Tour tour with small group to Colva Valley
Lunch no lunch
Tour bus to Arequipa
Dinner Chicha
Hotel Hostal Mirasol, Arequipa
Colva Valley
The
extremely kind and helpful landlady organized a tour at 06:00 to Cruz
del Condor, which is a view point where the condor can be viewed in the
morning.
The tour stopped in Yanque where locals tried to get the
attention of tourist and make some money. Some children performed a
dance and some older ladies showed lamas and eagles. We love baby lamas
and alpacas and made pictures.
This area is seismic active. A small earthquake happens here every week.
The
Cruz del condor is visited by many tourists. The right time to be there
is 09:00 in the morning and the weather has to be good. We had a
perfect day, but we only saw one condor. No problem. We were told that
condors take 2 years to raise 1 child. After that time it is able to
survive on its own.
This part of the valley is called Colca Canyon,
and this is the deepest canyon in the world, 3.400m, twice as deep as
the Grand Canyon.
The valley is used for adventure sports: trekking, cycling, rafting.
And it hides also a luxury spa resort.
At 12:30 we were back to take the bus to Arequipa, and that took about 4 hours. We slept most of the trip.
Arequipa
Arequipa has ugly outskirts like all Peruvian cities and villages that we have seen. But the center is astonishing. A perfect square with nice side streets. The city is full of typical Spanish mansions with a small open area in the middle. Many of these charming houses are open to public as these are bought and renovated by hotels, restaurants, banks, musea, institutes, etc.
We visited Casa do Moral, a large house from a Spanish colonial, now a museum.
We fell in love with this city immediately.
We also loved our dinner at Chicha, another restaurant owned by Gaston. Next door is Tanta, a coffee shop making part of his Tanta chain. There we had our best chocolate and best coffee ever. Of course Gaston must be an extraordinary gastronomical entrepreneur, but we also have to give credit to all other Peruvians.
They are all excellent cooks, and they simply understand the elementary skills of cooking, just like southern Italians do. Peruvians also understand the hospitality business. They effectively help you in a very friendly way and most speak sufficiently English.
By the way: some Peruvian people do not speak Spanish well, but Quechua. (Actually, there are >100 languages spoken in Peru)Labels: Peru 2013