The next morning, Hannah and I were once again reunited!! After some post-overnight bus decompressing (hot beverages, conversation, and then silence while enjoying the beverages), we hit the streets to explore more of Arequipa. Fueled up on an amazing fruit, granola, and yogurt almuerzo, we explored south of Plaza de Armas local shops...aka overwhelming row after row of similar/identical merchandise, from knock-off Puma sneakers to rubber bands, Hot Wheels to plungers. Of course, I was perusing the adorable newborn outfits...all in English? I polled a few vendors, “do you have any clothing with the writing in Spanish?” “Si, claro....uhh.... actualmente, no.” “Don't you find that strange?” “Ummm...” Though I never received a definitive confirmation, from the expression on their faces, they found it strange as well. We spent the rest of the day finalizing a white water rafting trip, eating yummy (and cheap) sandwiches, and meandering. At night, we found ourselves being thoroughly entertained while people-watching in the main plaza – kids racing to and from a fountain for the prize of big hugs and kisses from Mom, a band of men dressed in Shakespearean clothing playing a slightly more civilized mariachi-style music, hippie jugglers, and, of course, a bride and groom taking post-ceremony photos.
Sunday began with a casual 'eat cereal from a water glass' kind of breakfast before we left to explore Monasterio Santa Catalina. In operation for more than 300 years before finally opening its doors to the public the 1970s, it is literally a citadel within a city. There is so much open space inside the monastery that there are even small streets with their respective names and signs. The colors were so rich and vibrant, the courtyards were immaculately maintained and bursting with flora, and the architecture seemed to change as we passed through each cloister area. Let's just say there were quite a few 10-second timer photos. A very smart bride and groom couple were capitalizing on the beautiful, brightly-colored backdrops and grabbing snapshots at every turn. We probably spent close to 4 hours exploring the compounds and eventually exited about 20 minutes prior to our scheduled pick-up for rafting. Basically, we ran to grab a quick sandwich, power-walked/jogged back to the hostel, and managed to walk through our room door just as the bell of the hostel rang, announcing out ride had arrived. I'm pretty certain we have never performed a complete change of clothes (bathing suits and all) so quickly on the trip thus far...possibly in life.
Once all rafters were collected from their respective hostels, we traveled to the main office where, while changing into appropriate rafting gear, I came face to face with my arch nemesis: the wetsuit. After a few failed attempts to produce adequate chest rise once in one, I grabbed a larger size and spent the following 10 minutes trying to get out of the first one. As you can see below, once suited up, we looked goooood!! We received a semi-scary briefing about river craziness, basic commands, and what to do when you fall out of the raft. The rapids were mostly class III with two or three class IV sections along our route. At one point, they told us to get out of the raft and swim upstream to the other side. “And why would we do that?” “Es divertido!” Alrighty...a few things: the water (even with a wetsuit on) was a few degrees above freezing, we couldn't touch the bottom, it was very difficult/nearly impossible to swim upstream in class III rapids wearing our ridiculous getup (regardless of how good a swimmer you are), so we all ended up downstream a bit grabbing on to whatever or whomever we could to stop our downward progress. The guides kept shouting “up, up, swim up” and looked quite alarmed, so eventually, they paddled over to us and hauled our bodies up and into the raft while simultaneously shouting “rapido, rapido...es muy importante!” You know, this all could have been avoided if you'd allowed us to remain in the raft...solo diciendo. My fellow rafter pulled me onto the side of the boat, and as I was resettling myself into position, he pulled me in again – feet flailing and face smearing along the bottom of the raft until forward progress was stopped by his shoe. Oooookay. We picked up a couple people who had floated quite a bit further downstream from the “swimming” bit, both of whom looked pretty shocked. All in all, we had a great time with a great team and a very knowledgeable, experienced guide, Horatio. Plus, to round out a great tour, they provided hot beverages and cookies at the end of the route. We changed behind some propped up rafts, dried off a bit before riding back, and enjoyed the great views of El Misti and the pre-Incan farming terraces of the surrounding area that the drive provided.
Traffic jam on the way to the rapids.
We call these "irresistible sexy suits."
A shot of the river we rafted!
We survived the rapids! Those are the "yay, now we can tell our parents" faces.
Our rafting team, minus the guy on the right. We really have no idea who he is.
The remainder of the evening was spent taking “hot”-ish showers (literally, a shower head that stuck out from the middle of the room itself and thus, got everything in the bathroom wet) and enjoying felafels and crepes from “El Turko.” Tomorrow, we head to Puno, our last town in Peru!
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