A Free Day in Arequipa

After almost three weeks of keeping up a hectic range of activities, it was a rare treat to have a day of relative leisure. This gave us the opportunity to spend some time wandering the beautiful streets of the historic centre of Arequipa.

You do not have to go far to appreciate the Spanish colonial history that permeates this part of the city. The narrow streets and white volcanic stone buildings really are a lovely feature. Of course the major highlight is the Plaza Mayor, the major plaza. The plaza itself consists of a lovely grassy park surrounded on all sides by lovely white stone buildings.

The plaza is dominated by the Arequipa Cathedral. The original structure was built way back in 1540, but almost immediately was destroyed by a large earthquake. Over the successive centuries it was destroyed and rebuilt numerous times. The catastrophes ranged from earthquakes to volcanic eruptions to large fires.

The most recent such catastrophe was a large earthquake that occurred in 2001. This destroyed the left hand bell tower and severely damaged the right hand one. By this time, however, it appears that the locals had become adept in recovering after such events and, a little over 12 months later, the damage was repaired.

Today our group dispersed over the city and I actually never saw any of them at all during the day. David and I even waited in the foyer at the end of the day for over an hour without so much as seeing a single one of our team. I guess that means that they are having a good time.

Having failed to meet any of the others, David and I took the beautiful back route to the centre of the city and had a most enjoyable quick meal at one of the popular eateries in the mall. On the way back we stopped to watch a talented mime artist who had attracted a large crowd of onlookers. We had to admit that he really was very good and his entertainment was well worth the few sols we tossed into his hat. It was a perfect end to our time in this fascinating city.

Tomorrow morning we rise early to avoid yet another city wide strike (such strikes are a part of life in South America). We begin with a flight to Lima and then a much longer flight across the desert and Amazon Jungle to Iguassu Falls in Brazil. It will be our first time down at relative low altitude in almost three weeks. We are all looking forward to feeling superhuman.Read more