Costa, Celva, Sierra y Andies

The Biodiversity of Perú is something i don't think i will ever get over.

This last week we had spring break, and for the most part it was enjoyable. Some miss communication and flat out lying here and there, but good nonetheless. First we went to Arequipa, the second largest city in Peru. It's right in the middle of the sierra, so for once we were sweating and not shivering upon arrival. The sierra de Perú looks like rocks piled on top of rocks, shaped into mountains. And there's alot of them. It was a very starck contrast from Cusco, where virtually nothing is flat, to Arequipa where the rock/desert/mountains have large gaps in between each other, leading to a very flat looking city. Its very obvious upon arrival that not many tourists come here. Yes, they have to go through Arequipa to get to Colca Cañón, but not many choose to stay here for long periods of time. There were no vendadoras swarming around us with jewelry or pots or belts. The Plaza de Armas of Arequipa is gigantic, with tons of plant like thriving in the middle ofthe square. Unlike cusco, Arequipa is a very young city, only about 200 or so years old. Its not as rich with history, and therefore is without the cobblestone streets and clay roofs. Much more modern. The one piece of architecture that stood out to me was the white stone churches. Arequipa has three HUGE but dormant volcanoes. The rocks from the churches come from the volcanoes, and the whiteness of them is stunning. All the volcanoes are snow capped and they just take over everything.

Pichu Pichu and Misti

One of the many white stone churches

The next few days were spent in Colca Cañón, which at its deepest point is the deepest cañón in the world. Our tour guide Javier took us to many towns that reminded me of the floating islands of titicaca largo: they were there just to make money off of the tourists. I feel like that is the only reason some of these towns are still around. The tourists come, look, buy, and think they are really getting to know the Andian culture. The information that Javier gave us though was reall interesting. Did you know that condors sence when they are going to die, so just before the do they fly into the air and dive bomb down to the ground. What amazing birds, that can talk to the gods as well. We saw 4 of them in the cañón, as well as pachamama a few times over. The cañón was not what i expected at alllllll. I'm thinking ok Arequipa is the desert and the cañón is gonna look like the grad canyon ok cool. Nope. It is still used for agriculture and farming and there are cities so far down in the cañón i have no idea how they travel to anywhere else. Majestic i think is the right word.

Our condor friend

Here is a failed attempt at the majesty of Colca

Andy and I have both decided that when we come back to Perú, we will hike the cañón and climb a volcano. Just something more to look forward to :-)

On the way back from the green cañón, we saw snow. We drove through the snow and touched the snow. The brings me back to my first statement. The biodiversity of Perú, from the coast to the jungle to the desert to the two different zones in the Andian mountains, all within hours of eachother. The plant and animal life, and the culture of the people who live in these different regions is so dramatic its like your are traveling all of South America. Perú has EVERYTHING.

Um....

From Arequipa to Mollendo, the southern beach town, we traveled through the desert. The red mountainous desert that had snow capped mountains only a few hours drive away. The town of Mollendo was adorable. Very undiscovered by gringos, and i would like to keep it that way. The sun was bring and hot, the ocean was freeing with gigantic waves, the seafood was fabulous, and the ice cream was not very expensive. Walking on the beach and seeing all the different kinds of birds there were, and of course watching the sun set every night. It was so lindo.

Now, back in Cusco, i can say thta it feels like I'm home. I'm here in my house with my host mom who missed my and made me a huge breakfast to come home to. Andy and i have our favorite internet cafe we go to with great cake and chocolate caliente. We have a routine and plans and friends. Although I cannot wait for school and my internship to be OVER, I can't help but enjoy my life here.