Volcanoes, Vicunas and Alpacas !!!

Volcanoes Misti and Pichu Pichu in the background.

   



The beautiful Colca Canyon is approximately 165 Kilometers from Arequipa, Peru. By road, with frequent stops in between, we took around 4 hours to reach the small town Chivay, which is near the Colca Canyon. This is a very interesting region of Peru to travel by road and I highly recommend it. As we left Arequipa, we were leaving behind the 3 volcanoes Misti, Chachani and Pichu Pichu.

Ubinas was still fuming!!! Recently on August 21, there was another massive explosion at Ubinas!

But, very soon we encountered Peru's most active volcano, Ubinas. Just 10 days before our trip, on June 3rd, there was a massive eruption at Ubinas and the ash plume had reached 10 Kilometers above the volcano.

I love the layers of colors in this frame !!!

The drive took us through Peru's National Park "Salinas y Aguada Blanca". The scenery changed from snow capped mountains to dry bushes to the highest elevation we ever reached on this trip. We then rapidly descended to the small town, Chivay where the Colca Canyon starts. On the way, we stopped whenever we noticed the wild animals Vicuna, Guanaco, Alpaca Suri and many different types of birds.

Vicunas

Camels, Llamas, Alpacas, Alpaca Suris, Vicunas and Guanacos belong to the Camelids family. In South America and Peru, the Llamas and Alpacas are domesticated. The Vicunas and Guanacos are wild animals. The Vicunas are identified by soft fur just below their necks.

A Vicuna family!

Vicuna

After few hours on the road we stopped at a rest area to have some refreshing Coca Tea.
At these elevations, one need to keep sipping the Coca tea to deal with "Altitude Sickness"

Rest area restaurant.

Alpacas!

Cool dude, Alpaca! Love the expression on his face :)

From the view point at the highest elevation (16,108 feet above sea level), volcanoes
Ubinas, Ampato and Sabancya are visible.

Volcanoes Ampato (20,629 feet) on left and Sabancaya (19, 442 feet) on right. Sabancaya was smoking :)

Shopping mall at the highest elevation !!!

Colorful hats, Alpaca and Llama sweaters and blankets for sale!

We pulled over to the side again to watch a large herd of Alpacas and Alpaca Suris.

An Alpaca Suri is identified by its long, shiny locks!

Why did this Guanaco cross the road?

So that I can take a close up photo of him :)

It does get very cold here. Brrr!!!

Black, Brown and White Alpaca Suris.

Alpaca Suris.

Partial Solar Eclipse !!!

Nature put on another free and impressive show in the sky today. The Moon is the main culprit, coming in between the Sun and the Earth in the afternoon causing the "Partial Solar Eclipse". The Solar eclipse started at 2:15 PM and ended around 4:40 PM.  Since it is a weekday, I took my tripod and camera to work, stepped out to the parking lot during the eclipse and took these shots.

This is a test shot I took yesterday to figure out the settings to be used during the partial solar eclipse.

The black spots are "Sun Spots". The darker Sun Spot
is more than 12 times bigger than the earth :)

The following is a collage of 12 photos taken from just before the eclipse started to the time it ended. Even in the last image at the bottom right corner, there is teeny bit of the Moon covering the Sun. If you can't see it, have your eyes checked :)

Looking at the Sun Spot, which is 12 times bigger than the earth, I was once again reminded by nature how tiny we are! Even the Sun becomes a tiny dot in the universe, just one of the many trillion stars.  Hmmm....something to think about !!! :)

Vibrantly Intense Colors of Santa Catalina !!!

It is beautiful, historic, serene, quiet and last but not the least, vibrantly colorful. Founded in 1579, the Santa Catalina Monastery is like a mini city within the city of Arequipa. Women from diverse social backgrounds joined the monastery to serve as nuns. The families of the nuns built individual houses for them within the monastery. Some of the nuns' houses are very simple with a small room and a kitchen while others are much bigger with multiple rooms and two kitchens. Our guide explained that young daughters of wealthy families lived and grew up in those big individual houses with servants and maids. As they became teenagers, they became nuns in the monastery! 

A small part of the monastery is still in use and visitors are not allowed. The striking thing about this monastery is its simplicity and the intense & vibrant bright red, crimson, blue and yellow colored walls and buildings.  A bright and sunny day made it a more colorful and memorable visit!

The Silent Patio.

Section of the Monastery where novice nuns stayed.

Orange Tree Cloister.

The Infirmary.

A series of huge clay jars used by the nuns to wash their clothes. Water to each jar can be
individually controlled by stoppers! Notice the sillar (volcanic white rock) stone wall on the left.

As we walked through the various sections of the Santa Catalina Monastery and the nuns' houses, our guide was describing how life was for those nuns back in the 16th century. I felt as if I had stepped back in time!. The Santa Catalina Monastery is the crown jewel of Arequipa, and it did leave a very colorful impression on us!

Blanco Arequipa !!!

Posts about the history and culture of the Incas and their mastery of interlocked stone architecture are over and behind us :)  From Cusco, we took a morning flight and within couple of hours reached Arequipa.  Arequipa is called "The White City" for a reason. Almost all the buildings in the historic part of Arequipa are built from "Sillar", a white volcanic rock. In 1540s, the Spanish started building the Cathedrals, Churches and Mansions in Arequipa. The Spanish architecture is more visible to the tourist than anything related to the Incas. Arequipa is located in a valley at an elevation of 2328 meters (7638 feet).  On the eastern side, Arequipa is surrounded by three volcanoes: Misti, with a height of 5828 meters (19101 feet), Chachani with 6075 meters (19931 feet) and Pichu Pichu with 5669 meters (18599 feet). Wherever you are in Arequipa city, Misti is always visible.

View of Arequipa city and valley with volcano Misti looming large on the left and Pichu Pichu on the right

The "Mirador de Yanahuara" is a series of white stone arches that provide an excellent view of Arequipa
and the surrounding volcanoes.

Mirador de Yanahuara.

Very creatively carved tree trunk.

Iglesia de Yanahuara

Beautiful, sculptured facade of the Iglesia de Yanahuara!

Yanahuara street.

The stunning cloisters of the La Compania

La Compania cloisters and the fountain.

Plaza de Aramas

Arequipa is an UNESCO World Heritage Site and is definitely very unique with its white volcanic rock buildings, cathedrals, churches, monasteries, excellent food and it's proximity to the volcanoes Misti, Chachani and Pichu Pichu.