My New Home...For a While

After Puno, we made our way to Arequipa, but we didn´t know what to expect from another big city in Peru. We came in at night and dealt with another crazy cab ride where I think we had at least three near accidents. I was starting to think it would be more of the same until we got the main part of the city where there is a stunning Plaza de Armas along with San Francisco Street which is remniscent of any main drag of bars and restaurants in European cities. As our guidebook said, it looks like a city right out of southern Spain (I´ve never been to Spain, but it sounded really good).

In the morning we started exploring the city and we all loved it. Its Spanish-style architecture reminded me a lot of the places that I like in New Orleans. The main Cathedral is made of a very light stone that makes it shine during the day. Every day is sunny and the city just lights up. On any afternoon you can find the main square full of people chatting, reading, writing, or just contemplating whatever people contemplate. Basically all aspects of the city just gave off extremely positive vibes.

Outside of the man-made beauty, Arequipa sits on the foothills of two snow-peaked mountains, Chochani and Misti. Misti is an active volcano and I have an amazing view of both from my hostel. While I was backpacking in Europe I got the feeling in a few cities that if I had the time I would love just stay there for a month and explore; I got that same feeling here and I had the time. So, when Daniel and Kacey left I asked the manager of my hostel if I could stay there and work for a month and he said yes. So, now I am the hostel bartender and token American guy. Living and working with the Peruvian staff also serves as free Spanish lessons. I wanted to improve before I started travelling on my own.

I also am going to start volunteering at a school for a couple hours a day teaching English. It sounds like fun and a good use of a few hours every afternoon.

While Daniel and Kacey were still here though we went on a fun day trip to Colca Canyon. Its about four hours outside of Arequipa and it is the deepest canyon in the world. It boasts that its depth is about twice that of the Grand Canyon. The most impressive aspect was a lookout point called Cruz del Condor where you can see Condors soaring above the canyon all day. In the hour or so we were there I think we saw about 15-20 condors. They have a wingspan of about 3 meters and actually get very close to you. They were extremely impressive to see up close and in the wild.

So, now I´m living here and planning the next leg of my trip. It was sad to see my travel buddies leave, but its also fun to be on my own.

Just a side note, we did see the Loquito on our way back to Puno and our cab driver just sped up and he jumped out of the way. No bread for him, but he got a sol out of us which is enough to buy bread in any town.