PERU! (and possibly the Galapogas/amazon)

[Rib]

Right I have 3 weeks at the end of may - June with nothing booked, so I need to sort an itinerary for me and the girlfriend!

Though we fly to Lima I am thinking to head straight out of the city and spending a week or so around Cusco, doing the Inca trail etc and possibly then onto Arequipa to do the Colca Canyon.

now this is where I'm unsure whether to go to Bolivia and seeing Lake titicaca and going back to Lima or going to the Galapagos Islands and seeing some of the Amazon as we both love nature, animals and creepy crawlies!

In short I am after any advice or peoples experiences that they have that might help me!

Thanks in advance!

Jon

[anonymous-user]

We went to Ecuador a few years back, including a week's cruise around the Galapagos on an 8 cabin Brigantine.

Won't go into rapture but it was the best holiday we've ever had. E.g.:

Swimming off the beach on Espanola with the sea lion colony (for there are NO seals in the Galapagos!).
Snorkelling with turtles, white tips and all the others.
Witnessing albatross greeting ritual from 15 metres.
Following whales around off the west of Isabella, early evening, in 2000 metre deep ocean,then gazing at the Southern Cross as we sailed north to the equator with the display of phosphorescence at the stern. Magical.

I could go on.

Just do it, you won't regret it. I don't believe there is anywhere better for wildlife.

Only tip- don't go on one of the large cruise ships, find a small one. We were on the Sagitta.

[Stumps690]

You better get booking, the inca trail sells out 99% of the time - when we went in 2007 they only allowed 250 people a day on to the trail.

We did the Amazon to the Andes trip with Gap adventures, really laid back group of 8.

[Rib]

Yes I have read about booking the Inca trail, I only booked the flights yesterday so just having some serious research time into Peru. I have decided against The Galapagos as it is just too far out of our budget and concentrate more on the south, a Jungle trek and Lake titcaca.

any more opinions/experiences greatly welcomed.

Thanks

Jon

[SimonMaidenhead]

Did this a few years back but in a different order, I would warn against going to Cusco first off as the altitude does affect a lot of people. Started in Lima for one night only and then headed to Ariquipa and then up to the Colca Canyon (5000 mtrs at on point on the journey). I think we then went to Puno to see lake titicaca, and then the train from Puno to Cusco (this is a must). The train is slower than a bus, about 7 hours IIRC, but worth every minute. Take another train from Cusco to Aguas Calientes, but get off one stop early if you have the trial booked. Back to Cusco for a flight to Puerto Maldonado for a few days in the amazon.

[toasty]

SimonMaidenhead said:

Did this a few years back but in a different order, I would warn against going to Cusco first off as the altitude does affect a lot of people. Started in Lima for one night only and then headed to Ariquipa and then up to the Colca Canyon (5000 mtrs at on point on the journey). I think we then went to Puno to see lake titicaca, and then the train from Puno to Cusco (this is a must). The train is slower than a bus, about 7 hours IIRC, but worth every minute. Take another train from Cusco to Aguas Calientes, but get off one stop early if you have the trial booked. Back to Cusco for a flight to Puerto Maldonado for a few days in the amazon.

I did pretty much all of this 2 years ago bar the long train trip (we did a shorter one). Great trip but also had to go on oxygen for the altitude near Colca Canyon. Highly recommended, especially the jungle trip at the end.

Itinery here
http://www.explore.co.uk/holidays/details/sacred-l...

Pics
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jcross/sets/721576242...

Edited by toasty on Wednesday 23 January 06:37

[Rib]

wow thanks for that! I had read about some people doing things in different orders to make the increase in altitude smaller and easier to cope with! thanks for the tip about the train etc. can I ask which rainforest tour you did? thinking of going to the Tambopata Research Centre for 5 days 4 nights as its the deepest one in the forest.

Keep em coming!

Thanks again!

[blindswelledrat]

I went a while ago and here are some of my views

Lima- Didnt stay long and didnt regret it.
Colca canyon is a must as far as I am concerned. Ill never forget sitting alone high in the Andes with the condors soaring below. Liking nature/wilderness made it, for me, a far better experience than the Grand Canyon.
Lake Titicaca: In itself is pretty nondescript. I wouldnt bust a gut to get there neccesarily.
However we god the mountain railway from there to Cuzco which was utterly fantastic. The most incredible Andes views in every direction for mile after mile.
Amazon: We got a little flight from Lima to Iquitos which is just a small isoalted town in the middle of hte rainforest. From tehre we took a 3 day trip to stay in an camp further up. There was only me and the wife there and it was one of hte best things Ive ever done. Pink dolphins playing about in front of you, Macaws flying around, billions of fireflies in teh trees around you at night and a feeling of isolation greater than I have felt anywhere else. I cannot recommend this highly enough

Havent been to the Galapogos but I would love to. Cant really coment

Edited by blindswelledrat on Wednesday 23 January 12:58