Peru - Sacred Valley

We left Cusco this morning for a tour through the Sacred Valley. This valley has been formed by the Urubamba River and was very important to the Inca Empire for its natural wealth and agricultural properties. It encompasses all that lies between Calca and Lamay, Pisac and Ollantayambo, and is still responsible for producing 4 different types of corn and thousands of different types of potatoes. 

Our first stop was the “Sexy Mama” Incan ruins and lookout point which gave us a view over the Incan capital of Cusco. We then stopped at an animal rescue centre which has rescued multiple different animals primarily from the black market as well as injured animals. It houses Condors, Macau’s, two juvenile Pumas, Andean Deers, Alpacas, a Mountain Cat, a Falcon, a few Turtles, and two Peruvian Dogs. We were able to enter the cage with the Condors which was a fabulous experience to be able to get so close to these massive birds.

Our next stop was at the lookout over the Sacred Valley giving us fantastic photo opportunities. The view was spectacular. We then drove into the Valley and stopped at Pisac ruins and then Pisac town to explore the extensive markets. The ruins were very cool. The classic Incan terraces scattered over the hillsides were amazing.

We arrived at Ollantaytambo at the far end of the valley in the late afternoon and explored the Incan ruins here before going to our home stay style bed and breakfast lodging for the night. The community of Ollantaytambo have a certain number of these style of lodgings where the family have rooms and welcome tourists into their homes for the night. By sharing the load between different families it is the community’s way of improving the life of the families involved.  

Peru - Cusco

We bid farewell to the jungle this morning after breakfast and flew back to Cusco to prepare for our trek to Machu Picchu.

Our afternoon was spent wandering around Cusco centre exploring the local markets and the multitude of artisan shops. We also enjoyed one of the best iced coffees we have had in a very long time!

Peru - Amazon Jungle

We were woken early this morning in order to go for a walk into the jungle to see The Lost Lagoon. We first boarded a little wooden boat and travelled to the start site of the walk. The walk was along a well trodden path which had been built from leaves and mud but the jungle on each side was thick, and even though the heat was oppressive (even at 7am) and the mosquitoes dense, it was great to be in a jungle again.

During our walk we saw lots of awesome trees including one that was over 500yrs old with a base that was about 7m wide and some cool crawling critters, including a large Tarantula. Apparently Tarantulas can grow to be approximately 10cm across in the body, the one we saw was only about 4cm but was big enough! We also took a 3km boat ride in a wooden row boat which a little concerning as by the time we reached the end we had a fair amount of water at our feet. During the boat ride we saw a number of birds including a Woodpecker and a Vulture.

Our first stop was a lookout which was 30m in height and allowed us to see a 360º panorama across the jungle. This was interesting because on one side was all palm trees and the other side had a more common jungle appearance. While we were up at the top of the lookout we were lucky enough to see a family of Howler Monkeys come into the nearby trees for some playtime. It was gorgeous to see. From the lookout we walked into the Lost Lagoon where we took another boat similar to our first one but thankfully a little drier, especially because during this boat ride we saw a 5m Anaconda! We also saw some very cute Turtles sunning themselves on old dead logs.

After the Lost Lagoon we had a 5km walk back to the river, Madre de Dios, where we boarded a boat to return to our lodge. The walk was really nice, well, again except for the humidity and heat. Around halfway we crossed a beautiful lagoon that was full of water lilies and also had a small Caiman that popped his head up to say hi. 

After a few hours rest, lunch, and a cold shower, we went out again down one of the tributaries of Madre De Dios for some Piranha fishing! We spent an hour or so relaxing in the boat with fresh meat on our hooks but didn’t manage to catch anything! A little disappointing but still a fun afternoon.

Peru - Amazon Jungle

Today we flew to Peurto Maldonado, a small town on the banks of Madre de Dios, a river tributary of the Amazon River. We had a quick look around town before boarding our transfer boat which would take us to our Eco Lodge in the Amazon Jungle. We also said hello to our new group members, two who would join us for the next week or so and a family of three who would join us just for the next couple of days in the jungle.

Our amazing first lunch at the lodge was chicken and risotto wrapped in a large leaf similar to a banana leaf. After lunch we went across the river to Monkey Island. This is an island that is owned by the lodge and is used as a rescue centre for monkeys that were being sold on the black market and also those that had been illegally kept by locals as pets. Whilst here we gave the monkeys a little snack of bananas and enjoyed watching them play. There were four breeds of monkeys, Black Spider Monkeys, Black and White Capuchin and Saddleback Tamarinds They were all very cute.

After dinner we went Caiman spotting. We travelled up the river with spotlight and saw a number of Caimans sitting on the river edge. The biggest they grow is around 2m but none we saw were even close to that size. 

Caimans are the South American version of the crocodile but are nowhere near as big, aggressive or exciting.

Peru - Cusco

Another bus trip today, this time from Puno to Cusco. The trip was 7h but the bus was very comfortable. The scenery was also beautiful.

We arrived in the cool city of Cusco around 3pm and after settling into our hotel we went on a small walking tour with our guide around the old centre. Cusco is a small city with a lot of character, hopefully we get enough time to explore it properly.

Peru - Lake Titicaca

After breakfast we said good bye and thank-you to our families and boarded the boat again to head back to Puno.

On our way back we stopped at the nearby island of Taquile where we took a very scenic walk up and around the mountain that the town is situated to the main square. With its ancient customs and strong cultural and ethnic traditions, Taquile is famous for its textiles and fine craftsmanship. We explored this little town before enjoying yet another delicious lunch of fresh Trout overlooking the spectacular bay.

After lunch we boarded our boat again for our 3h return journey to Puno.

Peru - Lake Titicaca

This morning we were met by our guide who was going to take us out onto the lake for the next couple of days. We boarded our boat and met 2 other travel companions and set off bound for the Uros floating islands. The floating islands are man-made islands which have been constructed from reeds and each island is a separate village. We stopped off at one of the islands in the Uros group and met the community who lived there, primarily the women as the men were off fishing. They welcomed us with a few songs and then proceeded to show us their homes which are also built from reeds. The couple of men who were there showed us how the island was built and the structure of the island (by cutting a small section of the island out and lifting it up so we could see). It was fascinating. 

After visiting this island we stopped off at one more and then set off again for our 3h journey to Amantani, the island where we were to spend the night with one of the local Aymaran/ Quechuan families. We arrived around lunch time and were met at the wharf by our families. Our family was a sweet husband and wife and their 13yo daughter, Nellie. Our mama took us to our home and made us a delicious lunch of Quinua (a South American grain similar to rice) and vegetable soup, followed by a delicious fried cheese with rice and potato. Later in the afternoon we all reunited for a soccer match between the local men and the tourists (there were quite a few different groups on the island - thankfully a lot of Europeans). We then walked up the mountain on the island to an area used by the locals to give offerings to Pacha Mama and Mama Qocha(Mother Earth and Mother Lake) for sunset. This walk took us to an altitude of 4160m and gave us an amazing view of the surrounding lake and sunset.  After sunset we made our way back to the village for a hot chocolate with Baileys and then home for dinner. We enjoyed a nice simple dinner with our family and had a great chat with Papa and Nellie in broken Spanish and English, our mama only spoke the local language of which we had just the basics on a phrase sheet. After dinner mama dressed us up in traditional clothes and Nellie took us to the dance that had been organised for us. This was quite fun as we were all there in traditional clothes and dancing traditional dances, it was very amusing.