Hello, Arequipa

We had a super early start to the day because we had a morning flight to Arequipa. It’s not a long flight, only about an hour and 15 minutes but with any air travel you always have to be at the airport early. The flight was uneventful and our new guide Victor was there waiting for us once we picked up our luggage.

He informed us he’d be our guide for our entire stay in the region and that our hotel room was ready despite check in being at 2 p.m. so the driver would drop us off at the hotel. Bonus! We’d have time for some lunch and Brad could have a nap. Victor would be back in the afternoon to take us on a walking tour.

Arequipa is a city of about 1.5 million at an altitude of 2,335 metres so we started taking our altitude sickness pills today before we head to higher altitudes tomorrow. We’ve been to Quito, which is at a high altitude, but this trip we’re going to be going significantly higher in both Peru and Bolivia.

The other key to avoiding altitude, sickness is to drink water, water and more water. Victor advised us to drink a minimum of two litres a day, which we’re doing.

We’ve been really surprised at how charming Arequipa is. Founded in 1540, the historical area is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and very Spanish. Because we’re in earthquake territory, there are many buildings that didn’t survive but some still remain, including an incredible convent which we toured.

The convent was actually a private one. Wealthy families would pay $10,000 in the 1800s to have their daughter live there along with her companion/maid. As you’ll see in the photos, the accommodations were pretty sweet for that era.

For dinner this evening, Victor recommended a restaurant where we could try alpaca meat and we were keen. Brad and I are always adventurous eaters. That said, we decided to order two different meals. One of us would order alpaca the other would order lamb and share them. That way, if we didn’t really like the alpaca we’d have something else to eat. The alpaca was fine, but it was actually flavourless. Not at all like beef or lamb. Just kind of boring. But we’ve tried it and we don’t need to have it again.Meer informatie