Cities

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What to Bring on a Northern Peru Holiday

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What to Bring on a Northern Peru Holiday

A good maxim when packing to go on holiday is 'half the luggage; twice the money'! Peru has plenty of shops, selling everything from Alpaca sweaters to camera batteries, and by spending in them, visitors are doing their bit to support the local economy. 

Moreover, we once had a client arrive for a two-week holiday in Belize with just hand luggage ... and this was by choice, not at the whim of the airline. He had two shirts and would wash one, while he wore the other. 

Nonetheless, Peru North understands that this is not the norm, and so please see our advice on what to bring. Northern Peru is a very diverse place, geographically, climatically and culturally, so there will be variations according to your exact destination. We will start with the essentials, and then suggest additions, according to the region or activity. 

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Lima's Rimac District

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Lima's Rimac District

Most visitors to Lima's Colonial Centre get a tantalizing glimpse of a district that starkly reflects Lima's contrasts. Visible just north of the Presidential Palace and San Francisco Monastery, across the natural boundary of early Colonial Lima, the Rimac River, is the district named after the river. 

Being so close to Peru's post-Conquest heart, the area has a number of interesting and historic attractions, but it is also evidence of the rapid, chaotic, urban growth that characterizes much of Lima from the 1960s onwards.  

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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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Walking Tour of Central Lima

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Walking Tour of Central Lima

Despite living in Lima, it is seldom that I actually go to the centre. Over the last 30 years, the economic, cultural and tourist focus has largely shifted to the coastal districts of San Isidro, Barranco and Miraflores, and there are few practical reasons to visit.

So the visit of my photographer friend, James Brunker, offered a great excuse to explore once again, in the company of someone with a keen eye for the details, contrasts and absurdities that central Lima offers in abundance.

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Riding with Elvis ... to Three Forests

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Riding with Elvis ... to Three Forests

Peru is well known for its diversity, with the much-quoted triumvirate of Coast (Pacific), Mountains (Andes) and Jungle (Amazon) only providing a hint at the number of distinct eco-systems within her borders. To get an intense feel for this diversity, Peru North can recommend making the drive from Tarapoto in the department of San Martin, to Chiclayo in Lambayeque, on Peru's northern coast. And who better to have at the wheel for a journey as intensely spectacular as this, in the company of one's parents, than a driver called 'Elvis'. (This was not a nickname.)