We spent two days in Arequipa at the mission home for a zone conference and clinic visits. We really enjoyed getting to know President and Sister Zobrist. They are from Las Vegas and love the high desert climate in Arequipa! We, also, saw many of our missionaries from our branch at the CCM. This was a large mission home with a great yard for lunches and activities.
It was very spacious with lots of room for missionary activities!
This is a big kitchen in Peru and even has a dishwasher!
The yard was huge and very lovely!
These sisters have foot injuries and are recovering at the mission home!
Angela and I walked thru this park by several llamas.
This is the mission office and Steve is checking out the boundaries.
Angela and Richard Zobrist
This is the hospital/clinic that the missionaries go to and we were surprised by the nice facilities and equipment.
We got a great tour and helped establish a relationship between the mission and caregivers!
The rooms were nice and clean and a couch or lounge chair for overnight stays!
This brother helps transport the missionaries and gets appointments for them as well!
This is the Arequipa health team!
The hospital grounds had great cactus plants! We liked this hospital alot!
We spent the afternoon with the Zobrists and drove up to the temple lot high on a plateau overlooking Arequipa. It's a perfect place for a temple and will be very visible to the new highway.
You can barely see the fence to the left which is protecting the property! A new house is being built across the road and the surrounding property is now expensive!
A beautiful corn field is just below the lot!
To the left you have a great view of Misty Mountain, which is an inactive volcano.
On our return to the mission home, we saw this herd of cows walking down the street! Peru is so fun!!!
The Zobrists gave us a tour of the Plaza de Armas and it was the most beautiful one we have seen!
She is wearing the native dress and look at the baby lamb!
We went inside the cathedral and were able to take a few pictures!
These children were chasing the pigeons!
We met this woman from Puno that the President Zobrist knows and we bought dolls from her!
We had dinner on the terraces across from the cathedral!
We had great food, great music, and a great view!
This hermana is wearing a traditional Arequipa dress!
What a view!
The next morning, we arrived at the zone conference and spent time with these great missionaries!
We love being with the missionaries!
This was a lovely Stake Center!
We left the mission home in the late afternoon and headed to Chivay! We stopped to get a picture of the volcano, Misty, and the other surrounding mountains.
We traveled across these mountains at an elevation of 15, 000 feet.
This Andean boy seems to have everything he needs to be happy! But, does he have the Gospel?
The sunset was amazing as we traveled the switchbacks thru the Andean mountains.
We arrived in Chivay, just after dark, in time for dinner and were greeted by these lovely hermanas and this sweet baby and these two hermanas!
This hotel was very rustic and charming!
This was on our way to our room.
Our rooms were rustic and very comfortable!
After a good nights sleep, we awoke early to begin our adventure to the famous Colca Canyon to see the great condors and terracing of that region. There are 16 villages in the Colca Canyon area and they are all very quaint and interesting!
This is the terrain we crossed with steep switch backs and we could hardly see the lines on the road!
Each village had an archway to welcome visitors!
It was fun to see so many animals used for transportation, plowing, and for carrying their crops and wares. Rock walls were everywhere!
Most villages had a plaza and a Catholic church and filled with people to sell and buy goods.
These young women danced for all the visitors and the women below had eagles on their arms or a llama for picture taking!
Aren't they adorable and we loved talking to them!
This hermana was holding a lovely alpaca shawl that caught my eye. Here I won't barter for a better price. They have so little in material needs and work very hard to care for their families. Most families have no fathers in the home!
This is Maria and she provides for her three children! She makes me feel very tall!!!
This is the last village entrance, before we got to the Colca Canyon lookout to see the condors!
These teenagers were having fun posing for pictures and you can see the amazing terracing in the background!
Breath taking views!
There are burial caves on the left halfway up this mountain face!
The beautiful Colca Canyon!
Even this high, the natives find a way to live in this desert terrain!
What cute donkeys!
We sighted our first condor, which are fairly extinct and are huge black birds with a while collar and red head!
This is the path down to the lower lookout!
At the top, there were many villagers selling their blankets, tapestries, hats, bags, etc.
All these people got up early to try to see the condors!
Another great shot of a condor!
We only saw one at a time, so did not know if it was the same condor, or, they took turns!
This is Toni our driver and Felix our Guide. We spent two days traveling with them and enjoyed them a lot!
A breathtaking view of the Colca Canyon!
On our way back to Chivy for lunch, we stopped at this artesian market and I found a lovely Andean blouse and always enjoy talking to the hermanas who have made many of their wares!
This is a familiar site along the roads in Peru!
This is a typical village plaza next to a Catholic Church and there is always a fountain, too.
In a few areas you find these amazing stone roads.
We saw lots of donkeys, horses, sheep, cows, and llamas!
What a great shot!
This shows how many villagers help with planting the next potato crop and how much work is done by hands and cattle!
We returned to Chivy for lunch and enjoyed a lovely Peruvian buffet!
We left the village of Chivy!
On our return trip to Arequipa and the airport, we saw many herds of llamas, alpacas, and vicunas.
We drove over the Patapampa Pass at 15,000 feet, higher than Mount Rainier!
Our last few hours were spent finding herds of llamas. alpacas, and vicunas!
Llamas have longer necks than the alpaca and you can tell which are the vicunas
The highlands of Peru have lakes, springs, and streams to provide for the herds and birds in the area!
The following pictures are of vicunas and their hair makes very expensive fabrics!
FAREWELL TO AREQUIPA AND THE COLCA CANYON REGION!
