Canon de Colca

Last adventure in Peru... for now! The last week was a whirlwind of hiking and bus riding, but now that we are parked in the beachtown of Arica, Chile we can finally update with a few new photos! Arequipa was a much more citified place than Cusco, but still ruggedly Peruvian. We went on a 3 day adventure with our friend and guide, Alain, who took us on a private little tour of canyon trails leading past cactus towards isolated little bungaloes, hotsprings, and hidden pools. It was a much more relaxed version of hiking than our last backpack trip. This time we walked hard and fast for part of the day, then spent the rest of the time in sublime relaxation. The accomodations were grass huts and the beer was warm, but we still felt like royalty the whole time. Alain is muy tranquilo and our conversations always ended with, ¨Todo es posible, nada es seguro.¨ It felt like we went on a meditation retreat with a little yogi- lots of laughing and spanish practice to accentuate the fantastic views. We got a little hungry in between meals, so we picked the fruit from cactus (they call it tuna- but it´s nothing like its namesake in the states!) and made ourselves a little feast at the cost of a few prickly spines in our hands. We met great people from Holland, Ireland, and Florida on the trail and spent St Paddy´s night in an Irish pub with all of them on our last night in Peru. The very bottom part of Peru is arid times ten- we saw sand dunes but nothing else for hours outside the windows of our speeding bus and taxis. It made Nevada look lush! More news from Chile to follow!