Raptor & Verse

After Cusco, where I must have been solicited at least thirty times a day to buy a massage, or art work, or a tour, or a shoe shine (for my sneakers), Arequipa was blissfully hassle-free. 

Arequipa (with Chachani volcano in the back)

The city is beautiful, surrounded by volcanoes, with dozens of picture-perfect churches made from the white volcanic rock Sillar. But unlike Cusco, you don't have to pay to go into most of the religious buildings and you can take photos inside.

Catedral, free admission!

That being said, one of the places I DID pay to go into, and it was totally worth the $12 or so, was the Santa Catalina monastery/convent.

Santa Catalina Monastery

It is a city within the city, with its own streets and parks and cemetery and laundry, everything the Dominican nuns needed to stay separate from the secular masses for over three hundred years. They only opened up to the public forty years ago, so the convent is a fascinating time capsule of different architecture, art, and religious techniques.

street in Santa Catalina Monastery

In the area around Arequipa, you can find stunning scenery, including the third deepest canyon in the world, the Colca canyon.

start of Colca Canyon

The canyon starts forming in the picturesque Colca valley, where you can still see working agricultural terraces dating back to pre-Incan times.

Colca Valley

Colca canyon is also home to a large population of endangered Andean condors, but it was too cloudy to see them at the official lookout when I was there this week.

Andean Condor

Fortunately, the magnificent raptors also like to ride the thermals in the valley, where we could actually see them!


Andean Condors from Tina Cone on Vimeo.