Visiting Arequipa? Don’t Miss the Salinas & Aguada Blanca Reserve

 50 thousand tourists visit the Salinas & Aguada Blanca Reserve each year, most of them stopping en route from Arequipa to Colca Canyon. Located in the Arequipa and Moquegua departments, the reserve is marked by expansive landscapes extensive plains, large and beautiful volcanoes, lagoons, peat bogs and cushion bogs, whimsical rock formations, and prehistoric remains.

Most stop to appreciate the views of the landscape and the grazing herds of endangered Vicuña and Taruca along the Cañahuas plains. (The Taruca is an endangered Andean deer which lives in the central Andes at altitudes higher than 3900 masl; the reserve is one of the few places in which it can be found.) Visitors with more time to spare can go mountain climbing, camping, rock climbing, mountain biking, or hiking.

The western chain of the Andes is the reserve’s natural frontier of the reserve. Here, one can see region’s storied volcanoes: El Misti, Ubinas, the three snowy peaks Chachani, Huarancante, and Pichu Pichu (which is technically outside of the reserve but within its area of influence).

During the Stone Age, the area was populated by nomadic hunters who hunted vicuñas and guanacos, gathered eggs, seeds and amphibians. They documented these activities in their cave paintings, which can still be seen today at the Sumbay Caves as well as the Mollepunco, La Pulpera and Tarucani caves. Another local attraction with prehistoric roots is the site known for the Toro Muerto Petroglyphs. (The nomadic hunters gave way to the Collagua Culture, whose descendants still live within the reserve and in nearby Colca Canyon.) One can also admire the rock formations of Puruña and Imata, which have been naturally sculpted by erosion. At Imata, you will notice permanent ice flows.

Although there are 13 indigenous communities and more than a hundred private properties within the reserve area, but interaction with the local flora and fauna is still controlled. The animals and birds seen within the reserve are those which are most representative of South America’s dry high Andean plains, those which have adapted to the ecosystem’s brusque climate changes and extremely cold temperatures. In addition to its camelids (llamas, alpacas, vicuña, guanacos), deer, and diverse birds, the reserve also protects queñual forests and yareta plants. Among other lakes, the saltwater Salinas Lagoon and the El Indio (or Jayuchaca) Lagoon provide refuge to three different varieties of flamingo, whose population can grow to 25 thousand during the wet season, seagulls, and swans.