With Inca Trail passes filling up 3 months in advance (sometimes even faster during peak travel months) the last-minute Peru trekker can find themselves wondering what their options are when there’s not a trail pass to be found. Well, don’t fret, there are alternatives, and I am pleased to say they are excellent. Salcantay If you want to stay within the same region as the Classic Inca Trail, consider the [...]
Update June 23, 2010: Over the weekend, strikes came to an end, and things have returned to normal. Over the past ten days, there have been 3 strikes in the Cusco-Machu Picchu region that have disrupted the transportation systems, requiring Adventure Life to adjust itineraries for our travelers in the region. After eleven years of providing trips in Peru, we are certainly no strangers to strikes, which occur [...]
Machu Picchu reopens as scheduled, April 1, 2010. Celebrations were held in Machu Picchu Town (Aguas Calientes) and in Cusco — not to mention in our Adventure Life office. The Inca Trail to Machu Picchu is also opened. Access to Machu Picchu is very limited — the rail is the only practical way to the ruins, other than your own two feet on the Inca Trail. When downpours in January [...]
We have updated information regarding the re-opening of access to Machu Picchu and Machu Picchu Town (also called Aguas Calientes). Following up on our blog post from earlier this month — there are changes to the original schedule that may affect your upcoming Peru trip. The short version: The damage on the lengthy, “backroad route” was greater than originally predicted, and the anticipated Feb. 22 re-open date of Machu Picchu [...]
UPDATE: As of Feb. 22, 2010, there are changes to the original schedule regarding re-opening access to Machu Picchu. Click here for details. Many of you are familiar with the heavy rainfall that hit southern Peru at the end of January. Peru is no stranger to such downpours, but this season the rainfall that hit the region, flooded the Vilcanota and Urumbama river and caused mudslides that made headlines for [...]
Roughly 3500 different varieties of potatoes grow in the Peruvian Andes. There is no limit to the number of dishes that these carb-rich spuds can provide, but Peru’s layered dish, causa rellena, is one of my favorites. A staple in Peru for centuries, the word causa actually comes from the Quechuan word ‘kausaq’ which means gives life. Causa refers to the yellow potato (papa amarilla), and rellena refers to the [...]
Starting off our staff travels for 2010, Adventure Life’s fantastic office manager and gate-keeper, Lynessa Nelson, is readying for a Peru adventure with her husband, Matt. Next week, Lynessa and Matt will hop on a plane from the Missoula airport to Lima, Peru. The first leg of their Peru journey is on the floating reed islands of Lake Titicaca, where they will spend time with a host-family on Amantani [...]
From Patagonia to Costa Rica, traveler, Shannon Beineke, weighs in on ecolodges and the regions where you can relax your head, take in remarkable surroundings and enjoy examples of effective ecotourism at work.
Traveler, M.J. Holliday, shares her experiences at the bustling and sometimes bizarre witches’ market, in Cusco, Peru. By M.J. Holliday Five hundred years ago, the Inca empire flourished in South America. At its center was the Sacred Valley of the Incas, and the capital city of Cusco, Peru. The Inca were farmers, scientists, engineers and astronomers. When Fransisco Pizarro arrived with the Spanish armies in the sixteenth century, Inca medicine [...]
Bloggers and globe-trekkers, The Lost Girls talk with Adventure Life president, Brian Morgan, on travel’s delicate two-way street between visitors and locals. “One of traveler’s biggest responsibilities is to understand the local community, and one of the best ways to do this is to volunteer next to the people,” says Brian. “It’s hard to find meaningful experiences that could create a long-term change and also help our travelers understand the [...]
