Arequipa, dubbed the white city for its many colonial buildings made from light coloured silla volcanic stone, is Peru´s second largest city.  It lies in the shadow of 3 volcanos.  Santa Catalina de Siena Convent, a city within the city of Arequipa remained closed to the public for 391 years until it was opened in 1970.  30 nuns from 18 to 90 years old remain.  We tried Rocotto Relleno, a Peruvian dish of red peppers stuffed with a mixture of minced meat, raisins and nuts (riquísimo). 

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Nearby Colca Canyon at 3191 metres is twice the depth of the Grand Canyon.  A patchwork of terraced fields dating from 400 AD lines both sides and condors soar high on the thermals.  There are many hiking opportunities between traditional villages.  The women wear bright, intricately embroidered clothing and hats.

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Only appreciated from above, the gigantic Nazca Lines are truly awesome.  They consist of some 800 lines, 300 geometric figures and 70 plant and animal drawings made by the Nazca people between 900BC and 600AD in the desert sands.  The lines were made by removing the sunburnt brown stones leaving the lighter desert sand exposed.  Wind keeps the channels clean.  Their purpose remains a mystery today.  1600 years ago the Nazcas constructed several kilometres of underground aqueducts to bring water to their fields.  Every 6 meters, wells allow access.  The aqueducts and wells have survived time and earthquakes to still function perfectly today.

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We have celebrated 1 year of travelling.

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From Iquitos, a 3 hour boat trip 140 kilometres up the Amazon and then into a smaller tributary bought us to the Muyuna Amazon Lodge for a 4 day stay.  The lodge is built from bush materials on the water´s edge, deep in the jungle, and is lit at night by kerosene lamps.  Being the dry season, the water level in the river was low, but can rise by 10 metres in the wet, inundating the jungle.  The villages along the river banks take advantage of the exposed alluvial soil to grow rice and other crops between June and November.

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With Clider, our experienced local guide, we explored remote locations by boat and on foot, looking for plants, animals and birds.  We had fun fishing, visited Clider´s village, spotted a sloth high in the trees, saw monkeys, tiny bats, pink river dolphins and the giant waterlilies growing to 2 metres across.  There was still time to relax in the hammocks and listen to the strange noises all around us.

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Iquitos, on the banks of the Amazon River in Peru´s steamy jungle region, can only be reached by boat or plane. The Jesuits established a mission here in 1757 but the indigenous people resisted being converted. We arrived in time for the morning downpour. The city buzzes with moto-taxis. Boats ply the river carrying produce from villages up and down stream. Crumbling mansions stand as reminders of the more prosperous days of the rubber boom in the late 19th century.

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From early morning, canoes paddle around the floating shantytown of Belén, selling all kinds of jungle goods, including monkeys and turtles dead and alive. We picked up 2 local guides in the Belén market (or they picked us up), Lito (Phone 965835320) and Marlon. They showed us parts of Belén into which we would not have been brave enough to venture. We then went by boat past the floating houses, shops, bars and restaurants, some now high and dry to visit Lito´s own house on stilts, and saw the giant water lilies on the way.

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In the nearby village of Padre Cocha there is a butterfly farm but unfortunately the butterfly section was closed the day we went.  They also have a refuge for local animals which was open.

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Lima, Peru´s capital, was founded in 1535 by the Spaniard Pizarro and became the capital of the Viceroyalty of Peru.  In 1991, UNESCO declared the city centre a historical monument.  Downtown contains many impressive colonial churches and 19th century houses with stunning balconies as well as lovely plant filled plazas.  Lima also boasts the oldest bullring in the Americas and the third oldest in the world.

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The area around Lima had been inhabited for thousands of years and in the nearby suburb of Miraflores is Huaca Pucllana, a pre Columbian ceremonial complex made from adobe bricks.

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Unesco World Heritage Peninsula Valdés, in Argentina´s Patagonia, is one of the finest wildlife reserves in South America.  From June to December, southern right whales come to the sheltered waters of Golfo Nuevo and Golfo San José to breed and bear their young.  The southern right whales, so named because they were the ¨right¨ whale to kill, were facing extinction but now over 1100 visit these waters each year.

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That is why we travelled 20 hours by bus (and back again) to Puerto Madryn.  The whales did not disappoint.  They can be observed from the town jetty and from other vantage points around the coast, frolicking with their newborns just metres away.  To see and hear these 20 meter, 10 tonnes animals so close to the shore you can almost touch them is really something.

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Also on the peninsula are penguins, sea lions, elephant seals and dolphins, but it was the whales we came to see.

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After crossing back into Argentina from Paraguay, we followed the Paraguay River south until it joined the second longest river in South America, the Paraná, near Resistencia (a big country town with big wide streets).  Corrientes, across the river, has a bit more to offer in colonial buildings. 

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Continuing south we made stops in Santa Fe and Rosario.  Santa Fe was originally founded in 1573 but was moved to the present site in 1653 due to constant flooding.  In Rosario we finally got to taste the delicious river fish.

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Across the River Paraná from Posadas in Argentina is the Paraguayan city of Encarnación.  Nearby the ruins of 2 of the 8 Jesuit missions established in Paraguay, Trinidad del Paraná and Jesús de Tavarangue, are both deserving of their Unesco World Heritage status.

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Paraguay is a small poor country surrounded by Brazil, Bolivia and Argentina.  Guaraní, the language of the original inhabitants is still spoken along with Spanish.  Chipa sellers are everywhere, even on the buses.  We devoured many of these dense, odd shaped rolls, made from manioc flour, eggs and cheese, kept warm in a cloth covered basket. 

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The capital, Ascunción has seen better days.  Colonia Nueva Australia, southeast of Ascunción, was founded in 1893 by a group of Australians led by William Lane as the world´s first communist settlement. We didn´t get there.
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