Arequipa

Hey everybody. Moira and I are spending our first day here in Arequipa after completing our final overnight bus ride of this trip. We decided not to go to Lake Titicaca because we've both been pretty under the weather, and hauling all of our stuff from place to place didn't sound particularly ideal.

Anyway, believe everything positive you might have ever heard about Arequipa. We've only been here a few hours, but the weather is absolutely perfect. Tons of sunlight and blue skies, plus there are beautiful snow-capped mountains all around and palm trees in the Plaza de Armas. I'm glad I finally got the opportunity to come here. After having heard so many rave reviews, it's nice to take it all in for myself.

Tomorrow we're headed off for a two-day/one-night tour of Colca Canyon, where we'll get to see VICUÑAS and condors and such. Vicuña sightings are our top priority (they are the cutest EVER), so we had to choose a tour that would maximize our vicuña time. There's a reserve about an hour outside of Arequipa where we'll stop tomorrow morning to take pictures of/hopefully frolic with the vicuñas. Yay! We opted not to do a trek in the Canyon itself, simply because I have a terrible cough/we would have had to wake up SO EARLY. All in all I'm pleased with our decision. We'll get back Saturday evening with (fingers crossed) enough energy to enjoy the Arequipa nighttime scene, then we have all day Sunday to get our affairs in order before heading to Lima early Monday morning. Back in the States Tuesday night. Hard to believe, isn't it?

Love to all. See you very soon!