EXPLORER AREQUIPA & COLCA

Itinerary:

Day 01: AREQUIPA WALKING CITY TOUR & SANTA CATALINA CONVENT
At the appropriate time, pick up from the airport and transfer to the selected Arequipa hotel. 02:00 PM Pick up from the hotel and visit the most beautiful cathedral in Arequipa, which holds the title of Minor Basilica, we begin our walk through the city. Crossing the Plaza de Armas, decorated by an ornamental pool that is crowned by a mystical character El Tuturutú, and then moving towards the Santiago Apóstol Church of the Order of the Company of Jesus, perhaps the most representative in mestizo baroque art that merges the European art with indigenous influence and in its interior we will find interesting paintings from the Cuzqueña and Arequipeña schools, in addition to the polychrome Chapel of San Ignacio that will surprise us with its fascinating wall paintings that cover the entire interior, Immediately afterwards we will pass through its Cloisters which was formerly the Santiago Apóstol School, with sillar arches, in the purest Baroque style. We continue towards the Church of San Francisco and the Chapel of the Franciscan Third Order. Later we will enter the Santa Catalina Monastery, a citadel dating back more than 450 years, which still preserves colonial air in its different cloisters and cells, as well as beautiful paintings and frescoes from the Cuzqueña School and varied landscapes mixed with pleasant views of the volcanoes and snow-capped mountains. from the city. Overnight in Arequipa.

Day 02: SILLAR ROUTE TOUR
Breakfast at the hotel. We will pick you up from your Hotel in the city of Arequipa and transfer you to the Sillar Rout, which is a tourist route where you visit quarries and areas where the ashlar originated.
The first point where we will stop will be the Añashuayco Quarry, this quarry is still in operation, due to the passage of time and the artisan work of the builders is that this quarry has become an immense canyon with walls that have a height of more than 30 meters. At this point we will tell you the history of sillar, its elaboration and the use that has always been given to it. We can also see how the sillar is made, since the builders currently work in the quarry. Then we will move to the Quebrada de Culebrillas, this is a illar quarry that is not in operation, in this quarry we will hike approx. 20 minutes inside the small canyon that has been formed by the passage of water. At the end of the walk we will be able to observe petroglyphs, which are figures such as llamas, suns, snakes, etc. made by the ancient inhabitants of this area, which are on the walls of the creek and can be clearly seen. Return to the city of Arequipa. Overnight in Arequipa.

Day 03: AREQUIPA – COLCA
08:00 AM Pick up from the hotel and departure from Arequipa via Yura, passing through the slopes of Chachani, Pampa de Arrieros, National Reserve of Pampa Cañahuas where the slender vicuña is appreciated, we continue through Vizcachani, Pampas de Toccra where a variety of birds can be observed. Then we will skirt through the Chucura crater to reach Patapampa (4,800 meters above sea level) and Mirador de los Andes where you can see the volcanoes that surround the city of Arequipa. Descent to the town of Chivay. Buffet lunch. Free afternoon and admission to the thermal baths. Overnight in Colca.

Day 04: TOUR OF THE CONDOR CROSS – AREQUIPA
Breakfast at the hotel. 06:00 AM Pick up from the hotel and departure to the Condo Cross (41 km from Chivay), where you can see one of the most spectacular places in the Canyon, and you can almost always see the condors in masterful flights. We will return visiting the towns of Pinchollo, Maca, Achoma, Yanque and the Miradores de Antahuilque and Choquetico. At noon we will arrive in Chivay for lunch, buffet lunch, and we will return along the Patapampa route, a plain near 4,800 meters, where we will find “El Mirador de los Andes”, from here we can see the Cordillera de Chila with the Mismi, short distance Chucura and Huarancote, in the distance Ubinas, Misti, Chachani, Ampato, Sabancaya and Hualca Hualca, we continue the journey, cutting the Chucura crater and continuing through the Pampa de Toccra we will find wetlands almost always with a variety of Andean birds. After approximately four hours of travel (151 km) we will be arriving in the city of Arequipa.

Day 05: AREQUIPA
Breakfast at the hotel. At the indicated time to the airport.