Arequipa, also known as the “white city”, is made up of charming colonial houses built of white volcanic stones, surrounded by volcanoes and snow-capped mountain peaks of the western Andes. In the town founded in 1540, there are countless museums and mansions. The most important sight is the almost 20,000 square meter convent “Santa Catalina”, a small town in the city of Arequipa, with many fountains and cobblestone streets.
The Colca Canyon, with its 3,270 m, is one of the deepest canyons in the world. The Colca Valley, with its many colorful Andean villages, is dominated by pre-Inca times, and the cities founded by the Spaniards are still inhabited by people from the Collagua and Cabana cultures. The locals still live according to the traditions of their ancestors and have been cultivating the terraced terraces that have been found throughout the valley for centuries.
The Colca Gorge itself is just breathtaking, especially because of the Andean Condors, which are clearly visible to observers, floating above the thermal winds in the sky.
This day trip will be remembered forever.
At 3 o’clock in the morning, we will pick you up at your hotel with a private van and drive directly to the viewpoint “Cruz del Condor” in the Colca Valley in about 5 hours. We will stop on the way only for a short breakfast break. From the Cruz del Condor you have the best view of the wonderful mountain scenery and, more importantly, the Andean Condors floating up to the sky through the thermals, out of the valley, sometimes just a few meters from you. Here you have the best opportunity to photograph an unforgettable experience.
On the way back, we pass some typical villages of the local area, such as Yanque, where we will visit the Franciscan church. The Spaniards had after the conquest of Peru, Yanque to the capital of the Collaguas province determined and built there a large Franciscan monastery to convert the indigenous people and ultimately to baptize. The Franciscans instructed the Incas in the Catholic doctrine and social customs of the Spaniards. This should discourage the indigenous people to continue to worship their ancestors, mountains and spirits of nature.
In Antahuilque we show you hanging pre-Inca tombs in the mountain slopes and terraced land-based terraces, also from this period.
At 11.30am we arrive in Chivay and there you can enjoy a relaxing bath in the beautiful hot springs before lunch.
On the way back to Arequipa, we stop first at the lookout point of the volcano Misti (4,900 m) and then at the Tocra National Park, to observe native wild birds, alpaca and lama herds, but also vicuñans. The Vicuña is a South American camel that has one of the finest and most expensive skins in the world. Your hotel in Arequipa we reach gg. 18 clock.
