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Salkantay Trek - Alternative Route to Machu Picchu

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Salkantay Trek - Alternative Route to Machu Picchu

My first multi-day trek was on the Classic Inca Trail way back in 2000 while working as a Tour Leader … and I was immediately hooked. The scenery, the camaraderie, the archaeology and the sense of achievement upon arriving at the Sun Gate of Machu Picchu after four days’ hiking added up to a wonderful experience. 

Now no longer a tour leader accompanying groups around Peru, the opportunity to go trekking in the spectacular Andes mountains have been much reduced. But, after years of longing, I finally completed the Salkantay Trek, one of the alternative routes to Machu Picchu, in July 2015. 

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Amazon Development through Superfruit

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Amazon Development through Superfruit

Peru's immense bio-diversity means that it is a treasure chest of fruits and grains, the marvellous properties of which are only now beginning to be appreciated by Western scientists and consumers. Supermarkets are beginning to feature products containing quinoa and maca - two famous Incan superfoods from the Andes mountain region - for example.

Meanwhile, in the Amazon rain forest, nutrient-rich 'superfruits' have been nourishing and healing the indigenous population for centuries.  

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Historic Boat Museum in Iquitos

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Historic Boat Museum in Iquitos

The Museum of Historic Boats is a recent addition to Iquitos's tourist attractions and the culmination of a holistic restoration project, intended to preserve Amazonian history from the early days of exploration and conquest to the present day. 

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Chachapoyas: Peru's most unexplored region?

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Chachapoyas: Peru's most unexplored region?

Gocta Falls is the second highest waterfall in Peru, yet was not scientifically measured until 2006, at which time they were declared the third highest in the world (an opinion since revised several times). They are barely 32 km (20 miles) north of Chachapoyas as the crow (or condor!) flies, and yet had escaped the attention of travellers and researchers.

Ten years later, just how remote and unexplored is Chachapoyas?

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End of the Amazon: Belem

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End of the Amazon: Belem

May 07, 2014: 14 years after first setting foot in Amazonia, I had finally arrived at the end of the Amazon River! But rather than this being a tale of an epic water-borne journey, battling vicious creatures, geographical challenges and bloodthirsty natives, in the style of the Conquistadors, I had rather mundanely arrived in the Brazilian city of Belem by plane from Sao Paulo

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Surfing in Lima

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Surfing in Lima

Peru has 2,414 km (1,500 miles) of Pacific coastline, and dotted along it are some of South America's best surfing spots. 250 km (155 miles) of that coastline is in the Department of Lima, offering a wide range of surfing options ... even within the city of Lima itself.

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Cajamarca: where History was Made ... and Ignored

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Cajamarca: where History was Made ... and Ignored

The Cuarto del Rescate is one room, of Inca stonework, with a red line drawn at around 2m high, supposedly indicating the height at which the room was to be filled with gold treasures. 

Not really much to indicate the change of regimes, religions, language and world view that the execution of Atahualpa signified. Not to mention the massive loss of life through pestilence and warfare. 

Luckily, Cajamarca has a lot else to offer, even if its remarkable place in history is not abundantly obvious or celebrated.

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Downriver From Iquitos

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Downriver From Iquitos

These days, nearly all Amazon river cruises travel upstream from Iquitos to the confluence of the Ucayali and Marañon Rivers, and the Pacaya-Samiria Reserve. However, when I first took one of these cruises, in the year 2002, the Rio Amazonas took me and my group downstream to the tri-border with Colombia and Brazil. It remains a very interesting - albeit busier - river journey, which can be visited using local transport or by chartering your own vessel.