We went to the museum of the Andes to check out Juanita, the mummy of a 14 year old Inca girl killed as a sacrifice and dumped on the slopes of a volcano near Arequipa 500 years ago. She was found in excellent condition by a German archeologist called Johan so they named her “Juanita.”
I got this photo off the internet because…sometimes Peru gets too much. We walked to the museum and lined up to pay our five bucks each to get in and then they said you have to take a tour ahd admission doesn’t pay the tour guide so you have to give whatever you think is right. Oh and by the way Juanita isn’t on display as she’s off in the lab getting touched up. Oh and no photography. Good lord!
Years ago we went to the glass artist Chihuly’s St Petersburg gallery and when we walked in I saw a sign I’ve never forgotten.
Early on he understood the value of free promotion. Whatever you think of phone cameras and posts and all that Chihuly the successful businessman had a lesson for anyone seeking attention. Let the photographs flow. A lesson not learned in Arequipa. I was bummed all round.
We went to an Italian pizzeria for lunch but the pizza oven fires up at five so we had a plate of pasta, not bad but too heavy.
There was another museum nearby and we walked over fighting our incipient carb coma. We walked past some churches to get there.
The central museum has free admission thanks to its benefactor, the central bank of Peru. and photography is allowed.
St John of God is a big religious figure in Arequipa and there is a hospital named for him. It turns out he was a Portuguese soldier turned nurse, giving care to the destitute. He died in 1550 aged 55 after an incredible life growing from being an abandoned orphan to traveling the world as a soldier.
Apparently when the Spanish built Arequipa they had the idea to build a bunch of churches in order to fend off a series of natural disasters, including the usual drought earthquake and volcanoes.
They also wanted to use art to illustrate facets of the new religion they brought with them. So there was tons of religious art created in Cusco and Arequipa. This below is an illustration to help explain the mystery of the trinity to the heathen Inca:
On a less spiritual plane there were banknotes and coins from Peru’s history. They had silver and copper coins on display from independence in the 1820s when the Liberator Simon Bolivar helped create the republic. 
And once again a portrait of Umbria’s most famous citizen. In this case St Francis is pictured not taming wild animals but carrying a skull.
Layne usurped the kids’ display.
They also had some pre Inca art on display. It was a sample of the stuff we’ve seen in museums down the coast.
A sea bird with fish in its stomach.
I find the detail and the expression produced on these pieces are quite surprising. On this sea lion you can see a mischievous expression.
The floor was a piece of art in itself:
Not art, just a hole in the sidewalk being used as a trash can. Mind where you step.
This early model Sprinter van is waiting for new brake pads to be sent from Europe. Johan tried to get local brake shops to make new pads but they said they aren’t allowed to. I never expected that so I’m glad we have spare pads onboard for GANNET2.
Brita and Marcel from Hamburg. They sold everything and backpacked the Pacific Crest Trail. Then a friend of a friend was selling the van in Uruguay so they bought it and have driven Brazil, Paraguay,Argentina and Bolivia (which country they did not enjoy owing to very unfriendly locals). They are driving to Chile to sell the van to find other Germans before they fly to Australia to continue backpacking. In Germany she was an office manager in a doctor’s office and he was a car mechanic, and we had a long enjoyable evening trading stories from the road.
Marcel also introduced us to his SKOTTI collapsible barbecue which also has a gas adaptor to use any type of gas bottle. Hmmm…it’s on our list.
It’s them and us in the campground for now. Nice people.
