Hubby and I are hoping to book a dream trip for the end of March to coincide with our 25th wedding anniversary. Why end of March? He already had planned the time off for a now canceled event and is self employed, so that’s our time frame.
We have 10-11 days. No camping, unless it’s actually glamping with real beds.
We have heard we should take a couple of days in Cusco to acclimate. I wish this was avoidable, but I guess altitude sickness is a very common issue. (Does Oxishot make a difference?)
Questions:
If we tie this in with Galápagos, we are restricted to sailing dates. We would not do more than 3 nights/4 days. I’ve read that there can be rough waters. As it’s closer to the end of summer there, is that likely? I’m a little worried about seasickness.
Or, we don’t do the Galápagos at all and instead stay within Peru.
If we go for the Amazon option, does it “feel” Amazonian enough? Is an ecolodge the way to go?
Is an add on to Lake Titicaca doable in our time frame?
Would love to hear of any experiences or recommendations for tour companies who specialize in this type of trip.
IMO, do it the other way around! We flew into Cusco, went straight to the train to Aguas Calientes/Machu Picchu, and stayed there. MP is the same altitude as Aspen, and you don’t see a lot of people worrying about acclimating for days before they go there! Cusco is another 3K+ higher in altitude- and you do feel it when you first arrive!- but if you go to MP first adjusting to the additional 3K+ is easier. And in truth, Cusco itself (for all but the real aficionados) is an afternoon (they have done amazing PR for themselves).
For rainforest, either an ecolodge or a river boat cruise are good ways to see it. Either way you should have canoe and walking excursions. We had to cancel our stay at La Selva (tx, Covid), so I can’t give a first hand report, but we know people who have raved about it.
If you are talking about this month, a friend of mine had a tour including MP planned for May, and the company cancelled the trip, bc of the unrest, I believe.
When you say you flew right to Cusco (non stop from somewhere?) and went to the train, do you mean all in the same travel leg? Was this to avoid altitude sickness?
Hi! I have only been to the Galapagos, but it’s a spectacular place and totally worth a visit. Some of the islands have lodging - maybe stay on one and then do day trips from one place so you don’t have to be on a boat the whole time/worry about seasickness (I am very sensitive to this!)
We had been told by friends about the difference in altitude between Cusco & MP, and how they felt taking several days in Cusco was not a good use of their time. Other friends had a great experience going straight to MP (which is the purpose of the trip after all!). So we flew into Lima, stayed there for a couple of nights*, then took a (brutally early) flight (on LaTam) to Cusco and transferred directly to the train (there was a layover in Cusco for a couple of hours- we def felt the altitude but no sickness, though we also didn’t try to do anything much either).
There are 3 trains: PeruRail (plain), IncaRail (fancy) and Hiram Bingham/Belmond (deluxe) all of which go through a spectacular valley direct to Aguas Calientes, the town at the foot of Machu Picchu. We stayed in AC** and went up to MP for hikes and a tour of the ruins.
*though that was as much for being in Lima as anything: for us there was no time shift (Lima is the same time zone as the East Coast of the US) which is the hardest part of travel, but the timing of the connections was hard, so going straight US ->Lima-> Cusco wasn’t appealing!
**you can also stay at the lodge that is right at the gates to the ruins
Wife and D took the delux train and stayed at the lodge. Very nice accommodations and we’re able to wake early to hike up to witness sunrise - awesome.
As to your questions, Cusco is delightful. There are pills to minimize altitude sickness adjustment - they worked well. The altitude adjustment into Cusco is for real. I’d ask your doctor? (flew directly US-Lima-Cusco)
As for the Amazon -absolutely 100% a peak experience. The guy who runs Tambopata Travel, Mike Langford, will answer all kinds of specific questions about the Amazon and is super helpful. He is based outside of Cusco, and was very responsive to emails.
This is a bit of a tangent, but actually folks accustomed to sea level oxygen do worry about altitude at Aspen (7900’) and other CO ski towns. Some of them plan a day in Denver (mile high) first to acclimate. Here is an example of website with Aspen/Altitude tips.