Arequipa and the Colca Canyon

Peru is an amazing country.

I had the opportunity to go to the second largest city in Peru called Arequipa. It is near the Colca Canyon, which the peruvians boast is the deepest canyon in the world. I don´t know if this is correct or not, but I got to go and see the canyon for myself.

Arequipa is known as the white city. This is because the stones used to build it are white. It is an oasis in the desert. The peruvians also claim that the most arid desert is in the south of Peru and the north of Chile. Arequipa is in the midst of it. They say that when the Incas arrived in Arequipa they said in their language of Quechua ari which means here and quipa which means we stay.

A church in Arequipa

There are 3 volcanoes around Arequipa, and when they were active during the time of the Inca´s children were sacrificed to the mountains. One such child, discovered in 1995 and named Juanita after to finder, was found on the top of a volcanic mountain in very, very good condition. The best condition a mummy had ever been found. Her hair, skin, fingernails, all intact and in immaculate condition. The people believe that she was of great beauty, a virgin and very intelligent. She was approximately 12 -14 yrs old when she died from a blow to the temple. The temperatures were such on the top of the mountain that she froze almost immediately and that is why she was so well preserved. They have a small museum here that is dedicated to her and some other child sacrifices. As I was touring the museum all that I could think was ¨how sad. How very, very sad for those children and those people.¨

The volcano Misty

I also visited a monastary while I was in Arequipa. The monastary was built by the spanish in the mid 1500´s and only the second daughter´s born to wealthy families would become nuns. I don´t think the 2nd daughter´s had a choice. The parents had to pay a lot of money for the first 4 yrs of the girls service (novice) and when they became nuns the parents had to pay the girls dowry to the monastary for her upkeep. The girls would bring their slaves with them to the monastary as well as a few personal treasures. They had their own bedrooms, which were actually quite large. They could talk with their families on certain days but only through wooden screens attached to both sides of the wall. They never saw their families with their eyes again and vice versa. They took a bath once a month in like a small, not very deep swimming pool. This was done while they were fully dressed. The slaves also had a place to bathe and again this was once a month, while fully dressed. The richer the girl the less work she had to do.

The side of the wall where the nuns visited with their families. The spoke through the wooden slats

There was one nun who may or may not be considered for sainthood that was at this monastary. The nun began attending school there when she was 3. She became a nun at age 16 or 17 and was for a time the Mother Superior. She died at age 92 blind and I think they said paralysed as well. Apparently, to become a Saint you need to perform 3 legitimate miracles. The first miracle was when she was exhumed. She had been buried for almost a year and when she was exhumed there was absolutely no decaying of her body, whatsoever. The second miracle was when a woman with cancer ate some soil from her grave and her cancer was cured. A medical doctor attested to the fact that the woman had and then didn´t have cancer.

 A typical nun's room

Some of a nun's things on display

The old communal kitchen - not used anymore

This stone was the water filtration system. They would fill the bowl up in the morning and in the evening and the water would drip through the stone and be purified.

The visit to the monastary was very interesting. Apparently, there are still about 20 nuns who live there.

I took a tour around the city of Arequipa and saw a water mill, as well as other interesting things.

Inside the water mill

The stone crushing the corn

Under the water mill. The water powering the stone that is crushing the corn.

The trip to the Colca Canyon was very interesting as well. There was 6 of us that went. One couple from Argentina, one couple from Austria, one girl from Switzerland and myself.

We spent the night in the town of Chavey. I stayed at a different place than the others because we had booked with different agencies. We did have our meals together, though.

The valley that the town of Chavey is in also has a lot of terraced land that the people work. Apparently there is 30 000 people in the valley and they farm 40% of the terraced land. The women dress in long skirts with fancy embroidered shirts and vests from the time of the spanish. Even their hats are embroidered. Very beautiful. The homes are mainly made out of adobe bricks. That is mud and straw bricks dried in the sun. Some of the roofs are corregated metal and some are thatched with straw.

The town of Chavey

A woman and child in typical dress

Some fancy ladies hats. These are worn on a daily basis, just a part of their regular clothes.

Some of the produce grown in the valley. Corn, wheat, barley, quinoa, lima beans, etc.

 The landscape in the valley with some terraced lands

Another lady in her every day clothes.

Another view of the valley

The Colca Canyon itself was pretty cool. I have never seen 1st hand the Grand Canyon but from what I understand the Colca Canyon is not as impressive as the Grand Canyon. The Colca Canyon is over 4000m deep and 110 km long. The Andean Condor calls this place home.

The Andean Condor is the largest bird of flight in the world. It has a wing span of 3m and stands approx 1m and can weigh about 15kg. The guide said that this was not a good time to see the Condors as it is mating season and they don´t usually fly. She said that we would be lucky to see one. When we got to the viewing place we saw one flying. We jumped out of the van and started taking pictures. In all we saw three that day. Some people arrived at the sight 20-30 min after we did and they never got to see one.

The Colca Canyon looking away from the valley

 A condor in flight

 The Colca Canyon looking towards the valley

Trying to look down into the Colca Canyon

The Inca people would mummify their dead and place them in a stone tomb. Here is a picture of some of the tombs that had been opened by scientists from today's times. They are just under the overhand and appear to be small holes.

Another opened tomb. The tomb was built using stones and mud and cactus juice as a cement. This tomb is a bit red in colour.

This is a picture of 6 unopened tombs, just under the ridge.

The highest point in altitude of our trip was the summit at just over 5000m. It was like being on the top of the world.

God has created an amazing and quite diverse place here in Peru. The desert, the Andean mountains, the jungle, the seaside. All quite different, but equally beautiful in their own ways. God must have had such a good time creating all of creation. The heavens, the earth, the seas, the skies, the galaxies, the universe. What a job that must have been!!

I am off to the jungle tomorrow to do some volunteering there. I think I will be doing some reforestation of native species along with removal of some bamboo. I am looking forward to this part but I also understand that one of God´s little creatures (the mosquito) has a voracious appetite. I hope they don´t like me too much.

Please keep my family in your prayers.

Also, please pray for the people of Peru. They claim to follow the Catholic religion, but they also worship the Mother Earth and the mountains, sun, water, etc.. like their ancestors do. I don´t think a lot of them really know the Good News of Jesus Christ. Pray that God will be in this place and that an awakening to the Truth be seen in this place.

Please pray for the other volunteers. A lot of them are living for self and their lives seem quite empty because of it. Let me be a beacon for them as to a good life. A life in Christ.