Only 40 minutes by plane to the city of Cusco and Machu Pichu, one of the world’s newest 7 wonders, and 30 minutes to the city of Puno and Lake Titicaca, Arequipa is strategically located. Moreover, the region of Arequipa has its own tourist attractions, such as The Santa Catalina Monastery, and more importantly the Colca and  Cotahuasi canyons, the two deepest canyons on the planet, close to where one of the most distant sources of water which supply the Amazon is born underground. Arequipa, as well is only a short 2 hour drive to the Peruvian Pacific coast and Southern Peru’s largest port, Matarani, which will become on of the principal ports connecting the Inter-oceanic highway connecting the east coast of Brazil.

Arequipa has an interesting history, with Cultures dating back much earlier than the well known Inca Empire. Arequipa differentiates itself from other parts of Peru because of the pride the people have for their land, their culture and their heritage, one of the most diverse in all of Latin America. A “Rebel” city throughout its history, there was even a period in which the region wished to secede from Peru and become its own independent nation, even producing its own currency about a century ago.