Seeing White in Arequipa, Peru

When we think about Peru, Machu Picchu and Cuzco, along with Lima, are usually the first places to spring to mind. But many are this country’s alluring destinations, and none more so than its second city, Arequipa, in the deep south, at the edge of the Altiplano highlands. If the capital is stress, hurry, and humidity, Arequipa is the opposite – relatively tranquil; with a crisp, sunny climate (more than 300 days of sunshine per year); rugged countryside punctuated by the trio of snow-capped volcanoes Chachani, Pichu Pichu, and Misti; and a historic old town built from pale blocks of volcanic “sillar” stone responsible for earning this UNESCO World Heritage Site the nickname... keep reading 

Palm Springs a Desert Flower

Visitors to Los Angeles curious to join locals on one of their favorite weekend getaways will find this famous resort city in the desert a two-hour drive south (actually the best known of a cluster of several cities). Palm Springs’ beginnings as a resort (based largely on its “healthful” climate and hot springs) stretch back to the early 20th century, and as the Hollywood film industry got going in the 1920s, it also became the hideaway of the stars as well as writers and artists (and to some extent remains so; one of them, TV entertainer Sony Bono, was even elected mayor). Today the local resort scene is very... keep reading

images | vrebolledo, Palm Springs Tourism