A RAGING TORRENT, A BAPTISM AND ANOTHER TOUR OF AREQUIPA – 2012 PART VI

I will write now about our time in Arequipa now. We passed thru Arequipa on three different occasions, in early 2012. We were there before, during and after the holiday at the beach. Also for a couple of days during the Baptism, which occurred, while we still had the house at the beach. I will describe our time in Arequipa as if it was one continuous period. However, it was really, three distinct visits, each a few days apart from the other. But, for the purposes of this memory, all muddled together as one. For the most part, we entertained ourselves and explored on our own. For us, that, was quite a change from the norm.

By now Deysi and I had been travelling together for 33 years. Ange and Ron were no longer children. Ange still allowed that she might possibly, given the right circumstances, travel with us at some point. With Ron there was no “grey” area. Our nephew Coco was still posted in the jungle. The kids were back at school. Everybody had their own lives. That left Desyi and I to fend for ourselves. And you know what? We were ok with that. Just the two of us reliving the old days, when Deysi wooed and won me. Visiting the places where we spent so much time together 35 years earlier. So, we set about to see what we could see.

What we found on our arrival in Arequipa, this time, was completely new to us. I have been there many, many times over the previous 35 years. Each time the weather was sunny and dry. It was never real hot, however it was always very comfortable. This time was different. Although we had heard rumours of rain, over the years, Ol’ JimboRed had never seen it. What we saw, this time, was quite amazing. During our drive from the Airport, we passed over the local river, Rio Chili. The water was up on the retaining wall, and almost flowing over top.

I had to rub my eyes and look twice. Without question, JimboRed was the most surprised visitor to all of Peru. Apparently the rainy season had arrived. I had been thru many, many rainy seasons and never seen a drop of rain. Long ago, I had stopped listening to grand stories of the storms that arrived in the rainy season. This time they seemed to be true. The Rio Chili was swollen with grey, silt laden, water. It was at levels that I had never seen before. Once a, kind of, sedate trickle of water from the Andes, it was now a raging torrent. Quickly, I found out that when it rains in Arequipa, it is torrential. The rain seemed to fall in sheets. Sand and dirt stripped off the arid and barren sides of the mountains, poured off into the river.

JimboRed found it quite awe inspiring, if not, quite frightening. Amazing to consider, however, here we were on the edge of the driest place on earth (the Atacama). And now facing the potential of major flooding. Especially if the Rio Chili, burst its banks. We now understood the need for the huge, high, bridges that crossed the river, every few blocks along its path, through the city. In places, it appeared that the river might undermine some very old houses. Some built on steep gravel banks and seemingly perched over the raging torrent. The angry flow of this swollen river, as it hurtled thru the city, was mesmerizing.

And now I am going to tell you a sad story of humans and nature. Heavy rain and flooding such as we experienced on this trip, only occurred every 20 or so years. In the times between the floods, the river shrunk to a moderate sized stream. The constant flow of silt and earth from the Andes, built new, fertile spots along the river’s edge. People have short memories. And after a few years, landless people, move onto these new land deposits. In a few more years they have developed small farms and are successfully raising families. All is at peace in the world. And then comes the next flood. Sadly, these farms, which by then, might be 15 years old, are swept suddenly away. Nothing remains, no home, no land, nothing. Many do not even escape with their lives.

Bubbaloo still had places to show me in Arequipa. This time we took tour buses and went off by ourselves to see the sights. One fine day we decided to get on a tour bus and see how much the city had grown. We started in an area, very close to where we lived after our marriage in 1978. It was just off the city centre and in an upscale neighborhood. This time, we stopped at Alpaca World. It was very interesting. We found out that the llama, alpaca, vicuna, and guanaco were all related and all part of the camel family. The vicuna and guanaco are wild and live in the highlands of the Andes. These animals are highly protected. They could not be hunted, nor domesticated. Only the INCA, was ever allowed to keep Vicuna, and that was a few hundred years ago.

What we did see was a display of the natural dyes used by the peoples of Peru for hundreds and hundreds of years. Incredibly, these ancient Peruvians could make dyes of almost any color. Mostly, from plants that they found or cultivated in the high Andes. One in particular, was not made from a plant. It caught our eye. The brilliant red color came from the Cochineal Bug. The bug was dried and ground up. And then used to make a brilliant red. In the days of the Inca, the bright red color was a sign of wealth or standing. Ancient Peruvian burial chambers often contained robes of this color. The color, Incan Blood Red, still exists today. Apparently the palace guards in London wear this color.

We now fully understood the animals from the high Andes. So, we jumped back on our bus and headed for the northwest of Arequipa. We arrived at a point where the Rio Chili entered the city. This was one of our favorite places. We were here many times over the years, starting in 1978. In my mind it truly shows a landscape of Peru, and how every inch is utilized. The Valley of Chilina was the name of this place. We had seen the progression of this site, over the years. When we visited in 2024, they had even added a zip-line to the activities available. You could now “fly” across the Chilina Valley. They had also installed a bungy jump and picnic areas. The Chilina Valley, to me was unquestionably the most beautiful place in Arequipa.

Where we stood, just felt Peruvian. If I could dream of any sight, in Peru, which made me feel Peruvian, it was here. We were still about 10,000′ in the Andes. Although Arequipa was densely populated, the surrounding area reminded me of other places we had lived and travelled in the Andes. We strolled around, me soaking in the atmosphere. Desyi, honing her shopping skills on the local vendors. She had very much turned into a Gringa during the years between our visits. Now returning to Arequipa she found it necessary to sharpen some of her skills. You could not walk around this place without drinking an Inca Cola and eating a “queso helado”. It just seemed to fit. We walked around, Desyi shopped and I dreamed.

When I speak of Desyi shopping, I don’t actually mean she necessarily bought anything. I do believe that she just sharpened her negotiating skills for when we went back downtown. At this time in Peru, prices on items were challenges more than firm “bottom line” pricing. I have always thought that both Peruvian buyers and sellers know the real price of each purchase. But they negotiate boisterously, as part of the fun of buying. We slurped Inca Cola, and gulped down a couple of Queso Helados (translates to frozen cheese but much better). We took a couple hundred photos. I will always remember this place as the perfect agricultural example in Peru. The use of land, demonstrated in this Valley, is repeated throughout the country and high up into the Andes.

From here we boarded the bus and moved a little closer to downtown. We stopped at another one of our favorite places in Arequipa. You could see the whole city, from the viewpoint at this place named Yanahuara. There was a beautiful church beside a picturesque park. Many of the rich and famous in Arequipa, were wed here. The Park was always full of visitors. Both locals and tourist came here for the best view of Arequipa. We visited this spot each time we came to Arequipa. It never gets old.

Yanahuara has a beautiful archway which forms a lookout point to view the city. In addition this viewpoint takes in the three perfect, sometimes active volcanoes that surround the northeastern side of the city. Many millions of photos are taken in this very spot each year. I must say, Ol’ JimboRed has taken his share of those, over the years. Each time we visited this area, Deysi started some serious shopping. Below and behind the archway, the vendors displayed all of their wares. We shopped, took pictures, reminisced and hopped back on the bus for a trip to the other end of Arequipa.

We jumped back on the tour bus and headed for the opposite end of the city. One difference we noticed on this trip. In contrast to other visits, Arequipa seemed to have grown, significantly. It was now about 1,000,000 people. There were, now, a couple of freeways traversing the city. Where before there were none. Outside of the city centre, the traffic seemed to flow freely. In previous times, it was torturous to navigate a crossing of the city. We also passed a couple of huge American style malls. I spotted a MacDonalds sign. Five years previous, we had to go all of the way to Arica in Chile for a Big Mac. In general everything seemed so much more modern.

One thing that never changed was the taxis. They were everywhere, horns blaring and engines roaring. On top of the milling swarm of taxis, there were an equal number of buses. Old ones, new ones, big, little, and all grunting, grinding and shrieking their way thru the traffic. In some ways the City looked more modern. In other ways it had stayed the same. We were on the top level of the tour bus. Our views were great. We crossed the city, to the south, to an area called Jacobo Hunter. Where many historic sights are found. The bus could not resist a stop at the mansion of the Founder of Arequipa. He was Garcí Manuel de Carbajal. Of course, the Founder’s name sounded awful Spanish to me. But don’t get me started! He founded the city in the late 15th Century. In the early 1600’s he built this house.

La Mansion del Fundador was a spectacular place. Hell Ol’ Jimbored could have moved right in! The most exquisite of furnishing decorated this house. Art, furniture, Peruvian artifacts, and antiques were everywhere. On the outside, stones, bricks and mortar was the construction. I suspect that little has changed in its outside appearance over 500 years. It is a solid construction and will probably survive another 1000 years, or so. We were not allowed to take photos of the inside. I am not sure exactly why. However, I expect it was because, Peruvians are strange? Could be, right? In any event, we toured the house, and walked the grounds. We found a kind of restaurant around the side, and, of course, bought something. I will let our photos describe what we saw.

From Jacobo Hunter we circled around, through Sabandia, and the famous 1500’s mill, around the east side of Arequipa. And then approached our starting point by crossing directly thru downtown at 3:00 pm in the afternoon. I can tell you that none of the chaos was missing in the city centre. Unbelievable comes to mind. The 5 or 6 blocks surrounding downtown, were completely jammed. Horns were blaring, sirens screeching, drivers yelling, police chirping, dogs barking, children screaming and my ulcer throbbing. On top of all of that, they turned the streets, around the main square, and the main street leading off of it, to a “walking only zone”. No cars allowed. And there we were, with a huge two decker bus, right in the middle of it. Why would a tour driver, with tons of experience go thru here?

Ok, now we arrive at the point of this whole article. The Baptism! On the 25th of February, 2012, the time had arrived to give the twins to the church. At first the Church did not want them, they preferred to have the cash instead. However, with some begging and pleading, the Church could finally see some value in them, after all. So, on one fine morning we dressed them as pretty, as we could, and marched them up to the church. Relatives came from miles around, some even as far away as Canada. We were all there to say our goodbyes. I might say, that the twins did not know quite what to make of all of the fuss. They went reluctantly into the ominous and very scary looking Church. Even Ol’ JimboRed was a bit apprehensive. Because, they could see my sins, written all over my face.

As it turned out, we found out, that, we could have them back after they were baptized. I must say, Ol’ JimboRed did some fine teasing this day. And of course, found myself in trouble from Desyi, throughout the ceremony. Despite me trying to “wind up” the children, the ceremony came off smoothly. All those in attendance, tried to poke, squeeze, hug or smooch the two children. In spite of the trauma, they held up and survived the ordeal. Finally, with a few words mumbled in latin, some sprinkling of water, and about 500 photos, the twins now belonged to the Church. The gathering of friends and family, now poured outside of the Church. And to the delight of the children, another round of photos was taken.

Ok, formalities over, and both twins now firmly in the clutches of the Church, it was time to party. Perhaps you had all thought that the baptism was over. However, if you do, then you do not know Peruvians. As I always said, nobody likes a good party as much as a Peruvian. So back to the house we went, to break out some beer and music. Of course, the food was already being cooked. Everyone moved from the church and congregated at the family home. The children got out of their clothes and started another round of playing. We ate, drank, danced and told tall tales well into the evening. A friend, of our nephew, Nono, helped fire up the BBQ and assist in the cooking.

And thus, we come to the end of another memory of Arequipa. I know, it has been long and probably very tedious. Some of the guests, now, disappeared back to their homes. Lalitas and JA headed to Canada. The kids now had to start school. Our nephew Coco was still in the jungle looking for bad guys. Deysi and I spent many great days looking around the city where we met. However, I cannot resist, one final memory before I leave you. One day we decided to go for lunch, at the hotel, that I first stayed in 34 years earlier. We gathered up Big Sole’ and Deysi’s buddy, La Flaca Mariposa. We were very familiar with this place and this side of town. JimboRed stayed here on his arrival in 1978. Then after we were married in late 1978, we lived 3 blocks from here.