Peru 2024 - Part 14 - Lake Titicaca & Puno

Wednesday, 2 October through Saturday, 5 October 2024

We had a spectacular view from our hotel (GHL Hotel Lago Titicaca) on the outskirts of Puna.

Puno is on a small bay on Lake Titicaca. In this view, Puno is to the right and the larger lake is in the distance. The whole lake is very large, officially 118 miles long and 50 miles wide. While most of the lake is in Peru, the southeastern portion is in Bolivia. It is the highest navigable lake in the world, at an elevation of 12,500 feet above sea level.

We didn’t realize it at the time, but this view is looking directly at the Isles de Uros - the famous floating islands of Lake Titicaca.

The hotel has an observation point as well as walking trails. Click on the image for a larger version.

Sunrise from our hotel room.

Sunrise with a fog layer over the lake.

Sunrise (again!).

When it was cloudy, the lake was all grays and browns.

Guinea pigs are native to Peru. There were many wild guinea pigs around the hotel.

Four of about a dozen guinea pigs just outside the window at the lounge just before sunset.

We watched a fox from our hotel window. While it’s definitely a fox, this one has the same coloration as the coyotes around our house in Virginia. The black spot on the tail and the black tip are characteristic of our coyotes.

Peru 2024 - Part 13 - On the Road from Arequipa to Puno

Wednesday, 2 October 2024

There are two ways to get from Arequipa to Puno. Door-to-door they do not differ that much in time. You can fly from Arequipa to Lima, then to Juliaca, and finally drive an hour to Puno. Or you can drive over the western Andes to Puno, which takes about 7 hours. We’re always up for a road trip!

Looking back at Arequipa as we climb out of town.

The large cement plant at Yura, with green agricultural fields in the foreground.

As we climbed into the mountains, we could see the Ampato (left) and Sabancaya (steam at right) Volcanos in the distance. Sabancaya is in an eruptive stage and vents steam frequently.

As we get higher, the volcanos become more visible, and Sabancaya has temporarily stopped erupting, although a small amount of steam is still visible.

Guanaco just off the road. Of course like all animals, they are facing away. (Another in the “great animal butts of the world” series.)

More guanacos.

A little bit later we saw a good-sized group of vicuñas.

More vicuñas.

Volcan Misti rising behind the vicuñas.

More mountains behind the vicuñas.

The first of out two rest stops. Both had nice cafés and clean restrooms. Here I am having my first Inca tea (coca leaves and mint). The coca leaves are supposed to help with the altitude.

From a distance these rocks looked like evergreen trees.

Laguna Sacacane. Flamingos are on the near shore. The far shore has alpacas and sheep. The stone walls on the mountain reminded us of those we saw in Ireland.

The waters of Laguna Sacacane we unreal shades of blue and green.

We had a box lunch at the second rest stop above Laguna Lagunillas. We were almost at 15,000 ft above sea level, and it was easy to get light-headed with any exertion.

A Chilean flamingo in Laguna Lagunillas.

The Altiplano is barren, but beautiful.

Interesting patterns in the mountains.

As we got closer to Puno, we could see storms in the distance.

Peru 2024 - Part 12 - Outside Arequipa

Tuesday, 1 October 2024

Today we toured two attractions near Arequipa.

Along the way, there appeared to be a glacier in the mountains, but it is really tailings from a copper mine.

From Google Maps’ satellite view. The tailings are roughly one mile across.

Ruta del Sillar

Sillar is the volcanic rock that has been used to make most of Arequipa’s buildings. It is light and easily worked. We visited one of the major quarries that now mostly exhibits large sculptures made of sillar. There were probably close to a hundred pieces, including at least three nativity sets.

Looking down the road through the quarry.

A large lion sculpture.

Standing in front of a large bull - this gives you a feel for the scale of the place.

The working part of the quarry, with Volcan Chachani in the distance.

We watched while a seasoned quarryman made a standard-sized sillar block. First he used a wedge-shaped tool to make a small hole at the cutting line for the block.

Lon tapped in a metal wedge, and the block split evenly in half. We were surprised how straight the cleavage was.

Pulling the two blocks apart.

The worker then used a metal frame to mark off the sides of the block.

Then he carefully scraped down the sides to the correct size.

The finished block. Wages for all this work are minimal. It’s a subsistence job.

As we were leaving, the worker climbed up about 20 feet and started cutting larger blocks, then tumbling them down to ground level. It looked dangerous.

A variable hawk was watching the whole time.

Quebrada de Culebrillas

Not too far away is a small, narrow canyon, the Quebrada de Culebrillas (Snake Ravine). So named not for the presence of snakes, but for pictographs on the wall.

The canyon was only about 50 feet deep, but very narrow.

The namesake snake pictograph. Other figures around the snake are visible.

An insect pictograph. (Butterfly?)

Sue near the end of the open section of the canyon.

Peru 2024 - Part 11 - Arequipa - Monasterio de Santa Catalina

Monday, 30 September 2024

The Monasterio de Santa Catalina de Siena is undoubtedly the premier must-see in Arequipa. (Confusingly, a “Monasterio” houses nuns, while a “Convent” is for monks. How did English and Spanish come to opposite usages?)The walled enclosure of about 10 acres in the heart of old Arequipa is worth the visit. While hugely diminished from its heyday in the 19th Century (150 nuns with 300 servants!), it now houses about 20 nuns in a closed-to-the-public section.

The start of our maze-like walk through the Monasterio. I was totally lost wandering through the streets and cells (rooms), but our guide knew the site in depth.

Novice’s Cloister

This well-off nun’s cell had a private kitchen.

The main kitchen. The walls were covered in soot from the fires.

A harp in the music classroom. Some nuns earned money by giving music lessons.

Calle Sevilla

The laundry (lavanderia). The main flow of water could be diverted to individual wash basins. In addition to the residents needs, laundry was another source of funds for the Monasterio.

The pastry kitchen.