Peru 2012

Last Updated on December 23, 2012

GO TO		Peru April 9 to May 3, 2012
	Peru
	Lima
	Rain forest
	Paracas
	Sacred Valley/Machu Picchu
	Cusco
	Lake Titicaca
	Ecuador
	Quito
	Galopagos
	Guayaquil

Our trip actually consisted of three tours which connected seamlessly and all started in Lima, Peru. We flew from Edmonton to Lima via Huston, Texas and returned home from Quito, Ecuador to Edmonton, also via Huston.

Peru

Lima

We arrived in Lima a day ahead of the start of the tour to give ourselves a chance to recover from the flight. As you can see from the map of the trip, we also came back to Lima several times between the various parts of the trip. The pictures here cover all our stops in Lima.

In Lima, we always stayed in the same hotel so for short trips, we were able to leave most of our luggage in the hotel and just take what we needed.

In Lima we went on a city tour which visited:

Huaca Pucllana, an adobe and clay pyramid located in the Miraflores district of central Lima, Peru, built as a ceremonial and administrative center between the years of 200 AD and 700 AD,

The Lima Cathedral,

The Pesidential Palace while the changing of the guards was happening,

The Church and Convent of St. Francis, and

an evening cultural dinner and show.

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Rain Forest

Our first tour was to the Peruvian Rain Forest of the head waters of the Amazon River. Our resort was on the Tambopata River, one of three rivers that join to become the Amazon. We flew from Lima to Puerto Maldonaro where we were picked up, taken to the tour company's office for a quick stop to get water and flashlights for those who didn't have one, before going by bus to the river, about an hour away, to start our tour.

Once in the boat, we had lunch - a rice and bean dish in a leaf wrap. We stopped at the entrance to the National Tambopapa Reserve where we had our passports stamped and continued on to the resort, a 3 hour boat ride.

On our way, we saw Caimans (a relative of the alligator) on the river bank and a Capybara foraging in the grass

The resort consisted of a central lodge and a number of connected buildings of rooms. The lodge had power for an hour in the morning and from 5 to 9:30 at night. The rooms didn't have any power and only minimal walls. All rooms had ensuites with cold water only.

We had two hikes each day out into the forest. It rained each night but not during the days whale we were there. They supplied rubber boots for everyone which were absolutely required. We heard birds and animals on our hikes but saw very few. One hike was to a clay lick where the Macaws gathered. We also climbed an tower (10 story equivalent) to look out over the forest canopy.

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Paracas

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Paracas is a town on the coast of Peru, about a four hour drive from Lima. Of particulare note is that the precipitation in the area is about 0 %. Here we took a boat out into the bay to the Ballestas Islands. On our way there we passed a cliff-side carving called the Candelabra. It is believed to be about 2000 years old. No one know who or why it was carved. The Ballestra Islands are uninhabited. They are home to thousands of birds (Gulls, Pelicans Comorants, Boobies and Penguins) and are a sea lion birthing area. Guano has been gathered there since the mid 1800's.

After our visit to the Ballestra Islands, we went to the airport and boarded ten-passenger planes to fly to the Nasca Lines. The pilots tilted the planes so that passengers on both sides of the plane could see the shapes. Again, the carvings are believed to be 2000 years old and of unknown origin. They are only about 6 inches deep but have not been lost due to the lack of rain.

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Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu

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We flew from Lima to Cusco where we had lunch before going to our first Inca Ruins, the fortress of Sacsayhuaman (Sexy Woman to her friends). Cusco had been the capital of the Inca empire and Sacsayhuaman had been both a Temple of the Sun and a garrison of 5000 men.

We also saw our first Alpacas including an 18 day old baby. And of course, people in traditional costume ready to have their picture taken for a price.

From there we drove down the Sacred Valley which was surrounded by terraced farmland and had been the bread basket of the Incas. We stopped at a market in Pisco before arriving at our hotel for the night.

Cusco is at 11,000 feet. The Sacred Valley goes down to about 7500 feet. Machu Picchu is at 7,900 feet. We visited Cusco last to allow us a chance to acclimatize to the altitude.

The bus and the hotels all have oxygen available for people having troubles. As well we had altitude sickness pills and used the local preventative, Coca tea. Allen was fine but Ruth needed a whiff of oxygen in Cusco.

The next day we drove to the ancient town of Ollantaytambo which is the start of the Inca Trail for those people walking to Machu Picchu. It is also where we caught the train to Aguas Calientes, the closest access to Machu Picchu, about 6 kms away.

But before heading off on the train, we spent some time exploring Ollantaytanbo. We visited an "authentic" Inca home and climbed up to the Temple of the Sun, just a short morning climb to loosen up for an afternoon at Machu Picchu. The building on the side of the mountain were for storing grain. It would keep for years in them.

Note the narrow streets from the Inca days. They were brilliant engineers but never invented the wheel so did not need streets wide enough for vehicles.

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Machu Picchu

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After lunch in Aguas Calientes, we took a bus up a switch-back road to Machu Picchu. We arrived at a busy entrance area and then went around the path and suddenly, there it was, Machu Picchu laid out below us. We spent the afternoon wandering around the site with a guide who explained the various buildings and their purposes. We went back to town for dinner and an early night and then were up early to go back for a second look at the site.

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Cusco

From Aguas Calientes, we took the train back to Ollantaytambo where our bus was waiting to take us to Cusco but this time, instead of going through the Sacred Valley, we went across the top of the hills across a plateau and farm land. Our hotel in Cusco was within walking distance of the center of the city and we had some free time to explore. Some people went out for Guinea pig, the local delicacy. We didn't. The next day we had a tour of the city including	Click here for pictures
the plaza de Armas - in the picture, the Cathedral is on the left and the Compania de Jesus is on the right
The Cathedral with its three separate chapels adorned with Inca gold
The Convent of Santo Domingo built on the site of the Inca's most important Sun Temple
and a folkloric show with dinner