Royal Brittania, Arequipa, and the Condors at Colca Canyon

Peru
3/17/2009

We got into Arequipa, Peru all 7 of us, the 4 british and us 3. We caught two of the super small mini taxis that are everywhere here in Arequipa, and arrived at our new hostel, which apperently, we now own! We were the only people in the whole hostel, which we got for a reasonable price, 15 Soles($5), with a kitchen, that had no sink (they did our dishes.) We were pretty lucky with the location of the hostel, it was right on the main street(a walking street) and within minutes of many good cheap food places. Arequipa is a pretty city, less so the Sucre, but Sucre was beautiful. As you walk down the walking street there is a lot going on. They call Arequipa the most stylish city in Peru, and it seems for a reason (at least in the center). The street is filled with loud music, mall like shops people dressed up fancy, and expensive pharmacies and shops. Also there are tons of fancy glasses stores! Both of us got brand spankin new perscription glasses, very nice, high quiality for 105 Soles, 31 dollars for two sets!! It took 1 day to get them made, and it even included an doctor eye exam, some things are alot easier to do here, then in the US.

Our British friends are a blast, and we are having a great time, all 7 of us. Hugo is the self proclaimed leader. His teeth are aweful, as you would expect, he is british. However, we all know that Connie was the leader, and mother so to speak, the responisble one. Harry... kept us entertained, with his junoir gaucho antics. Roz was mild mannered, and held interesting conversation. All 7 of us, Team Royal Brittania, and the rebels who won(USA), made interesting company during our time together especially in Arequipa.

Corys new nickname, Big C, is very fitting, or you could use Big Loops, which harry made up on account of his rather large loops he uses to tie his shoelaces. Both names are appropriate.

The next day we headed toward Colca Canyn, a popular destination for tourists in the area. Colca canyn is the seconddeepest canyon in the world, or so they say. We started the trip by getting into this really small town called Yanque, and settled in for the night, the people at our hostel took us on a 20 minute walk out of town, to an indoor hotspring, which costs 2 soles(0.66$). It was great! The water was warm, everyone was hapy and telling stories, we had a nice refeshing night. When we were back, we realized that the next morning, we would have to leave from the hostel at 4:30 in the morning, oh no! In order to get to the condor area in time. We ate our spaggetii dinner with a lack of gusto, and headed to bed. Waking up at 4, we caught our bus to Cruz Del Condor, and most of us slept. I got a window seat, and as soon as the sun came up, I was looking out the window the whole time. The canyon was amazing at sunrise. It is so wide and deep, lush green and brown rock, excatly as you would picture Peru to be. At Cruz Del Condor, I woek everyone up and we headeed out into the morning sun. IT took a few minutes for people to realize the beauty of where we were, and it was amazing. Within the first few minutes, we already saw condors circling way down below, trying to get out of the canyon for their daily hunting/scavenging. Everyone collected, and took pictures, and we headed down the trail. The whole area is so senic, and pretty soon, most of the condors were at the lip of the canyon and within 20 feet. On condor flew right over lainas head! But she wasnt paying attention!. We continued the hike, and saw many condors, and beautiful scenery, there is even a mountain in the distance covered in snow so that if you look at it it will hurt your eyes.

We caught the 9 oclcok bus back to Chivay, got a small lunch, played pool with 11 billard balls, and then headed back to Arequipa. Getting back into town was nice, we all got back to the same hostel as before, but now all the renovations we done! We went out for dinner, to a restaurant called tacos and tequila, and then to a club called Deja Vu, and the band was really good, the singer could impersonate anyone! From Bono to mick Jagger to the Who and Sting, I was impressed. We made it home after a very long day and passed out. The next day was our last day with our british friends, and made the best of it by seeing town, chatting and playing some cards. When they left, Cory went with them, he is now headed home to Hawaii, and he will head with them to Cuzco, and then to Lima, where he will catch his flight home.

That night laina and I stayed in Arequipa, we went to a couchsurfers house, where we will stay for a few days. He was super busy so we didnt see him that much, and besides we were actually spending most of our time on the internet. Right now we are searching for a good opportunity for a summer job. Originally our sights were set on Boise, but now we have found a few contacts, and we are going to try our luck in the US Virgin Islands, working at a dive shop, brew pub, national park, or any assortment of the latter. Ie anyone out there has any contacts or friends in the islands, we would really appreciate any advice, tips, or information!

My old camp leader from Buldir, Aleutian Islands, Erik was in town the last few days so it was quite a pleasure to hang out with him and his girlfriend, Joanne. They shared lots of stories of her 2 years in Malawi, and Erik´s time traveling randomly around africa and South america. They headed out to the Colca Canyon, and now we are just getting some internet work done here, before headed to Pisco, Peru, where we will start our volunteer work on the Earthquake restoration in Pisco. If you want to see the organization we are volunteering for, go here: www.piscosinfronteras.org .

I am going to try get some good pictures up here on my Peru photo album, so check them out!