Postcards from Peru: The itinerary (1)

In the summer of 2024, we spent 3 weeks in the stunning country of Peru. It is of course famous for Machu Picchu, the famous ruins of the Incan empire. But when we started planning our trip, we realised that there was just so much more to explore in the country, 3 weeks were just not enough! We visited the coastal desert, the Amazon forests, the Andes, and each place felt like we had landed in a completely different country! I had wanted this to be a go-with-the-flow, slow and low agenda trip as much as possible, so we did some but not too much planning beforehand, and kept things easy going. And so we ended up experiencing the country more deeply than usual. We loved our time in Peru and can’t wait to be back.


High level itinerary

4 nights on the coastal plains, starting in Lima, then Paracas, Huacachina Oasis, and finally back to Lima
4 nights in Puerto Maldonado in the Peruvian Amazon forests
2 nights in Cusco
4 nights on the Salkantay trail (of which two were in camps and two in Aguas Calientes)
3 nights back in Cusco
4 nights in Puno (of which two were on Lake Titicaca and two in Puno town)


Detailed itinerary

Day 1: We flew from Amsterdam to Lima, flying 3 hours over the Amazon forest (they are nearly twice the size of India!) and the Andes (which create the coastal plains of Peru). We stayed at Hotel Andesmar in the Miraflores area

Day 2: We took a 3 day Peru Hop bus tour around Lima. We drove to Paracas, a seaside town near the Paracas National Reserve. On the way we stopped at Hacienda San Jose, where Spanish conquistadors owned and ran plantations during the colonial period. In the evening, we explored the seaside town, staying at Hotel Riviera Inka Paracas

Day 3: We explored the Ballestas islands which are known as a 'poor man's Galapagos'. These are a group of islands with millions of birds and aquatic life, including penguins and sea lions! We drove through the Paracas National Reserve, a desert land that gets no rain all year. Then we were off to the Huacachina Oasis, stopping at a Pisco vineyard on the way. We explored the sand dunes around the oasis at sunset, staying overnight at Hotel Curasi

Day 4: We drove to Nazca and did a small plane ride to see the Nazca lines from the air, shapes created in the desert land by a prehistoric civilisation from Southern Peru, more than 2000 years ago. Then we were on the road for 9+ hours from Nazca to Lima, staying again at Hotel Andesmar in Miraflores 

Day 5: We explored Lima and then took a flight to Puerto Maldonado, a city in the Amazon forest. We reached at night and checked-in at our lodge, the Hacienda Herrera Tambopata, on the Madre De Dios river, for the next 4 nights

Day 6-8: We did a few activities to explore the Amazon forest. A night walk around the Hacienda, a walk in the neighbouring forest, boating on lake Sandoval, a sunset ride on the Tambopata river and a visit to the Chuncho Macaw Clay Lick. We spotted many animals during those safaris like the black caimans, white caimans (similar to crocodiles), red howler monkeys, capuchin monkeys, capybaras, turtles, sloths, agoutis and possums. And of course, spotted (but mostly heard to the sounds of) loads of birds, especially macaws, hoatzins and oropendolas. And learnt about many insects, like praying mantis and different kinds of spiders 😂. And of course heard about the typical Amazonian trees and creepers 


(The rest of the itinerary will be added as I progress with the blogs)