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Archive for June, 2013

machu picchu three ways…

I had been dreaming of Machu Picchu for most of my adult life so wanted to make sure I spent enough time to not feel like I rushed it.  I gather that almost everyone goes to Peru on a group tour so I confused a lot of people trying to explain what I was doing and attempting to confirm details since I was doing most of it solo.

It did sound a little nuts!  But I really saw Machu Picchu!  And left feeling satiated and relaxed about my experience.  My recommendation would be to spend a day less than I did but I do have lots of great shots – and most of them look like I wasn’t surrounded by other tourists.  So there were payoffs 🙂

And it is a really gorgeous, incredible place so you can spend some time there without getting bored. So, on to the story…

My g adventures tour included a visit to Machu Picchu.  In the end, I got to spend quite a few hours there and it was a great way to end the tour.  Because I thought I would only get a couple of hours and I had read about the Sanctuary Lodge when it opened, I decided to book it so that I could spend some more time after the tour.  It is ridiculously expensive so it was a big debate whether to book for one night or two… but I decided to go for the longer visit so that I wouldn’t feel like I’d rushed Machu Picchu.  I think one night is enough – but it provided a chance to do Machu Picchu in a third way!

aquas calientes - great setting

aquas calientes – great setting

My first experience of Machu Picchu was the most typical.  I took the basic PeruRail train from Ollantaytambo station in the Sacred Valley to Aquas Calientes, the holding pen for Machu Picchu tourists.  The hotel in Aquas Calientes was the highlight of the g adventures tour and I would highly recommend it (Andina Luxury).

it was a great view!

it was a great view!

What I would not recommend though is going out on the balcony to take a photo of the Urubamba River!  Well, you can, but prop the door open!  I’ve now been to some interesting locations solo – and I do have people get excited about the risks I am taking.  But I am one of those weirdos who is constantly doing a decision tree in their head and likely have a more sophisticated understanding of risk management than some hedge fund managers…

a shot from the balcony

a shot from the balcony

So I never really have any adventures.  Nothing that would feature in the screenplay of a thriller anyway.  My travel generally lends itself to great plot points for a rom-com…

So it was a surprise to find myself hobbling around Machu Picchu for three days!  Due to my own stupidity, it ended up being fortuitous that I had the third day.  Life works out 🙂

There isn’t much to Aquas Calientes.  It exists to service tourists bound for Machu Picchu.  But I am always interested in what makes places tick so it was fun just wandering around.  And it is in this spectacular setting surrounded by mountains with the Urubamba bubbling beneath them.

It was all fine when I was snapping photos through the hotel room window.  But that never yields the best quality photo.  All of a sudden I realized I had a tiny balcony that was positioned directly over the river with the mountains as a backdrop.

It was all wonderful as I was crouching and laying on the balcony floor to try out different shots.  But it was a small space so there were only so many options… it was time to go and check out the pisco sour I had seen advertised next to the hotel and work on my blog…

But that was when I realized I was LOCKED on the tiny balcony over the river.  I watch lots of cop shows – but I never get myself into situations like that… normally I check the door to make sure it isn’t locked before I go onto a balcony… but I had become reckless in my confidence in my ability to travel in emerging economies.

Of course this had to be the best hotel of the lot, with lots of heavy wood, including the door.  But not fancy enough there was likely turndown service. I was supposed to meet my Machu Picchu guide at 7pm so that meant there was a chance someone would come looking for me in three hours… but that’s a long time to be trapped on a tiny balcony – and it was going to get colder when the sun set…

I figured making noise might help.  I started yelling “help”.. and regretting I had glossed over that word in my Spanish guidebook thinking it was unlikely I would need it… I had no idea if anyone could hear me through all the wood.

No one was coming… so I thought maybe I should kick at the door as that might be noisier.  If I sounded like a crazy rock band and someone came because I was causing a disturbance, that was OK… if only I was on the noisy side facing the train station…

There was no traffic on the river.  The tranquility of nature has its downside…  Luckily checkout was about 9am because everyone was headed for Machu Picchu so at least someone would likely eventually find me and I was unlikely to die of hypothermia – but I would be cold.

So I started checking my surroundings, seeing if there was some way I could alert someone to my dilemma.  I could actually look into the next room if I performed some ballerina type positions on the balcony.  And there were two ladies sitting on the bed in the next room!  At first they just thought I was being friendly and waved at me.  I kept trying hand gestures to get one of them to come to their balcony.

It worked!  But of course I didn’t speak Spanish so was just hoping I could make enough hand gestures to explain that I was locked on my balcony and see if they could get someone to come from reception to release me.

It took some time… time moves really slowly when you are trapped on a tiny balcony… but she eventually arrived.  And then she closed the door with the two of us on the balcony to confirm it was now unlocked!  NOT how I would have done it… but at least she was likely carrying a mobile phone…

That pisco sour tasted so great!  Especially because I was checking out the Urubamba from a large restaurant filled with other people, not frozen in the middle of the night while trying to sleep sitting up on my tiny balcony…

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admiring the incas

Those who know me well are aware of my tendency to crush on engineers 🙂  So needless to say I was impressed with the Incas!  The truth is not entirely clear and I hear some varying accounts of history so it was tough to make a final call on whether they were gods or just great strategists but there is no question their engineering and architectural accomplishments were astonishing.

david and I in the sacred valley

david and I in the sacred valley

There was talk of meritocracy and a perfect society but I am a skeptic by nature.  I need to learn a lot more before I will have any official opinions but I was further impressed by David’s skills.  I wish I had spent more time with him – and taken notes!

We visited two Inca ruins.  The views were spectacular and the climb not too demanding.  The Sacred Valley

inca ruins near pisac

inca ruins near pisac

was apparently the agricultural heartland of the Inca empire.  It’s not clear the exact purpose of the terraces but it definitely seemed likely to have been an early version of an agricultural research station – a way to determine what plants grew best at what elevation and how to optimize the production of those 3,000 varieties of potatoes!

David also explained how each of the Inca cities was built in the shape of revered animal in Inca culture.  The big three were the puma, the condor and the snake.  I’m trying to remember everything I learned (and googling for support 😉 but it reflects my experience in Peru where the information I gathered about the Incas seemed sometimes open to interpretation.  That will happen when a civilization is that old.  I think we’re going to go with snake for knowledge, puma for power and condor for communing with the gods.  I was mostly fascinated with the idea of creating a city in the shape of a puma!

not your average supermarket

not your average supermarket

David also taught me a little about Inca symbolism so that I could buy jewelry 🙂  We also hit the Pisac Market.  It was overwhelming in that grand way of seeing so many gorgeous and new objects to lust after.  And Peruvians are into colour so it was tough to resist!

He took me into a shop just off the official market and I was mesmerized by the jewelry.  I got a

lots of colour

lots of colour

demonstration of the craftsmanship and learned how to tell silver apart from nickel (nickel is shinier).  It was hard to restrain myself but came away with a necklace and earrings showing the sun and the moon, the father and mother of the Inca empire.  What was most exciting to the amateur geologist in me was the gorgeous polished stone inlaid into the silver.

My day in the Sacred Valley was a great example of the serendipity of travel.  David, my outstanding guide.  The gorgeous landscape and spectacular ruins.  The enticing Pisac market.  Be sure to include it on your visit to Peru 😉

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obsessed with llamas…

As noted, Puno was wonderful.  I highly recommend it.  I was hoping to continue the winning streak when I arrived in Cusco.  It started well.  Enrique picked me up at the train station and he has a smile that is so infectious it’s like his whole body lights up.  He didn’t speak much English but he tried and the short ride to the hotel was a lot of fun.

Found out I wasn’t staying in Cusco for two nights as I expected so no laundry.  But Robinson was at the hotel (a first!) and I had a fairly detailed itinerary mapped out as well as tickets for everything.  So it sounded promising 🙂

I met David the next day.  He was my favourite hands down.  He was a great guide – very knowledgeable and patient with great English language skills.  It was mostly random that he was talking to Enrique in Spanish about his vacation so he mentioned to me in English what they were speaking about.  He had just been to Australia!

It started a really interesting conversation as I used to live in Australia and travelled extensively there so knew the landscape he had just seen.   But we also discussed what it was like to travel from a country like Peru to a country like Australia.  The complicated visa procedures – and the culture shock upon arrival.  It has been a one-way street for so long.  Tourists from developed countries venturing into developing countries and having a chance to evaluate their own culture from a different perspective.  It’s exciting to see the new middle class in the emerging countries having the opportunity to travel and see the world from a new perspective.

As I’ve already noted, I was mostly winging it in Peru.  Most days I just woke up and wondered what might happen.  I was especially unclear what my day in the Sacred Valley was going to be about.

peru 382

worth looking out the window!

At first it was déja vu.  I was back on the edge of the Ngorongoro Crater with Alex spinning around the narrow

everyday street scene

everyday street scene

switchbacks at a pace that felt not entirely safe – while the Brazilians looked out the window nonchalantly and I kept searching the horizon for a guardrail!  But Alex assured me over dinner that he drove that route every day and we were perfectly safe.

So this time I decided to try and act more like the Brazilians.  It took me a little while.  These are the Andes.  Some of the roads are too narrow for two vehicles to pass without special manoeuvres and the drop off is spectacular.  But that also means there are gorgeous views if you DO decide to look down, way down…

And it also meant I got to see a llama up close!  Right on the road in front of us.  And then we arrived at the Planeterra Women’s Weaving Co-op.  It’s one of the good works that g adventures is involved in.

http://www.planeterra.org/peru-women-s-weaving-co-op-projects-23.php

it's a llama!!!

it’s a llama!!!

You have a chance to see how llamas turn into sweaters!  I also learned the difference between llamas, alpacas and vicunas – both how to identify the animals and the difference in the quality of the textiles that can be made from each.

David explained the entire process and also told me about some of the crops grown in the Sacred Valley.  I can’t remember exactly how many types of potatoes there are but over 3,000 I believe.  It’s also the home of quinoa.  I hadn’t realized how healthy it was but David convinced me so I am going to try and eat more quinoa 🙂

Of course, in order to weave cloth you need some animals so a great opportunity for more llama photos!

weaving coop

weaving coop

The women obviously had been practicing their sales skills in addition to honing their weaving.  It was a little overwhelming as there were a lot of different stalls and my backpack was already full – but I couldn’t resist the opportunity to be able to buy directly from the people who had made the goods and do my little bit for the Peruvian economy.  I even managed to squeeze in a purple alpaca sweater!  And so many scarves you would think I was opening my own boutique…

More llama sightings ahead…

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exploring the andes…

Since the information from g adventures was pretty vague and I had no time to do additional research of my own, I had no idea what to expect when I got dropped off at Peru Rail by my smiling driver.  His knowledge of English pretty much matched my knowledge of Spanish so he just chattered away in Spanish and I tried to understand what was going on.  He was a great driver though.  He even took me on an extra excursion to take some photos of Puno and Lake Titicaca from a particularly scenic spot.

I was booked on the Andean Explorer.  All I knew is that I had a 10 hour train journey ahead of me.

http://www.perurail.com/train_description.php?id=1

It all started very pleasantly.  There was a nice waiting room and even a band playing traditional Peruvian music.  Then we started boarding.  Lunch was included and I wondered what and where it would be.  My expectation was a trip to a dining car for an airline quality meal.

not your average train...

not your average train…

But – to my delight – I discovered the Andean Explorer was more akin to the Orient Express!  (Some time later I would discover it was owned by Orient Express).  I had my own table (where both lunch and afternoon tea would be served) complete with a flower in a vase and a romantic light fixture for later in the journey.  I appreciate a romantic gesture – even if I am enjoying it alone 😉  <and travelling alone can result in wild surprises like the dinner I shared with my ranger Alex in the Ngorongoro Crater over a table laden with rose petals>

It was my own little sanctuary from which I could snap photos obsessively as the train meandered through the Andes. I had expected a 10 hour train journey to start to feel tedious – but the hours flew by.  Partly because I was operating on a handful of hours of sleep so kept trying to nap.

But the train schedule was chock-a-block with passenger activities.  I thought I could nap before lunch at 11:40… but – no – first we were offered beverages and I was a bit hungry so was served a hot chocolate that looked fancy enough the French woman sitting across from me wondered what it was.  And it was also delicious I informed her.

Just as I finished my hot chocolate and closed my eyes, they announced complimentary pisco sours and live Peruvian music in the observation car.  Drinking at 10am – it was like we were in the Caribbean!  What was really impressive was the Europeans ordering extra drinks before noon 😉

music and dance on the rails

music and dance on the rails

The Pisco Sour was good (and free! :)) but the real highlight was the band and the chance to take photos in the open air.  The mountains were incredible and I will have a hard time editing all the photos that I took but my obsession was to get a photo of a llama.  Let me tell you – trying to get a good shot of a live animal from a moving train while vying for position with dozens of other tourists is exhausting (luckily there were more llamas in my future 🙂

The Peruvian music finished pretty much in time for lunch.  I think I am going to look like a trout by the time I get home.  But I know the word in Spanish – trucha.  (and Enrique taught me how to pronounce it and remember – just think cha-cha-cha…)

The trucha on the train was very nice and, after consuming it and all the other delicious treats, there was finally time for a nap.  There was an offer of more Pisco Sours, Peruvian music – and a fashion show – in the afternoon but I didn’t indulge.  I was too busy keeping my eyes peeled for llamas! 😉

I did take time out from the llama watch to indulge in afternoon tea.  I would recommend to any tea drinkers out there that you switch to coca tea while you are in Peru.  The black tea you get served is generally disgusting but the coca tea is superb and a great way to expand the cultural experience.

just look at those mountains!

just look at those mountains!

It took a while to unload the luggage but that is the only thing I could fault PeruRail on.  The service was entertaining and very professional.  You had the spectacular views of the Andes (and random, elusive llamas), really good food, traditional music, free Pisco Sours…  and the added entertainment of watching the crew serve all those meals and carry trays filled with a dozen wine glasses – on a moving train!!!

If trains are your thing, put the Andean Explorer on your wish list.  One of the best train trips of my life – and I inherited a love for trains from my father.  I am a connoisseur of the journey by train – and a new fan of PeruRail.  I really wish my father was still alive.  Despite his objections to travelling in places where they don’t speak English, I know he would love riding the rails in Peru and I would just bully him into accompanying me  🙂  My mother didn’t want to go to Paris.  Now we’re planning a second anniversary trip to the city that first stole my heart…

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waving your pompoms ;)

puno plaza des armes

puno plaza des armes

It would appear pompoms play a significant role in Peruvian culture.  The keys at the hotel in Cuzco were attached to giant pompoms… and then I discovered I could own my very own pompom keychain if I so desired…  Unfortunately I didn’t realize this until late in the journey so don’t have any guides to quiz about this interesting cultural phenomenon…

So instead you will be subjected to my limited knowledge and personal theories… hey, we have been down this road before. If you want expert knowledge, you are not listening to me 😉

Other than wandering the streets of Puno and trying to stealthily take photos of the local market or the women in wonderful local dress my main activity was a trip to the Uros islands.  It sounded cool and I wanted to get ON Lake Titicaca.

So that was my plan… cruise around on Lake Titicaca and take photos with my expensive camera.  Anything else was gravy….

As often happens in life, serendipity hit me right between the eyes. Our guide was excellent and that is how I learned that in the Amayra language, Titicaca means grey puma rather than what the Spanish translation would suggest.

cruising the lake - note the reeds

cruising the lake – note the reeds

The puma is one of the sacred animals in this part of the world, along with the condor and the snake.  Personally I am partial to cats… and have a fondness for birds… but it is nice to see the snake getting a good rap for a change even if they are a bit slithery for my taste…

Lake Titicaca itself was marvelous but you should really visit the Uros islands. I am going to attach a link to this post to make sure everyone can get the correct info as my knowledge is shallow at best.

But it was one of my favourite parts of Peru.  It really helped that our guide (Franz I think) was so incredible.  He was very knowledgeable and had a great rapport with the women of the Uros.  The concept is that you travel over Lake Titicaca on a regular size boat and then they drop you off on one of the islands so that you can learn about the history and culture of the Uros.

http://gosouthamerica.about.com/od/topdestlaketiticaca/a/floatingislands.htm

My pedestrian understanding of it all is that this part of South America is pre-Inca and the Inca conquisadors forced the local people to flee and some of the tribes moved onto Lake Titicaca and built homes and surrounding real estate out of the reed plants that grew on the lake.

The plants provided not just shelter but also food and relief from heat and exhaustion.  We were given a part of the plant to apply to our foreheads and it was a true natural air conditioner.

the ladies of the uros

the ladies of the uros

The women of the tribe seemed to be in charge 🙂  They helped with the pantomime history.  They performed, both in song and in a short play.  They invited us into their homes.  They dressed us in native costume.  They weaved merchandise to sell to tourists.  I’m not sure where the dudes were…

Maybe they are just stud horses 🙂  Apparently the single women use pompoms draped around their neck to advertise their status and attract a marriage partner.  No need for match.com in these parts 😉

Once I had been selected by my “mama”, checked out her home and spent a decent amount of soles to support the community, I handed over another ten soles to ride on a Mercedes Benz type reed canoe paddled by my mama (who was apparently head of the tribe) and a colleague.

a cadillac made of reeds!

a cadillac made of reeds!

They paddled us to our second village where I missed getting my passport stamp because I was busy buying more goods!  It felt like I was directly supporting a local culture.  And I wore the shawl I bought there all over Peru.  But there was no opportunity to buy pompoms until I got to Lima… fine by me… I might be single… but I am not waving my pompoms looking for some dude to notice me 😉

 

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lake titicaca!!!

I am on line at pearson!!!  goal is to add one post per day… we’ll see… but I have been typing and still have lots to say about Peru.  You should go!  it’s amazing…

Apparently I am eating ceviche twice in one day!  But I am in Peru.  And menus are not always totally clear…

But the ceviche at lunch was delicious.  And apparently the trout is fresh from Lake Titicaca so I think it will be fine…

I finally made it to Lake Titicaca!  Unlike most people I knew about Lake Titicaca long before I yearned for Machu Picchu.  When I was about 15, a group in their early 20s came to our tiny, remote community.  I can’t remember the name of the program but its purpose was to link young Canadians with their counterparts in developing countries.

lake titicaca

lake titicaca

They learned each other’s languages and did work in the community.  The group our Canadian team was paired with came from Bolivia.

I think it might have been the slideshow from the Congo that I saw in third grade (someone from the town had worked there so his wife brought her slides).  It’s not entirely clear but it might have been the DRC pre-independence.  She definitely painted Africa in a wonderful light as an interesting place one should visit.

She was the first inspiration in my desire to explore the world.  I was also inspired by the history of my country, which emphasized brave Europeans who had discovered us… not entirely accurate of course but my childhood was full of new places and long journeys so exploring the world seemed a kind of birthright.

From an age so young I cannot remember it, I yearned to see the world – and was always pestering any foreigner who wandered into my path as to the real scoop on the place they came from.  As a teenager, I had penpals in at least 30 countries…. it might have been 50… so my theoretical knowledge of the world at 15 was vast!  But I hadn’t been outside my own continent.

Back then I had bonded with a young woman named Angèle.  She was from Québec so came and helped out in our French class.  I desperately wanted to learn French so this was a dream come true.  And, through my friendship with her, I hung out with the Bolivians.

So I learned about Lake Titicaca, altitude sickness and the frequency of military coups in Bolivia.  The Bolivians seemed very resigned to it. The only problem was that the coups tended to shutter the universities so getting a degree was a challenge.

This morning I got to wave at Bolivia.  It was only a few metres away.  Another trip…. but Lake Titicaca totally lived up to my childhood dreams!

The weather in Puno has been amazing.  A bit cold – but hardly the tundra everyone in Lima led me to believe J  I did break down and buy a pair of Inca mitts on my way to dinner but my hands are always cold – and my mitts have llamas on them 😉  This morning though I was overfleeced!  If I have any sage advice for a trip to Peru, layering is key – the temperature variation over the day is pretty exciting.  And check out Lake Titicaca!

Looking at it from afar is impressive but I recommend getting a little more adventurous… just keep reading…

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I didn’t realize I’d signed up for the amazing race! ;)

I really wanted to love g adventures.  It’s run by a youngish Canadian entrepreneur.  When he started it, he WAS young and it ran on a shoestring…

I first heard about it via an Intrepid Travel newsletter advertising Bruce’s trips to South America.  So I always thought when I finally went to Peru, it would be with the Great Adventure People.

Well, there has definitely been an emphasis on the word “adventure” 😉

Before I left Canada everyone kept asking me what I was going to be doing and if it was ‘’a tour”.  The g adventures materials were pretty vague so I kept telling everyone I wasn’t sure – and keeping me on my toes and adding an air of mystery to my itinerary was part of the plan I guess…

It works when everything goes right!  In general it’s all worked out fine and David and Enrique are the rock stars of g adventures so they won me over and I DO recommend g adventures.  Their strength is tours so that is likely the best route.  I met some tour participants on a train late in my journey and they were very keen and felt totally protected.

I DID say I wanted “Independent Style” travel.  I didn’t realize just HOW independent I was going to have to be.  Of course, the fact that they kept getting my name wrong in Lima might have alerted me to their less than stellar abilities.  Calling me Maria is not a way to get things off on the right foot.  I appreciate it might only seem like a letter to you but it’s a totally different name and not one that I answer to… and people all over the world love my real name… so substituting a more pedestrian one is not the way to score brownie points…

I am reading my notes as I write this into the computer now that I have finally scored an internet connection and I see I wrote it in Aquas Calientes while waiting for the train where Enrique would pick me in Ollantaytambo and drive me to Cuzco.  I wrote… I feel that I will end the trip with a bang.  And that I DO really know my way around the tourist circuit in Peru now 😉  Both statements still hold true…

So, to start at the beginning… it was an auspicious one… I cleared customs easily and a friendly lady named Pamela (who thought MY name was Maria) was holding a g adventures sign.  And I knew the name of the hotel just in case…

Then things started to get strange. I was put on a tourist bus, Pamela and I the only passengers.  She didn’t sit near me and after a few minutes I noticed she’d jumped off the bus and was standing in the street.  Hopefully the driver knew where to take me!

It’s always best to stay calm until there actually IS a problem and he dropped me off at the hotel on my information sheet and I began my recognisance of Miraflores.  I went to Parque Kennedy cause that’s all I knew but it was obviously the tourist ghetto of Lima so I knew I needed to be more intrepid.  (But I did have a delicious churro so highly recommend that!)

My grandmother’s favourite saying was “god gave you a mouth for a reason.  Just ask if you need help.”  So the next morning I took her advice as I was supposedly going to Puno the next day but had nada for details on that excursion.

The hotel staff (Antiquas Miraflores) were great.  It took some time but we finally managed to find someone representing g adventures who spoke English.  Someone was going to meet me at the hotel at 6pm to go over the details.  Good thing I didn’t need any advice on what to do in Lima.- but at least I should make the flight – at whatever mysterious time it was departing…

I waited on a bench at the entrance to the hotel (to be obvious) for 15 minutes but no g adventures person.  Finally talked to Miro who apparently dropped by at 5pm (seriously, dude?) and had left me a note.  He could come again after his class but I said I needed to find dinner and supposedly someone was meeting me at 7:30am the next morning to get me on the plane at the airport so it all sounded under control.

Thank god at least Miro had left a number and he picked up the phone.  Not that I appreciate unnecessary telephone calls at exorbitant roaming rates and I’m still not too clear on how to make a call from my brand new Blackberry.

But I was pretty desperate as I was stranded at the airport with no info as to which airline or flight I was booked on!  I talked Miro through the solution and managed to connect with Renzo at counter 14.  I only had to lug my bags from counter 54 to counter 14…

flying thru the andes for the first time...

flying thru the andes for the first time…

But I got on the flight!  And everyone is very friendly so you can’t really get mad.  I decided it was the Spanish way – paternalistic, vague on details and bad at precise times.  The Germans are my people – but the Latins are charming 😉

And Veronica in Puno was outstanding.  Finally, information, tickets.  She even checked in with me to make sure I was ready to get on the Andean Explorer.  Edgar Adventures in Puno.  Highly recommended.

But the guys in Cuzco are trying.  It was all going brilliantly until I showed up in Aquas Calientes and there was no g adventures sign.  But at least they had told me the hotels once I got to Cuzco so the guy from Andina and I figured out we belonged together 🙂

But then I sat in the hotel lobby for over an hour as other tourists met their guides and planned their day at Machu Picchu.  Again the hotel staff were great and finally made contact for me with someone willing to take me to Machu Picchu.  Luckily David had already briefed me on what to take so I just needed a meet time.

And Wagner – my replacement guide, not sure what happened to Marcellino… did show up just after 5:30am.  He forgot his pass so I had to go up alone but he found me before I got into Machu Picchu so all was good.  But thank god I wasn’t looking for my g adventures guide to rescue me from the balcony at the Andina Luxury!  That story to follow…

I like the g adventures style of travel.  David says they have a good reputation in Peru and hire lots of local staff and do some community projects.  All the actual activities were excellent.  I DO recommend them.  You just need to decide how comfortable you are travelling alone.  Apparently I am not the guinea pig for the Independent Travel option… but I am not entirely convinced 😉  <calling myself a guinea pig extra funny…>

http://www.gadventures.com

My impression is that they are an excellent choice if you are doing a tour in Peru.  And they did make all my arrangements.  And I met David and Enrique – they were incredible and you will hear more about them in future posts.  g adventures is very lucky to have them on the team!

It was really fun traipsing around Peru largely by myself.  You just have to pretend you are on the amazing race and making your own way to the next pit stop to figure out the details of your next adventure 😉

p.s. adventures – and photos – to follow!  Stay tuned….

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