Articles from this Tag
April 22, 2025
From once-buried pre-Hispanic ruins to sky-high mountaintop cities filled with history and culture, lush jungles, gastronomy, and friendly locals, Peru will amaze all your senses simultaneously. Add to that its affordable prices, and you will want to add these best places to visit in Peru to your bucket list! Peru At a Glance Capital: Lima […]
January 22, 2024
“Way up there?” I asked Silver Ballón, our guide, who was pointing to the seemingly vertical 13,000 ft. summit. “Don’t worry. You don’t have to go all the way up. There are amazing views all along the way.” he replied. I immediately thought it was a trick. And it was, but the very best kind. […]
April 30, 2022
I stepped back into the dark brown muck and leaned on the tree behind me to get a better photo of the anaconda slithering in my direction. I was motionless for a mere two seconds when Ericson Pinedo, our local naturalist on the Delfin Amazon Cruise, jerked me back by my arm and quickly snatched […]
January 16, 2021
Once the capital of the Inca Empire, this vibrant colonial city cradled by the rugged Peruvian Andes is a magnificent fusion of ancient vs. modern. Tourists who travel to South America’s most famous and most visited draw, Machu Picchu, inevitably start in Cusco but are soon seduced by the well-preserved UNESCO World Heritage city and […]
May 14, 2020
“Way up there?” I asked Silver Ballón, our guide, who was pointing up to the 13,000 ft. summit. “Don’t worry. You don’t have to go all the way up. There are amazing views all along the way.” he replied. I immediately thought it was a trick. And it was, but the very best kind. Few […]
August 27, 2018
I’ve been obsessed with the Incas and Peru ruins since my early 20’s. Maybe it’s because the Inca civilization is so enigmatic. Or perhaps admiration at having created such an impressive culture without written language, monetary system, iron, or slaves. I’d pour over photos of Machu Picchu in glossy magazines, imagining myself standing on that […]
May 7, 2018
Chinchero Peru was the first Inca site on our schedule in the Sacred Valley of the Incas. Eager to get to my “real” bucket list destination, Machu Picchu, I wasn’t expecting much at the Moray archaeological site. After driving 19 miles from Cusco with AdventureSmith Explorations, I got out of our transport van and strolled […]
April 16, 2018
How hard could it be? I’d already tried tandem skydiving and hang gliding. I had my first inkling of trouble when paragliding Lima came as we leaped off the Miraflores cliff in Lima, Peru. But instead of taking flight, we started to descend. This was the first of several white-knuckle episodes in the Miraflores sky. […]
April 11, 2018
About a one hour drive from Cusco, Pisac is the city used as the starting point to the Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu. The better-known Inca ruins at Machu Picchu and Ollantaytambo are spectacular, for sure. But Pisac itself is one of the most colorful and diverse cities in Peru. And with far fewer tourists. […]
April 9, 2018
Many people fly into Lima solely as a stop-over for getting to more sought-after destinations in Peru, like Machu Picchu or the Amazon. But with a history predating Colonial occupation, Lima itself is worthy of spending an extra day or two. Overlooking the Pacific Ocean, Lima is the third-largest city in the Americas and the […]
