Arequipa: Rarified air and Colonial Grace

I'm getting over, or perhaps just acclimatized to my breathlessness. I woke earlier than I have been lately, this morning, and walked down to the Plaza de Armas to try and get some action in a gentler light. Well the shadows were slightly less harsh than the midday black holes we experienced on Saturday, but I realize I'm going to have to set the alarm to get out in the really soft light just after sunrise. I was in luck, though, because I caught a military parade to celebrate the independence of Latin America from Spain. 

Now Alex seems to be suffering from the altitude sickness which I have just about recovered from. He's sleeping it off in the room now while I write down here in the lobby. 

  

We met Carlito from Carlito's Tours this morning and his guide, Juan is picking us up at 7.30 tomorrow morning and taking us on a private tour to Colca Canyon. Looking forward to shooting the condors and other wildlife we find. This Peruvian adventure is looking up so much since Las Islas Ballestas. If I'd been well enough to keep the blog in Lima, I'm afraid it would have been a miserable screed, full of complaints, but in Arequipa I'm up, happy and healthy, and getting a handle on the rest of the trip.