harvest is gathered by hand because most of the steeply terraced growing plots are inaccessible by tractors or machines.

The area has a rich tradition of living in harmony with camelids–llamas, alpacas, vicuñas, and sheep. Their woolen products, alpaca sweaters and embroidery needlework is colorful, intricate and exquisite. We just could not resist bringing a few examples home with us.

Both Sophie and I loved the native attire and handiwork.

And of Course no venture to the Andean highlands would be complete without Mate de Coca the plant Peruvians have used for centuries to provide energy, combat altitude sickness and many other ailments.

There are California poppies in the Andean highlands too!

Lima, Peru

...just can't get that good Peruvian food off my mind...have done a lot of hiking and walking but I think I'm gaining weight...

During our two weeks in Peru we unexpectedly fell in love with Lima and ended up spending much more time in the city than we had first planned.Lima is large city with a diverse array of neighborhoods. We stayed in the Miraflores neighborhood, a nice upscale barrio, which has many restaurants, cafes, bars and shops. It also has a beautiful walking malecón, where one can stroll through parks and public areas while gazing at the beautiful pacific beaches below.



Lima, although the beaches are rocky not sandy, is a very popular surf spot and every day many Limeños go surfing in the frigid pacific waters. This area is also a popular parasailing destination where people fly off the cliffs for a birds eye view tour of the Lima skyline and beautiful coastline.



Also along this stretch of the coast there is a very famous shopping mall called “Larcomar” which is an architectural marvel since it is built into the cliff side overlooking the ocean providing beautiful views of the ocean.




In the heart of Lima is the plaza mayor in the downtown area of Lima. The plaza is surrounded by important historical buildings and churches from the colonial period and have been kept up and beautifully preserved.



Many of the buildings have intricately carved wooden balconies, which look out on to the plaza and the central fountain. These wooden balconies are unlike anything neither Sophie nor I had ever seen before and had been remarkably well kept and restored.



While exploring the downtown area we visited the San Francisco convent to visit the famous catacombs. The catacombs are a network of caves and passageways that served a multitude of functions, however their main purpose was that of burial galleries underneath the church. However it is believed that the passageways connected buildings and some even lead all the way out to the sea to escape if for some reason the city were under attack. Underneath the church we explored the small passageways and piles upon piles of bones, skeletons and skulls. While underneath the church both Sophie and I had fears of an earthquake striking while we were in the catacombs, luckily one did not occur, that is until we were en route to Santiago de Chile.

As part of an art promotion, throughout Lima in all the areas we visited, there
were colorfully painted cows on display that we felt compelled to take pictures of.

While Lima is a great city to explore on foot, every time you cross the street you put your life at risk. The drivers are absolutely nuts and they definitely have the right of the way. It seemed as if some drivers were trying to hit you while you crossed the street. While there are streetlights and crosswalks, every time you must cross a street it is a challenge. Luckily, during our time in Lima we never had more than a couple close calls, but I’m just glad we made it out unscathed.

Northern Peru

By now most of you are aware that Sophie and I were in flight heading for Santiago when the earthquake hit at 3:37am on Saturday morning. We eventually made it to Santiago safe and sound about 5:00am on Sunday morning 2-28-10. We are now hanging out in a nice hotel in Santiago waiting for the dust to settle before I head south to the Lake District of Chile and Sophie connects with her group to start her program/classes in Valparaiso.

Given this opportunity to settle in one place for a while I am going to try getting the blog up to date about our past three weeks in South America. We have been to so many places and much has transpired since I last posted, but I’m going to more or less keep my postings in chronological order. After spending two weeks in Quito and Guayaquil we were bored with Ecuador and eager to get to Peru. Our plan all along was to go to Macchu Picchu somewhere I have wanted to visit for many years, but unfortunately torrential rains in the early weeks of February made that impossible. Since our Cuzco/Macchu Picchu plans had fallen through we spent a few days in Lima then traded in our tickets from Cuzco to Trujillo in Northern Peru to spend a few days getting some sun and relaxing on the beaches of Huanchaco. Huanchaco was the perfect place to unwind after two weeks of hectic travel, the weather was perfect, beaches were beautiful and the food was fantastic. Everyday we would sleep in and have a leisurely breakfast followed by sunning and reading by the pool. In the afternoon we would walk along the beach making out way towards our favorite lunch spot, Big Ben, yes, like the clock tower in London. Apparently Big Ben is the president of Peru’s favorite place to eat according to wikipedia, and we have to agree with him, it was defiantly our favorite restaurant in Peru. Everyday we would have amazingly fresh and flavorful Peruvian seafood dishes. Such as Cebiche Mixto, Causa de Congrejo y Chicharon Mixto. We never thought we could get sick of seafood or cebiche, but after 5 days we were craving some new flavors!



Huanchaco is a surfer/beach town famous for its waves and traditional forms of fishing using read boats called “Caballitos de Totora” which have been around since the times of the Moche and Chimu kingdoms starting around 100 C.E. Still today men go out every morning riding the surf to go catch fish in the same manner as their ancestors practiced for thousands of years. The boats are made from reeds and they paddle with a large bamboo stick and are still made the same way that they have been for thousands of years using the same design and basically the same materials as their ancestors.



Taking a break from the beach we visited the ruins Huacas del Sol y La Luna on the outskirts of Trujillo. Only the Huaca del Sol is open to the public for visits. They have only been unearthed since 1994 and are still in the excavation process, which we saw going on during our visit. The Huaca del Sol represented the ceremonial grounds/temple of the Moche culture. Moche people practiced human sacrifice and many skeletons have been found during excavation, only young men were sacrificed to the gods. The Moche were famous for their structural engineering, irrigation techniques, ceramics and fine metal work, especially with gold. The Moche kingdom ruled Northern Peru from approximately 100 C.E. to 800 C.E.

Above picture "Frieze" with a representation of the decapitator, apparently the god of water.

After 5 days in Huanchaco, we were ready for life back in the big city of Lima. We boarded a Cruz del Sur bus at 8:45 from Trujillo bound for Lima. Let me tell you, Cruz del Sur is NOTHING like any buses in the states. We were fed multiple times during our journey, had reclining leather seats, were shown many movies, and we even got to play bingo. We sat at the very front of the 2nd level and thoroughly enjoyed the beautiful views of Northern Peru and the Peruvian coastline.


Next Updates to Include Lima and Southern Peru!

Till Next Time,
Smiley and Sophie