Are- are- are- are- are- Arequipa

I was greeted with this shout early in the morning around 5:30 am at the bus station in Arequipa, because we once again made this journey back with the night bus.

Matching the sunrise, we wanted to make our way to our hotel. This time, however, the taxi drivers did not rush us - quite the opposite. After about 15 minutes of waving down taxis and countless taxi drivers shaking their heads, we finally crossed the street, where there were significantly fewer people, and got a taxi after a few minutes. Once again, we were lucky with the hotel and were able to start the day with an extended nap in the hotel room. Afterwards, hunger drove us to a small nice café nearby. Here, we were provided with pancakes, French toast with Nutella, savory croissants, coffee, and freshly squeezed juice. Well strengthened, we strolled through the city center with its breathtakingly beautiful historical buildings and then visited Alpaca Mundo. There, you can see not only alpacas but also llamas and vicuñas, and learn everything about the journey of wool - from shearing the animals to the finished sweater in the store. But what will probably stay in our minds the most is how Leonie got spat on by one of the alpacas.. and that from a close distance.. with a piece of grass. Well, not everyone can say in Peru that they got spat on by an alpaca. We had to let that sink in first at a nice little restaurant with a pizza and a plate of homemade pasta. Arequipa itself doesn't have much to offer as a city, so we did what probably 90% of all tourists in Arequipa do: we booked a tour to the Colca Canyon, the second largest canyon after the much better known Grand Canyon. The tour lasted a total of 2 days and started at 9 am at our hotel. On the way, we made some stops to see, among other things, free-roaming vicuñas, llama and alpaca herds, some volcanoes, and a lonely flamingo. By the way, the flamingo was the first and only one on the entire trip, lonely at the top at 4000 meters altitude between vicuñas and volcanoes. We really didn't expect to see any more of them there. After checking into our hotel in Chivay, a small town right on the Colca Canyon, we went straight to the hot springs. There we spent about 2 hours in the cozy warm springs at about 38 degrees. The next morning, we started quite early, because we still had to drive a bit to get to the canyon and in addition, the condors, another reason why you go to the Colca Canyon, are better seen in the morning. On the way to the lookout point, we could admire the deep gorges of the canyon. Truly breathtaking! At the same time, however, quite different from the Grand Canyon, because while you see red rocks there, the Colca Canyon is overgrown and less steep than the Grand Canyon. Barely arrived at the viewpoint, we could already see the first condors. Condors are the largest birds in the world with a wingspan of up to 3 meters and are just as impressive as the canyon itself. At times, up to four condors flew over our heads and then directly in front of our eyes in the midst of this unique environment. Definitely our Arequipa highlight! After being able to watch the birds searching for food in the early morning for about 1 hour, we started back with a few more stops. At one of the stops, we had the opportunity to try the famous cactus fruit drinks, a Sancayo Sour and a lemonade, in pleasant 25 degrees and sunshine. Sancayo is the green cactus fruit, which is known for its medicinal effects. Among other things, it helps with gastritis, diabetes, osteoporosis, and allergies. And it was delicious too! Back in Arequipa, we spent another 2 days trying out various restaurants and strolling through the old town, and then we set off on the next leg of our journey with a night bus. This time, the destination was: Ica or rather Huacachina.