Just wanted to hear from those of you that have been in the area.

We are planning a trip this next year and want to know the best options for getting the base of some of the mountains in the Arequipa area. Private transport is preferred and we are willing to pay more to get more. By that I mean we want something reliable and honest.

Our plans are to hit some of the area peaks including Chachani and Coropuna. We are not interested in guides or anything other than transport.

Also any suggestions on lodging while in the city would be a help.

Any help is appreciated.

Chris

Maybe you could bum a ride with Carlos Zarate if he is going. www.zarateadventures.com

I do not recommend hitchhiking. A taxi may get you part of the way, but the hike in may be tremendous and what do you do about the return trip? Get one of the many guiding agencies to give you a ride. You'll find them on Mercaderes St.

Coropuna will be tougher than Chachani, Misti, Ubinas, or even Ampato. It is just a long way and the guide services don't go there as often as the other mountains. It is 6-7 hours each way. People have taken a bus, but expect a lot of inconvenience. And if you miss the bus on the return trip, you'll spend another night at base camp.

Hotels...there are many depending on budget. Hotel de Turistas is one. Again when in town you can contact a tourist agency. The airport has been beefed up and you may be able to directly contact some of the hotels from there.

Miztflip,

Arequipa has some great hostels and restaurants. We landed without any plans and found some nice places right out of the Lonely Planet. If you don't have a copy check out the library. There are plenty of local guide companies to run you to the canyon so you should be able to deal something for the peaks. Its Peru and they are helpful, especially if $$ is involved. Its been 6 years since I was there so I don't have any current beta--just get out of Lima as fast as you can unless you're staying with locals. Cheers!

Yeah stay out of Lima before they steal all your stuff!!
One of the 20 odd tour agencies can arrange transport for about $80. Or you could go with an organized tour for $55 each and then just go off on your own.

I took a taxi for $15 to Chachani it got me 8km away from where a a 4x4 could go, then I walked the rest. One the way back I hiked 20km to the road and took a bus back for $2.
For the other peaks try taking the bus to the nearsest village and then hiring local transport, rather then paying all the way from Arequipa.

I was in Arequipa last week and have posted all the information I gathered about the agencies and the mountain business on another page of this forum (South America) entitled “Machu Picchu, El Misti - good arranger?”, it's at http://www.summitpost.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=5545

I would say Ulises at Hostal “La Reyna” seems to be the one you may want to “work out” for your project. He has 3 recent Toyota 4x4 and to date, also accepts arranging pure transportation to the base of the mountains.

Suerte,
Ario

i lived for 9 month in arequipa and climbed the mountains in the region by different ways.
for climbing misti or chachani (which are not especially interesting, by the way) you could ask around at all the agencies in the city (loads of them) if you can share a ride with a guided group. i do not recommend taking a taxi to the suburbs and the hike, because a solo climber got assaulted and killed some years ago & from time to time you hear about assaults and robbings. the suburbs going up the mountain slopes are pueblos jovenes (= slums) and really dangerous for gringos wandering around.
if you want to climb more interesting peaks like coropuna or solimana take a bus going to cotahuasi from arequipa bus station and tell the driver to drop you out on the right places (see coropuna or solimana). both are rewarding climbs with solimana being more technical, but coropuna is higher and i found it quite hard to keep hiking up the glacier slopes.
if you want to contact a private guide in arq, who can orrganize a 4x4 or give you more info, than write to julver@mountrekk.com . julver is a reliable guy who knows those mountains.