The Chilina Valley, named for its proximity to the Chili River, is a green countryside very close to the center of the city of Arequipa.
Due to its proximity and easy access, a tourist and sports circuit project can be developed in the area, exactly on the left bank of the Chili River, from the Grau bridge to the chapel of the Virgen de Chapi, in the Cayma district.
In this beautiful place, visitors can do adventure tourism, rafting and hiking along 15 kilometers, a stretch that includes this part of the Chilina Valley.
The Chilina Valley
The Chilina valley has an approximate extension of 15 km, it is located between 2493 m and 2578 m.
The landscape of the Chilina valley involves two very marked areas, the agricultural area and the wild area, the first of them on the sides of the Chili riverbed, where terraces and terraces for highly productive agricultural use are interspersed, used for planting crops. : onion, cauliflower, cabbage, lettuce, corn and alfalfa, along with riparian forest vegetation and tree species.
The second zone above the agricultural zone is limited by access roads that are unpaved on the left side and paved on the right side, it is characterized by the presence of columnar cacti and subshrubs adapted to drought conditions. The relief in general is of mountains and hills of medium inclination, steep and steep with danger of high erosion.
The area of the Chilina Valley, according to the ecological map of Peru, is within the Subtropical Lower Montane Subtropical Desert (ds-MBS) ecoregion; With an arid climate with little rainfall and average winds of 3.5 m/s, temperatures fluctuate between 25ºC and 10ºC, with annual average temperatures.
On the vegetation of the area according to the researcher A. Weberbauer, it is located, due to the altitude within the Monte Ribereño plant formation in what corresponds to the banks of the Chili River, the vegetation of the adjoining mountain slopes places it on the floor of the Chilhua, columnar cacti and reduced herbaceous vegetation, both formations are characterized by typical plant species such as riparian forest, native trees “molle”, “sauce” and introduced trees “Monterrey pine”, “casuarina”, “eucalyptus” , “fig”, Castor; Among the bushes is the “chilca”, callacaz”, “cantuta”, “stinky herb”, “chichi casa”, “horsetail”, “culen”; semi-shrubs such as the “malva marrona”, “matabobo”, “amor dry or pirca”, among the herbs called weeds is the “yuyo”, “liccha”, “dandelion”, “chicoria” and etc.
On the slopes and wild areas you can see the cacti “cardonal”, “sancayo”, “corotilla”, and the “cactus”. The semi-shrubs of the species Huthiacaerulea, Ambrosia fruticosa; herbs: Grindelia glutinosa,
Sysimbryumgracile. etc.; within the wild fauna the presence of false frog (Telmatobiusarequipensis), toad, lizards, lizards of the genus Liolaemus has been registered; birds such as tankita, goldfinches of the genus Carduelis, Fanny hummingbirds, Andean star hummingbird, violet-eared hummingbird, cuculí pigeons, turtledoves, rattlesnakes, Andean swallow, kestrels, Andean harrier, red-headed buzzard among
other species.