Day 14: Mirador de Achomani
The only item on our agenda today is a horseback ride, with a departure time of 11AM, right from the hotel. So no alarms today! Plenty of time to wake up naturally and bask in the morning sun while drinking espressos and birdwatching. The “peak relaxation” portion of this trip is well underway.
Good morning Colca Canyon
Heading up the walking path to breakfast, we were recruited by a groundskeeper to help feed a couple of the permanent residents — a 45-day old alpaca named Wida and a 4-month old llama named Misky. He handed us their bottles and we delivered. They were very cute and friendly. On the way, we also passed the fish pond, and they obviously needed some breakfast too, so we obliged.
For our breakfast, we enjoyed the typical Belmond buffet options, along with some items from the kitchen menu. We couldn’t resist the eggs benedict topped with a local “spicy sauce” called aji de la casa. It was great — just don’t use too much. We also had a couple smoothie-bowls (veggie and fruit/honey) and an apple cider quinoa porridge, all of which were quite tasty.
After breakfast, we geared up for our horseback ride. At the front desk, we signed our waivers, got our helmets, and met Pascual, our horse guide. Pascual does not speak much english, so the front desk agents helped with introductions until we were geared up and on our way. Matt was riding Cocoa and Jo was riding Bailarine (aka. Ballerina). Usually, when we sign up for horseback rides, they might give you a short lesson on how to hold the reins, how to control the horse, etc. Maybe even do a few laps. Nah! Not this time. Once we were on the horses, we were off! (Don’t worry, we had it under control)
Suns out, Horses out!
The first portion of the ride was up the Las Casitas “driveway” switchbacks to the main road. We then followed the main road west until coming to a path that meandered through farms with bulls and cows. That led us to a different road entering the small town of Achoma. We passed an elementary school, the university athletic field, and a town square with a few shops. After clearing the town, we continued up another set of switchbacks to the Achomani lookout.
Achoma traffic jam
When we arrived, Pascual parked the horses and we walked up to the top of Mirador de Achomami, an Incan archaeological site that probably saw both residential and military usage back in the day. It’s currently in the process of being restored/studied, so there were several very chill archeologists milling about with digging and science equipment.
Archeology in action
Mirador de Achomani
Colca Canyon to west of Achoma
From this viewpoint, you can see up (east) and down (west) the Colca Canyon. To the east (from most distant to closest), we could see Chivay (the “entrance city” to the canyon, where we stopped yesterday), then Yanque (still partying for Inti Raymi until 2:30AM), then Las Casitas (our hotel, not a village), then Ichupampa, and finally Achoma right below us.
Looking east
To the west, we could see the town of Maca, followed by more distant villages of Lari, Madrigal, and Pinchollo. (Although at some point, the “villages” get difficult to differentiate from the terraced farmland.)
Looking west
Once we finished taking in all the natural splendor visible from Mirador de Achomani, we fetched our horses and followed Pascual’s lead back down our 9km track to the hotel.
The Gates of Achoma
Upon our return to Las Casitas at ~2PM, we immediately returned to relaxation mode. The hot tub on our patio was calling our sore hiking muscles, and the bright afternoon sunshine was once again nap-worthy. We also discovered a fantastic cherry-flavored soft drink called Kola Escocesa (aka. “Scottish cola”) which bears that name because some Scottish guy/company started making it in Arequipa with local mineral water in the 1950s.
Goodbye sore muscles
Delicious
Decorative stonewear
Tonight’s free Belmond activity before dinner is canapés and drinks on the restaurant terrace. Fancy! We donned our headlamps and walked over. The staff had just stoked up a cozy fire pit on the terrace. We were the only ones in attendance (we think the other guests checked out), so we grabbed two seats and settled in for some pre-dinner blogging. The very attentive server staff brought us red wine and a Colca sour — made with pisco and cacti fruit. They also brought out fried potato appetizers — similar to a small falafel ball served with guacamole.
Colca sours are also delicious
When the tasty appetizers were finished, we went inside for dinner. For starters, grilled eggplant salad and shrimp chowder. For mains, rosemary sea bass and aji de gallino (with parmesan cheese as per Luis’ recommendation). And for dessert, apple pie and ponderaciones, a traditional Peruvian dessert that “has been making people happy for the past 400 years” according to the menu. It is made with crispy dough dipped in chocolate. So yeah, we’re happy.
Making People Happy CONFIRMED!
Random observation… in the dining room they play Andean music, which has a lot of flutes. But we both stopped and did a double-take when an Andean flute music cover of Kansas’ Dust in the Wind started playing. A few other songs seemed vaguely familiar, but they might have been actual Andean songs.
After dinner we briefly pondered not signing up to do anything tomorrow, and going full lazy/cheap mode. But thankfully, we came to our senses and stopped by the front desk to confirm our excursion to Mirador Cuz del Condor at 8AM in the morning. Apparently, this is THE spot to see multiple condors in the wild as well as an excellent view of the deepest part of the canyon.
