What a great trip we had traveling the Colca Valley. I’ve posted a photo here. We also spent a couple of days in Arequipa, including a morning touring the Santa Catalina Convent. At this convent, the second daughter of a wealthy family was sent to live her life as a nun and it was considered a privilege to live a life in the convent. The girls didn’t live in poverty, in fact their families provided them with luxuries such as china and silver; they also had 5 servants each to wait on them, cook and do their laundry. Isn’t it incredible the different lifestyles that exist in the many cultures of this world?
One of the highlights of our stay in the Colca Valley was viewing the Condors that rise out of the valley on the warm thermal currents as they leave the canyon and make their way to the sea, where they feed before returning in the evening to the canyon. As we left the canyon, we stopped at a roadside artisan market where an older gentleman was allowing tourists to take a photo with his domesticated condor. What a fun time we had passing the condor from person to person. I’ll post some of those photos on our FlickR account.
A post about Arequipa wouldn’t be complete without mentioning the romantic view of the Cathedral in the Plaza of Armas in the evening. We always choose an outdoor terrace of one of the second story balcony restaurants to dine and gaze at the sight of the Cathedral being lit from below by large spotlights. Not the greatest food in Arequipa, but definitely the greatest view. We ate wonderful food at The Rocoto – the typical Rocoto Relleno and Chupe de Camarones – an incomparable culinary experience.
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