Last Updated on March 17, 2023 by PowersToTravel
Rainforest Cruises
Our trip to Peru combined an Amazon River cruise with a trip to the Andes and Machu Picchu. We found an excellent cruise package which combined four nights on the Cattleya boat with three nights in the “luxury” Treehouse Lodge. The package was only offered by Rainforest Cruises, an agency in Florida. I then searched around comparing prices with other agencies for the Machu Picchu portion. We ended up choosing the land option provided by Rainforest Cruises, as well. I had thought that I was being smart by arranging the entire tour with one agency, however the apparent advantage did not materialize.
The Cattleya
While we look back upon our trip to Peru with great fondness, and Jeremy was excellent to deal with, there were several ‘glitches’ which occurred during the Andes portion of the trip which were unfortunate. Primary among them was the lack of coordination between the Lima-based CATDMC agency and its satellite branch in Cusco. Twice we found ourselves waiting for a pickup; the first time the driver and guide were merely late, 45 minutes late. The second time they had the arrival time completely wrong and we found ourselves stranded alone at the railway station in the dark, trying to arrange a pickup with my limited telephone Spanish.
Haku Tours
I had arranged a day trip in Lima by myself, between the Amazon adventure and the Andes adventure, with Haku Tours. Haku Tours strung together for us three of their partial day tours into one big bang single day trip that was fantastic. For the morning we went to “Pachacamac’s Pyramid Sanctuary”. We were taken to a local Santa Rosa de Lima fair for lunch, then did the “City of Kings and Queens Tour” for the afternoon. We had dinner at a downtown restaurant, and then took a taxi with our guide to the “Magic Waters and Laser Dance Show.” At the end of the long day our guide took us via taxi back to our hotel. We loved our guides and our destinations and feel it was a real high point of the entire trip to Peru. Haku is a company which uses many local guides from the poorer areas of Lima. The perspective and history learned from the guides was incomparable.
When to go?
We traveled from the 21st of August to the 6th of September. Our timing for the trip was driven by concern for crowds at Machu Picchu, the need to avoid rain and mud in the Andes mountains, the desire for low-water season in the Amazon and the extra vacation day I would get over Labor Day. I feel our timing was great – we did not feel overwhelmed by crowds, and the low-water Amazon experience was fascinating.
After having experienced the low-water season, it only makes me want to return to the Amazon for the high-water season. The height of the river-banks, and the creative ways the locals have of getting from their villages down to the water made for great photography. However, we were sometimes limited in the creeks we could navigate by the low water levels. In my opinion you can’t go wrong in the Amazon whichever season you choose. I think it’s hot and humid whenever you go.
Check out this article of mine too:
Peru Travel Blog – Itinerary, Reviews and Diabetic Travel Tips
