For Logan’s 28th birthday we decided we needed a little adventure chasing. We pointed the truck toward canyon country and bush camped our way down and around the sunshine city of Arequipa.

 

The climate in Arequipa was spectacular. We enjoyed the sun while watching the first Husker’s game of the season live via wifi (GBR!). We explored the city and made plans to celebrate Logan’s day. There are so many options in Arequipa it was hard to choose how we would get our hearts pumping. Mountain climbing, river running, trekking, mountain biking, it all sounded good. In the end, Logan couldn’t resist mountain biking nearby Volcano Misti.

Our heart rates sufficiently accelerated, we finished the day in true Logan style: debating the next big exploration over wood fired pizza and shots of Jack Daniels to carry us home. We hung around Arequipa longer than planned, soaking up the friendly atmosphere and the warm temperature. We agreed this city was the perfect combination of Cusco and Lima. Arequipa is a big city with a small town vibe and there’s so much going on here, it’s easy to feel like the only gringo around.

After Arequipa, we backtracked to Colca Canyon making a second stop at one of our favorite bush camps outside Chivay, Peru. We arrived at Cruz del Condor in the late afternoon and had the twice-as-deep-as-the-grand-cayon view all to ourselves. Early morning is said to be the best time to view the condors who make their home in the canyon. After setting up camp we realized there were about a dozen zooming overhead and our private viewing became even more spectacular.