Arequipa, Peru Biking up to the slopes of Mt. Chachani 13 Sept 2019

13 Sep 2019 Arequipa, Peru—biking up towards Mt. Chachani

            I just returned from another bike ride, this time heading up the slopes towards Mt. Chachani up the west side of the Rio Chili and above 10,000 feet. On the 9/11/19, together with a CU student, we took a/my cattle track up the east side of Rio Chili far past where I and the CU and SP U international students rafted on 9/7/19. Today, I returned to the west side of Rio Chile, heading up to the lower slopes of Mt Chachani, where I plan to take the CU student next miercoles, the 18^th and perhaps up to 16,000 feet on 25 September, where we will bike down. Two pics shows our group rafting down Rio Chile on the 7^th, while others show the Archaeology Sign (and my bike on the west side of the river) with the blue tarps below and in the background. The blue tarps is the area we left the river and where we changed our clothes.    

Back to Peru and Arequipa with CU students September 2019

Peru:

Rafting Arequipa's Rio Chili, a Class 3 river on 7 Sept 2019

            Yesterday afternoon (the 7^th) was an exciting time for 28 (+me) CU and San Pablos’ International students. We rafted the Rio Chile, a Class 3 river currently where the water, reportedly was 45 degrees (7 C). The river flows through Arequipa. We had wet suits and the sun was shining down on us. We first received instructions on what to do in the raft if it got too rough and what to do if we fell out. Then, we entered the river and later came out thoroughly wet but with smiles on our faces. My only regret was that since we were a large group and divided into two groups, I was unable to take pics of the other half; however, once we get the official shots taken by the rafting company, I plan to post some of them as well.

            An aside—which is related to the rafting. A group of local young people were gathered at the site where we exited the river, and one of them had a Peruvian blue hairless dog. I tried to point this out to the other students, but they had already moved on. So, I added a pic. I had heard just this past week, and confirmed by one of the river guides who stayed with me that Peru is trying to restore the numbers of these dogs and place them at all of Peru’s historical sites. They used to function as bed warmers, so if you encounter one of these “blue dogs,” pet them and feel the warmth. My own kids and grandkids did. Paz y Ciao.