Itinerary Overview
- Delta Airlines/Latam direct from JFK to Lima (business class – overnight flight)
- Latam domestic coach flight from Lima to Cusco on the same day we arrived in Lima.
- Two nights in Sacred Valley with private driver and guide. Part of purpose was to acclimatize to the altitude as this area is 9k feet while Machu Picchu is 8k and Cusco is 11k.
- One night Aquas Calientes (Machu Picchu in PM & again in AM next day)
- Three nights in Cusco with private driver and guide for one full day.
- Two Latam domestic coach flights – Cusco to Lima then Lima to Iquitos
- Three nights on Aqua Nera (boat on Amazon)
- Latam domestic coach flight from Iquitos to Lima with 4 pm arrival.
- Driving and short walking tour of Lima during our 8 hour layover.
- Delta Airlines/Latam direct from Lima to JFK (business class – overnight flight)
Notes On Itinerary
- We started planning our trip in Aug of 2022. We had initially thought about Scandinavia but as Machu Picchu was on our bucket list, we thought that sooner rather than later would be better given our age and the amount of walking required.
- Direct flights to/from JFK/Lima made getting there easy with no visa required, and NO COVID Testing. We booked on Delta but the flight was operated by Latam and I would not recommend Latam at all. Lay flat seating was poor as was the cabin service.
- We scheduled way too much time in Lima airport waiting for flight to Cusco. Our flight arrived at about 7:15 am (15 min late) and baggage was slow coming out and still we were still able to find the domestic part of airport, get our bags checked into our Cusco flight, and get through security by 9:15 am (about two hours after our arrival). That left us 4 hours to sit in gate area!! Flights were frequent to Cusco, so we could easily have scheduled an earlier flight.
- What was interesting was that we booked our international flights through Amex but we could still see our booking in the Delta app. But, when there was a flight change, we only got notified by Amex and not Delta.
- Our stay in Peru was extended by one day late in the planning stages because the Amazon tour company cancelled the boat tour we were initially scheduled for due to lack of reservations, so we added a day in Cusco as the new boat schedule was one day later than our original one.
- We opted NOT to stay in Lima as we felt that Machu Picchu and the Amazon were of more interest. With our extra added day, we COULD have opted to spend one night in Lima between Cusco and the Amazon, but decided against it as that would add another hotel change to our itinerary (going from 4 changes in 9 days to 5).
- We loaded the Latam app on my phone and were able to use it before we departed to get seat assignments and to book larger leg room and early boarding for our 4 domestic flights.
Us (Margi and jerry)
I was almost 75 and my wife was 29 (smile). We were not overweight and were in reasonably good shape but we were not marathoners or exercise freaks. We were adventurous but not stupid and believed that a vacation should be a vacation, not a test of endurance.
The one exception to all that was that Margi had total right knee replacement 3 months before we departed. The MD preferred she have 4 months before the trip but thought the shorter rehab time would be ok if we took it easy. Easy is still our middle name!!
Travel Agent
We used Geodyssey, a UK firm that specialized in Latin America and the Caribbean (https://www.geodyssey.co.uk/). We got their name through Rob Slater of UK based Safari Consultants who planned our very successful trip to Africa in 2022. Margi found Peru For Less on the Internet. We interviewed both Geodyssey and Peru For Less and in August 2022 decided on Geodyssey.
Geodyssey contracted with Viajes Pacifico (Vipac) as our Peru agents and our guides while in all of Peru, except Aqua Nera cruise. They were excellent, meeting us promptly at every pickup point and being cooperative about any changes or adjustments we wanted to make.
Weather
We picked late April as this was the start of the Machu Picchu dry season (April thru Oct). We chose to go early in that period, sort of the shoulder season, in hopes of avoiding crowds. For the Amazon boat, this put us in the “high water” season, meaning more boat travel and less jungle hiking.
We lucked out and hit no rain anywhere. For the Amazon, this was especially lucky as they are supposed to get 250 days with rain each year. I can’t imagine Machu Picchu in the rain, as it was challenging for us in the dry. For Machu Picchu and Cusco temps were in the low-50’s early in AM and in 70’s during the day. In the Amazon, temps were around 80 during the day but not excessively uncomfortable, even wearing long shirts and pants (to protect against bugs).
Tipping/Credit Cards/Money
We paid Geodyssey for all the arrangements in Peru (except for a few meals), so almost everything was prepaid. But there was still the question of how much to tip for certain services that were included in the total cost of the trip. Like how much to tip a taxi driver for ride from airport to hotel or how much to tip staff at each of the locations we stayed at, or how much to tip our personal guide in Peru or the game guide in the Amazon. We got guidance from the travel agent.
Credit cards were accepted in all the places we traveled with the exception of remote Amazon villages. We did not get any Peruvian Sols in the US to bring with us. We used an ATM in the Lima airport to get about $110 worth of Sols (about 3.8 sols for one US $). We found another ATM in the hotel we stayed at in Sacred Valley, so we got an additional $100 worth of Sols.
US $ were readily accepted especially when tipping. The only place that would not accept US $ was at the snack bar in the Iquitos airport when we had given all our Sols in tips on the boat. But, they took a credit card.
Travel Insurance
We used Tin Leg to buy $15k worth of travel insurance at a cost of something like $1200. Luckily, we did not need to use this insurance.
Telephone
We had a plan through Verizon where if we used either of our phones when in a foreign country, we are charged $10 for 24 hours of usage and then our normal cell & data rates apply. Use of the phone in Peru was to keep in touch with our family, to check on flights, and general Internet usage.
peru oddities
In all the research we did on Peru, we failed to make note of one odd custom. In the restrooms, there was always a small waste can with a lid right next to the toilet. This is because the custom is to NOT flush toilet paper down the toilet but to instead put the used toilet paper in the waste can!! We saw one guy in the Cusco airport with toilet paper on his shoe. LOL
The other oddity were the driving rules. First, there were speed bumps EVERY WHERE to slow traffic. And these bumps were the size where you almost had to stop before going over. In addition, a double solid line on the road was apparently just a suggestion as our drivers (and everyone else) passed slower vehicles (usually commercial trucks) at any point. In the cities, many intersection were not controlled by stop signs or lights, so who went first was a mind game between drivers. While these traffic oddities might seem dangerous, we never felt unsafe with our Peruvian drivers.
Hit back button and select Sacred Valley.