Onto Arequipa

After leaving the foggy dampness of Lima in August, the city of Arequipa practically smacks you in the face with its brilliant blue sky. The elevation is quite a bit higher and the air is immensely drier, but we also were instantly taken in by this colonial town with its quaint narrow streets replacing Lima’s hectic and (almost always) backed up roadways.

One of the first things that our guide Jorge did was whisk us away to the outskirts of town to take in the vista of majestic mountains and not-so-distant volcanoes. While Arequipa is already at nearly 8,000 feet he pointed out that many of the surrounding peaks are around 20,000 feet! It almost felt as if we had gone back in time as the only other person we saw was a man herding his cattle up the quiet street.

After this the first thing on our agenda was getting some great food, and Arequipa had us trying cuy (guinea pig) for the first time, as well as the very Arequipian dish of Rocoto Relleno (stuffed peppers) - which did not disappoint! However, we started feeling a bit shaky, and we weren’t sure if it was the altitude, a lack of sleep, or maybe even....An earthquake! Arequipa is an

extremely seismically active city in a country that is already no stranger to terrestrial rumblings. I asked Nico if she felt anything, but then quickly convinced myself that it was just my exhaustion. However Jorge quickly confirmed that it was a 4.5 tremor, but as he said “If it’s under 6 it doesn’t count in Peru”.

Much of the afternoon was spent taking in the charming center of the city which included the Santa Catalina monastery. This huge complex dates back to the late 16th century, with most of its grounds now open to the public, but still about 20 nuns currently live there. Even absent the rich history, these are still beautiful grounds to take in and much of the walls are painted vibrant shades of blue or red. Our evening came to an early end as we just got some empandas on the go from a streetside shop. Tomorrow morning is our (early) start to explore Colca Canyon!