Arequipa is a city at the heart of some of the world’s most awesome natural wonders. Every morning I wake up to a perfect view of el Misti, one of the volcanoes towering over the city. And just last Friday afternoon, while resting in bed during a rainstorm, I have no doubt that I felt an earthquake tremble through. It is a land full of constant reminders of the powerful natural world, and with a history rich in admiration for the splendors, and dangers, that this world brings.
Last weekend I trekked through the Colca Canyon, (arguably) the deepest canyon in the world. A five hour drive from Arequipa, the canyon sits in stark contrast to the snow-covered volcanoes visible from the city. Just one look into the canyon from above was enough to feel the enormity of this natural beauty - but after four hours of steep downhill trekking to reach the bottom, I had a completely different appreciation! After a lunch of quinoa soup and grilled alpaca meat, our group decided to forgo the afternoon of rest that we had planned and instead hike another four hours to the oasis that we would otherwise reach the next day. Although our bodies were tired (and we had been up since 3am when we left Arequipa), our hearts longed for the full day of rest that we would have on day 2 if we made it to the oasis a day early. Despite more steep up and down-hill trekking, we all agreed that the decision was a good one as we strolled through timeless and hauntingly beautiful canyon towns – smiling at the few inhabitants who had not yet left their homes for work in the nearby mines. Our smiles faded with the day as we were left with a dangerous downhill trek in the pitch dark night, wondering whether we had made a very bad decision. But we made it, all of us, with no injuries – and heaved a great sigh of relief as we unloaded our bags in the camp and celebrated with several bottles of pisco and coke!
The view the next day was beyond words - waking up inside a towering canyon to blue skies and a refreshing pool, with the knowledge that we had an entire day to rest our weary bodies, was entirely worth it. So much so that we didn’t even think of the 4am, 4-hour uphill trek that we had ahead of us the next day …
A week back in Arequipa, muscles fully recovered, I experienced another perspective on the terrain that I had just trekked through when I visited the museum that houses the famed mummy Juanita. Unfortunately we came during the 4 months of the year when Juanita is hidden away for preservation, but had an incredibly interesting experience nonetheless. Quite unlike the other memorable mummy museum experience that I have had in Latin America (in Guanajuato, Mexico), it was surprisingly non-ghoulish and quite informative. Through a private one-hour tour we learned of the reverence that the Incas had for the volcanoes, believing in a power so great that the most beautiful and pure few among them had to be sacrificed in order to keep peace with the Gods. Children were selected from a very young age and raised with the sole purpose, and honor, of being sacrificed to these Gods. And it is the incredibly well-preserved body of one of these children, Juanita, which has allowed people in modern times to better understand this divine process.
Though the practice of human sacrifice is disturbing to us now, clearly dating back to a very different time, I felt a connection the people of this land hundreds and thousands of years before, and shared in the admiration and awe that this beautiful and powerful land inspires.
