These expert Peru travel tips were given by our Peruvian Expedition Leader, Jorge Salas-Guevara. Expedition Leader Jorge is a favorite among International Expeditions guests, having led expeditions to the Amazon, Orinoco, Antarctica, Trinidad, West Africa, Patagonia and Papua New Guinea. Jorge’s “expertise” on all things Peruvian is beyond refute — his research and photography has been published in history books, and he has worked extensively with the Smithsonian, World Wildlife Fund and National Wildlife Federation.

1. When visiting Cusco, Peru, find free time to stroll through the streets of the San Blas District. This is where the artisans have made their homes, which have mostly been turned into workshops, classrooms and shops. Here, the older generation of artists share their knowledge and teach their children and grandchildren the handicrafts of Cusco in order to keep the traditions of their art alive. Treasures abound and one can always find that special handicraft that will truly remind them of their magical journey through the land of the Inca.
2. Don’t Miss: T’anta Restaurant in Lima, Peru. Located in the San Isidro district, T’anta is one of Peruvian culinary star Gaston Acurio’s moderately priced, café offerings. With delicious, freshly juiced drinks and inventive soups, pastas and a variety of options from a New Andean cooking style, Tanta’s sidewalk cafe is a great lunch spot in this trendy Lima neighborhood. (Editor’s Note: I recommend sticking to the appetizers so you can leave plenty of room for dessert!)
3. Lima is recognized as the culinary capital of South America and is full of really great restaurants. Add a few days in Lima to your next visit to enjoy some of them. Don’t miss ceviche at La Mar Restaurant, a chita a la sal at Costanera 700 Restaurant and a pulpo a la oliva in any seafood restaurants. For dinners you can’t go wrong with Rafael, Central, Fusion and Astrid y Gaston.
4. When visiting Peru is almost mandatory to enjoy a Pisco Sour, the national cocktail made with pisco, a local brandy. One of the best experiences while in Lima is to enjoy one at La Huaca Restaurant located right in front of a pre-Inca temple. Enjoy a 45-minute tour of the archeological remain and crown it with the local beverage at the restaurant overlooking the remains just when it is illuminated after sunset. (Get traditional Pisco Sour recipe here.)
5. Shopping in Peru is very good and the main products to look for include alpaca, pima cotton, Andean textiles, silver, pottery, music, coffee and chocolates. While in Lima, there are two places where you can find these products. Both are located in the Miraflores district. The first is the handicraft or Indian Market, an outdoor market with vendors from the whole country. The prices are fair and the offer is wide, but double-check the quality as it is variable. Bargaining is expected here and credit cards are not widely accepted. The second is Larco Mar, a mall that overlooking the bay of Lima, with good restaurants and cafes. Here you will find top-quality stores, all of which accept the main credit cards and where bargaining is not expected but superb quality is guaranteed. As a note, Larco Mar is the second most visited destination in the country, after Machu Picchu.

And one last tip from Kim Guth, our Peru Custom Travel Planner.

1. A bit of France in Machu Picchu — who knew! Indio Feliz Bistro in Aguas Calientes came recommended to me as the best restaurant in town… although from the outside it seemed just like another basic place with bland food. Talk about not judging a book by its cover: this place was amazing!  Each of the eight tables downstairs was immaculately set with crisp linens, attractive dinnerware and a vase of lilies, hibiscus and other beautiful flowers.  In one corner was a working fireplace. Everything I sampled would not be out of place in a fine Paris restaurant — minus the prices and attitude.  The meal was a dream. The fresh bread and red wine from Chile rounded out the experience.

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With school back in session and two full-time gardeners, a lot is happening at the IE-funded Las Malvinas urban garden project in Iquitos, Peru! During a typical week, over 300 students regularly come and go for classes in the gazebo and hands-on work in the garden. Our in-country partner sent this update.

The vegetable area is starting another season, and the beds have been replanted with a variety of vegetables — cucumbers, sweet peppers, cilantro. We also have some experimental plots dedicated to growing horseradish with different amounts of natural fertilizer (chicken droppings), plus peppers planted using two different methods of ground cover which protect the surrounding soil from serious rainwater leaching.  Implementation and evaluation of these experiments are being made by the students. Our papaya trees, only just recently planted, are quickly bearing fruit and our passion fruit plants are thriving.

The medicinal area of the garden is smaller by comparison but is showing strong growth as we’ve planted the most commonly used medicinal plants in the area — achiote, hierba luisa, hausai and rosa sisa.

The ornamental flower area is starting to get more attention.  This is a great asset to the garden as it brings together many examples of rainforest flowers all in one place for students and guests to enjoy.  Rarely does one see a broad range of rainforest flowers together in the wild.  We’ve been nurturing a number of new marigold plants and we’re buying seeds to plant more.  Marigolds are a great deterrent for ants which continue to be a challenge to control in the garden since we’re using only natural methods. We recently made the purchase of almost 100 bougainvillea flowering plants to run along our fence line.

About Las Malvinas: Housed at a public school, the Las Malvinas urban garden project is the centerpiece of an IE-funded environmental education program. Teachers use this outdoor classroom to teach environmental awareness, biology and language arts to the school’s 1,000 students. The Garden is home to a vegetable garden, medicinal plant garden and two ponds.

Learn more about the Las Malvinas Garden and how you can support the project at Traveler’s Philanthropy.

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This is the second installment in a series by Wayne Zanardelli, an IE Guest who was kind enough to pass along observations about his latest Amazon adventure. Read Part I here.

We landed in Lima at 5:00 AM, cleared passport control and customs and were met outside for our ride to the Swissôtel. The hotel is beautiful; too bad all we have time for is a shower and a change of clothes. We placed our bags outside our rooms at 8:30 and were downstairs to meet the rest of the group, a group with a lot of “birders.” We’ll have lunch at 12:00 and leave for the airport for our flight to Iquitos at 1:30. I am whipped.

Lima is very, very big geographically with a gazillion buses, give or take, of all shapes, sizes and conditions. We boarded a large, modern bus and drove to our first stop, the oldest home in Lima located in the center of the town. It was built in the 16th century and has been in the same family for 16 generations. We entered from a side street through an inconspicuous door that led to the only parking spot on this street behind the walls of the home. The home was deceptively cavernous because of the front access. It was filled with priceless antiques from over 500 years and intricately carved wooden furniture, moldings and picture frames. It was a bit much for my taste, but beautiful nonetheless. Every wall was adorned with a huge picture complete with large ornate wooden or brass frames. The center of the home was an open two-story skylight with a three-tier fountain on the ground floor and a huge old tree pushing toward the sky past the roofline. It was elegant old-world.

We next walked to the oldest cathedral in Lima founded by Fransisco Pizzaro and logically called the Lima Cathedral. It was another example of over-the-top wood carving on every wall with cedar being the wood of choice.

Next up, a church and then a monastery where the bones of 20,000 dead are on display in the catacombs, neatly arranged in bins by type of bone, i.e. femurs, tibias, ulnas, clavicles, skulls, etc. It’s a tad ghoulish, in my opinion. Thankfully, the practice of burying someone below the monastery is no longer allowed.

The city has a number of beautiful and interesting town squares that were very attractive. They help brighten up the rather gloomy surroundings.

We left for the airport and all flights were on time. We landed in Iquitos at 6:00 after a 90-minute flight. It was a very cloudy day which obscured any view we may have had of the Andes Mountains. It was 88 degrees when we landed. There is only one road through the jungle from Iquitos to Nauta, our destination. Nauta is a jungle town of 16,000 located in the middle of nowhere. The trip is a 90-minute drive along a narrow two-lane asphalt road that took 30 years to construct by cutting through the jungle. It is from there we will board skiffs to cross the river to our boat, La Amatista.

Along the road we passed a number of small settlements along with squatters that migrated to this area from other parts of the rainforest. Electricity in Nauta is supplied by diesel generators. Everything in this part of the world is brought in by river barge — cars, buses, machinery, building supplies, food, fuel and clothing and you name it.

It is very dark — jungle dark — and the southern sky is alive, sparkling with millions of bright stars. What a sight.

We had dinner on board at 9:15. I am exhausted. The captain pulled over and tied up to a tree at 10:30. He won’t start the engines again until 5:00 AM giving everyone the ability to sleep without the loud engines running. That is the procedure every day. Oh, and anchors don’t work here — the bottom is heavy with silt and the current too swift. How the captain manages to navigate at night in this ever changing, unmarked waterway is a mystery to me.

Breakfast was at 7:30 in the dining room. It was very good and the dining room is very nice with floor to ceiling windows all around enabling everyone to watch the luscious scenery drift by as we enjoy our meals.  hey manually ring a large brass bell for meals here. It may sound like a corny idea, but it is actually kind of nice.

The river is huge and we are only in one of the many tributaries. Along the river bank there are small villages here and there usually comprised of four to 10 poorly constructed wooden shacks on stilts with thatched roofs and we see kids, lots of kids waving as we go by. These small settlements do not have electricity, as you may have guessed, and no pure drinking water, but worse, no easy access to anything except the river.

Our first outing started at 9:00 AM. Boarding was easy even though La Amatista and the skiff were moving quickly through the water. We passed a number of solitary, poorly constructed shacks built on stilts near the river bank. They live on a parcel of land that will soon be claimed by the water, so they move and move and move to higher ground and rebuild their huts and clear the land (slash and burn) and plant their meager crops. There were many of these isolated houses, but all were separated by long distances.

Along the way we passed by a small village where the banks of the river were lined with grapefruit trees all heavy with fruit.  Grapefruit grows wild here, but these were planted by the villagers.

I am living out another of my fantasies. I consider the Amazon River and rainforest a natural wonder of the world and the last great untamed frontier for man with the potential to change the world in many ways.

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Guests who take our Galapagos Islands cruises first fly to Guayaquil (pronounced “why-a-keel”), Ecuador, where our Galapagos tour begins. We always stay at Hotel Oro Verde, where there are four restaurants, but for those who want to explore Guayaquil’s dining spots, there are plenty to be found. Here is a local-favorite Guayaquil restaurant list recommended by our knowledgeable Expedition Leader.

Are you familiar with Guayaquil? If you have any restaurants you’d like to pass on, leave us your comments below.

1. BLU
   Mediterranean Cuisine / Formal Attire
   Phone: 288-4954
   Víctor Emilio Estrada 701 y Ficus,
   Monday-Friday (lunch & dinner)
   Saturday (dinner)
   Lunch – 12:30pm-4:00pm
   Dinner – 7:00pm-Midnight
   Prices starting at $25 per person
2. EL PATACON
   Ecuadorian Cuisine / Casual Attire
   Av. Las Monjas y Calle Cuarta en Urdesa
   Daily 7:00pm-Midnight
   Phone: 288-0566
3. LA RIVIERA
   Italian Cuisine / Semi-Formal Attire
   Víctor Emilio Estrada E.707 y Ficus
   Daily 12:30pm-Midnight
   Phone: 288-8298/3790
   Prices starting at $10 per person
4. TRATTORIA DE ENRICO
   Italian Cuisine / Semi-Formal Attire
   Bálsamos 504 y Las Monjas
   Daily 12:30pm-3:30pm & 7:30pm-11:30pm
   Phone: 238-7079
5. CARACOL AZUL
   Seafood / Formal Attire
   9 de Octubre y Los Ríos, esquina
   Monday-Saturday lunch & dinner
   Lunch – Noon-3:30pm
   Dinner – 7:00pm-Midnight
   Phone: 228-0461
   Prices starting at $20 per person
6. AROMA CAFÉ
   Ecuadorean Cuisine / Casual Attire
   Malecon y Padre Aguirre
   Open daily for lunch & dinner
7. ANDERSON
   Gourmet Beef & Seafood / Formal Attire
   Víctor Emilio Estrada 505 entre
   Ébanos y Av. Las Monjas.
   Monday-Saturday 12Noon-Midnight
   Phone: 288-0690
8. RED CRAB
   Primera, Guayaquil 0904, Ecuador
   Open daily for lunch & dinner
   Prices from $5-$10 per person

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Spotting the first light-pink river dolphin rippling the murky waters is an excursion highlight for everyone on our Amazon River cruise. After their last Amazon tour aboard La Amatista, our friends at WWF shared five myths about the Amazon’s pink river dolphins they learned from our Peruvian naturalists.

1. During the day, river dolphins conduct their usual dolphin business. But once the sun goes down, they morph into handsome young men dressed in all white. They come ashore, strictly for the purpose of seducing the wives and women of local villages.
2. Someone swimming alone in the river could be whisked away by a shape-shifting dolphin to a magical underwater city called Encante. They’ll live out the rest of their lives there, never to return to land again. Perhaps this myth started as a way to get people, particularly youngsters, to be careful when swimming. The dolphins can bite, as can the piranhas that patrol the Amazon and its tributaries.
3. If you wish to find a rare Amazonian manatee, you must first locate an Amazon dolphin and make peace with it. The dolphin is considered the manatee’s guardian.
4. Don’t ever make eye contact with a pink dolphin or you’ll have nightmares for the rest of your life.
5. It’s bad luck to kill an Amazon river dolphin — and even worse luck to eat one. Many Indian tribes still consider them to be sacred creatures and thus bestow a great deal of reverence on them. Rainforest-dwelling shamans have been known to learn medicinal techniques from the dolphins.

© World Wildlife Fund. Reprinted with Permission.

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International Expeditions was thrilled to welcome World Wide Will from MedjetAssist on a recent Galapagos Islands adventure cruise aboard the Evolution. Now Will shares his adventure!

Get caught up with DAY 1 and DAY 2 of Will’s Galapagos Islands vacation.

“Ever find yourself daydreaming about turquoise water lapping over a stark white sandy beach? You know the dream I’m talking about. You’re completely alone, toes digging into fine sand and a temperate Sun warming you from the outside in. The sounds of sea lions playing in the distance, barking at each other and splashing in the cool surf, are carried in on salty sea breezes. An old straw-hat shades your eyes as you gaze out onto a landscape painted by more shades of blue than you ever knew existed. That dream, my friends, is how the day ends on Espanola.”

Check out more from World Wide Will’s Galapagos adventure on the Medjet blog.

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International Expeditions was thrilled to welcome World Wide Will from MedjetAssist on a recent Galapagos cruise aboard the Evolution. Now Will shares his adventure!

Start with Day 1 of Will’s Galapagos vacation.

“…After circling Kicker Rock a few times we headed to Cerro Brujo. We landed on a powder-white sandy beach that we learned was close to the exact spot where Darwin first landed in the Galapagos many years ago. To the right of the beach was a large colony of sea lions. Our time on this beach included a walk around the area looking at the wildlife. I saw the first of many blue-footed boobies, more sea lions and scores of the now famous Darwin finches. We also saw iguanas, ghost crabs and my favorite, the Sally Light-Foot crab. When the walk ended we had two options before returning to the ship. We could explore the tidal area or we could go back to the landing spot and take a swim.

“We swam for a good 15 minutes when I noticed that my friend was looking at me with the strangest expression on his face. It was not fear necessarily but it was not calm either. Then I herd this noise behind me. It sounded like a cross between a snort and a sneeze. My heart jumped into my throat and I yelped like a frightened child. When I spun around I found two big brown eyes staring directly at me. It was a young sea lion and he had come to, well, to play. I let my heart slow some and then I dove back under the water and started swimming.

“The rule here is that you cannot touch the wildlife but the wildlife can touch you. So as I swam around, my new found friend swam beside me. He circled me a few times them swam off, no doubt unimpressed with my lack of grace in the water. I don’t think I stopped smiling until I finally fell asleep later that night. I know that I did not stop talking about it until well after dinner. What an experience of a lifetime.”

Learn more about Day 2 of Will’s Galapagos tour.

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Writer Susan Stafford cruised to the Peruvian Amazon aboard La Amatista, now she’s telling the world about this life-changing Amazon tour.

“Yikes! It’s not often that a pink-toed tarantula seeks to make your acquaintance. One did just that, however, when it casually hopped on board our skiff as we began to pull away from the bank of the Ucayalli River in the northeastern Peruvian Amazon.

Pink Toes is just one of many unexpected pleasures that my husband, David, and I encountered on our International Expeditions cruise aboard the 28-passenger La Amatista as it motored 400 miles/644 kilometers up the Ucayalli River to the Pacaya-Samiria Natural Reserve, and back. If supersized bugs, jewel-like birds, acres of rainforest, and one giant anaconda of a river whet your appetite for adventure, the Peruvian Amazon belongs right at the top of your bucket list.”

Read more of Susan’s story at www.travelwithachallenge.com or in the Miami Herald.

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IE Creative Services Editor Emily Harley spent Thanksgiving on our Amazon River tour! Now she shares thoughts on this unique small-ship adventure aboard La Amatista.

The small town where I grew up from in Kentucky and even Birmingham, where I now live, have history. But they ain’t got nothing on Lima, Peru!

Our Amazon tour officially kicks off after a drool-inducing breakfast at the Swissotel with a tour of Lima’s most historic sites. While visitors to Peru often think about the Plaza de Armas and Spanish colonial history, Lima is dripping with archeological gems and monuments, scattered throughout the city and tucked into its many parks. Our guide Jose, points out the Museum of Italian Art and Museum of Art – designed by Gustav Eiffel – as we circle the Park of the Exposition. A now defunct airplane and statue stand guard over a large park in San Isidro, marking the site of Lima’s first airport. Ominous, empty guard towers mark the four corners of a factory, remnants of the Shining Path’s terrorism of decades past.

Francisco Pizarro founded the “City of Kings” as the capital of Spain’s colonial empire in 1535, and his body is still entombed at the Cathedral in the Plaza de Armas. From this grand central square, our group explored the Cathedral, gilded Jesuit monastery, Iglesia de San Francisco and Casa Aliaga. Most travelers who have researched Lima are familiar with the monastery, cathedral and catacombs of San Francisco, but far fewer have heard of the Casa Aliaga.

Sitting to the right of the viceroy’s palace, Casa Aliaga dates back to 1535, when Pizarro granted the land to Jeronimo de Aliaga. But what sets this mansion apart from the many historic homes you can explore in South America (or the Old South for that matter), is that it remains a family home – held by 15 generations of Aliagas. But far from having thousands of tourists trooping through their home, we are part of a privileged group that gets to walk across the marble staircase and halls to eye-ball the family’s priceless antiques. The current Aliaga daughter married the son of our in-country partner.

Ornate carvings, art, stained glass windows and centuries-old imported tiles reflect the changing tastes and style of both the family and society. The entire home is clustered around a striking center courtyard, with wide, open breezeways circling the yard. How can valuable paintings and furniture be left covered but essentially open to the elements? Hernando, our Expedition Leader, assures me, “It NEVER rains in Lima.”

As we prepare to leave the home, there is a stark reminder that this window into the growth of Lima – from colonial capital to thriving, independent city ñ is in fact a home. Our group entered the home through a small wooden door in a large wall. Like many homes in Lima, Case Aliaga has a front square, tucked behind a protective privacy wall, before leading to the front door. In order to walk across the front square and back into the bustling streets of central Lima, we must skirt a brand new Land Rover.

NEXT INSTALLMENT: I’m on a boat!

Read Previous Blog Post or See Video of Emily’s Amazon Tour

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Expedition Leader Jorge Salas is a star among IE guests, having led expeditions to the Amazon, Orinoco, Antarctica, Patagonia and Papua New Guinea. With his contagious enthusiasm and knowledge of wildlife, history, photography and tribal customs, you are bound to have fun and learn any time you travel with Jorge!

Q1: If you could be any animal, what would you be?

A harpy eagle.

Q1.5: So you can terrorize sloths?

Harpy eagles can see everything from above, and live without the fear of other predators. If you can choose to be anything, you want to be a harpy. Plus, there are lots of sloths, so I wouldn’t ever be hungry.

Q2: What is the most interesting place you have ever visited?

Hard to say, but Papua New Guinea stands out as the most interesting and impressive place I’ve been because of its intricate culture and unique natural history. Patagonia is the most naturally beautiful place, but the Amazon is where I love to go the most.

Q3: What book are you reading right now?

Two actually, The Mapmaker’s Wife and Collapse (for the third time).

Q4: Is there a past vacation or place you’ve visited that got you “hooked” on travel?

That is too hard to narrow down. Maybe seeing the condors at Colca Canyon? Next question!

Q5: Where to next?

This year I hope to make it to Uganda. South Georgia Island is at the top of my list and Ethiopia is also getting closer to reality.

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