Redefining travel in the Chilean and Bolivian Altiplanos, including the Salar de Uyuni In March 2007 we suggested a visit to the highlands of south-western Bolivia, calling it an Adventure of a Lifetime. In late 2007 we revisited the region to re-experience this journey - only this time our travel experience was taken to an entirely new level. Thanks to the Explora company's special journey: Travesia to the Chilean and Bolivian altiplanos, and the Salar de Uyuni, visiting this enigmatic region is now more comfortable than ever. We were not only marvelled by the virgin wilderness and mind-blowing scenery of this unique region; but we also were delighted by all the fabulous details that have been incorporated into the travel experience. Explora transports guests overland through pristine and remote wilderness and brilliantly integrates creature comforts from their luxury hotels along the way. The days are spent exploring with Javier, the Explora guide (he is pictured above), who accompanies guests every step of the way. His combination of technical expertise; local knowledge and sharp sense of humour perfectly equip him to lead explorations he mostly designs himself. Imagine climbing the sacred Tunupa volcano in the middle of the Uyuni salt lake. From the summit of the volcano, the beauty and mystery of Uyuni can be blinding. While in Bolivia, guests enjoy a camping experience like no other in South America. Alpaca blankets, hot showers and gourmet food are just some of the highlights. Just to give you an idea of the logistics involved, a chef from the Explora Atacama hotel (Marcelo is pictured below) travels ahead of the group so that he can arrive at each campsite in advance to prepare fresh and elaborate meals designed with the altitude and excursions in mind. A dedicated staff accompanies him to set up
Redefining travel in the Chilean and Bolivian Altiplanos, including the Salar de Uyuni In March 2007 we suggested a visit to the highlands of south-western Bolivia, calling it an Adventure of a Lifetime. In late 2007 we revisited the region to re-experience this journey – only this time our travel…
Celebrating 2008, the Year of the Potato Looking from a Western perspective (perhaps over a plate of fries), the United Nations declaration that 2008 will be the Year of the Potato, might be incorrectly perceived to be yet another example of officialdom gone nuts. The humble, homely potato is often seen as an object of derision in the West, in centuries past as a 'food for the poor', and today in phrases such as 'potato head' or 'couch potato'. And yet this unbelievably hardy, flexible, nutritious, low-fat food is the most consumed vegetable in the World, with over 6,000 different 'cultivated types' and 213 million tonnes grown to eat each year. In South America, the potato has been a resident feature for over 13,000 years when scientists believe wild varieties grew on the Chilean coast. No later than 7,000 years ago, Andean peoples farmed potatoes possibly on the northern Bolivian altiplano between lakes Titicaca and Poopó. Like the people living on this windswept land, some 12,000 feet above sea level, the potato had to be extraordinarily hardy and tenacious - enduring poor soil, radical temperature swings and frosts at any time of the year. Where most plants withered, the potato thrived. In the early 16th Century, the Spanish introduced the potato to Europe, initially as a botanic curiosity (solanum tuberosum). Alas, first impressions were typically negative, with the Europeans believing the potato to be poisonous or evil since it also belongs to the 'nightshade' family. Nevertheless, its innate goodness eventually won them over and potato cultivation became the 'bread' of Europe's industrial revolution. In fact, there are claims that the potato does more than fill the stomach - some say rheumatism can be prevented if you carry a potato in your pocket, facial blemishes may be removed by washing
Celebrating 2008, the Year of the Potato Looking from a Western perspective (perhaps over a plate of fries), the United Nations declaration that 2008 will be the Year of the Potato, might be incorrectly perceived to be yet another example of officialdom gone nuts. The humble, homely potato is…
Summer Skiing with a difference at Portillo, Chile With our primary goals firmly cemented in the importance of exemplary personal service and unique travel experiences, it was only a matter of time before we were seduced by the charms of Portillo, South America's oldest ski area. Standing in the shadow of Aconcagua, the highest peak in the Americas, the sunshine-yellow facade of the Hotel Portillo is a welcoming site for the lucky ones who discover this all-inclusive ski experience, a two hour drive from the capital of Santiago. Standing alone, the Hotel commandeers the powder white slopes giving you and your maximum of 500 fellow guests exclusive access to the numerous all-ability slopes and 13 chair lifts leading to them, including a one-of-a-kind lift that was specifically designed for Portillo to cope with steepness of the expert runs! This compact and beautifully managed ski area, home of the 1966 Alpine World Championships, has been family-run for over fifty years and the Purcell family pride themselves on their personal service with over 450 employees, that's one per guest. "It's like a cruise ship in the mountains," says world champion extreme skier Chris Davenport, a long-time Portillo visitor who holds his annual 'Ski with the Superstars' freeskiing clinic at the resort. Given that this is summer skiing for us, running from late June to early October (best months July and August), the Ski School has the pick of best instructors in the world and is internationally renowned for its quality. This quality extends to its fabulous childcare facilities - Portillo is extremely family-friendly with the resort featuring a nursery, daycare centre and kids camp and offering kids menus, après-ski kids entertainment and 'Kids Ski Free Weeks'. Trips to Portillo will start from 2008 and can be combined with visits to a number
Summer Skiing with a difference at Portillo, Chile With our primary goals firmly cemented in the importance of exemplary personal service and unique travel experiences, it was only a matter of time before we were seduced by the charms of Portillo, South America’s oldest ski area. Standing in the shadow…
La Ruta de los Murales with Lisy Kuon Photo Credit: World Monuments Fund In our view, artistic gems shine brighter with the illuminating presence of a true passionate specialist by your side. We uniquely work with some of the leading experts in the fields of archaeology, art and culture in South America including Elizabeth 'Lisy' Kuon, a charming and fascinating Cuzco-born specialist in Colonial art and art history. With Lisy's help we are introducing a new exciting trip day trip south-east of Cuzco to visit the unassuming, quiet villages of Huaro, Andahuaylillas and Oropesa whose humble churches unexpectedly house mesmerizing and spectacular frescoes and murals. The seventeenth century church at Andahuaylillas, some 41 kms from Cuzco, is known as the 'Sistine Chapel of America', with its huge Cusqueña canvasses decorating the upper walls, unusual murals and ceiling painted with Spanish flowers. The mural, deemed the most important in all the colonial churches in the Cuzco region by the World Monuments Fund*, was decorated by Don Luis de Riaño in 1629, inspired by the humanist teachings of local priest, Don Juan Perez de Bocanegra. Later, between 1675 and 1699, a similarly inspiring church was built in nearby village Huaro. Detailed with mural paintings and polychrome sculptures in a style that symbolizes the coming together of European and indigenous schools at this time. Located a short distance from Cuzco, this unique artwork brought to life by a true specialist like Lisy, perfectly illustrates the richness of art found in even the most humble of locations in the extraordinary country of Peru. Please contact us to book a visit or for more information. * The World Monuments Fund funded the restoration of Huaro Church. Andahuaylillas Church is currently on the 2008 World Monuments Watch List.
La Ruta de los Murales with Lisy Kuon Photo Credit: World Monuments Fund In our view, artistic gems shine brighter with the illuminating presence of a true passionate specialist by your side. We uniquely work with some of the leading experts in the fields of archaeology, art and culture…
Potential reduction of the Bahuaja-Sonene National Park Tambopata River, photo credit: Rainforest Expeditions In the era of the environmental crusader you may be surprised to read about the threatening predicament faced by the Bahuaja-Sonene National Park, a sacred mega-diverse national reserve of lowland Amazonian rainforest and cloudforest in Peru. Set against the background the new Trade Promotion Agreement between the USA and Peru, an agreement Peruvian President Garcia termed 'a new deal' for global trade - a bill was proposed in September to reduce the size of this protected rainforest by an astonishing 209,000 hectares. Why? To give the oil and gas companies (namely Mobil) free reign to start exploration. Understandably, a local and international outcry followed given the move which US Member of Congress Earl Blumenauer deemed as being, "... contrary to the spirit of this 'new deal'," and an "... inappropriate exchange of trade and investment by weakening and reducing the protections afforded in Peru's environmental laws." Happily, the furore has apparently halted the Bill's progress, and even sparked a denial of its very existence by the Vice Minister of Energy, Pedro Gamio! To see this natural phenomenon yourself, you can travel with Aracari to neighbouring Tambopata, a pristine area of Amazonian rainforest and cloudforest, a 25 minute flight from Cuzco. Over the past 20 years, researchers have recorded more species of birds, butterflies and other species than any other area of comparable size in the world. It is also home to the largest macaw claylick in the world, where you can witness the incomparable sight of hundreds of macaws gathering to ingest the minerals that are essential for their diet. Click here to see some rainforest itineraries, or contact us for more information.
Potential reduction of the Bahuaja-Sonene National Park Tambopata River, photo credit: Rainforest Expeditions In the era of the environmental crusader you may be surprised to read about the threatening predicament faced by the Bahuaja-Sonene National Park, a sacred mega-diverse national reserve of lowland Amazonian rainforest and cloudforest in Peru. Set…
New York Times September 17, 2007 Yale Officials Agree to Return Peruvian Artifacts By RANDY KENNEDY After a long standoff with the government of Peru, Yale University has agreed to return a large group of artifacts that were excavated at Machu Picchu in a historic dig by a Yale explorer in 1912 and that Peru contends were merely on loan and should have been returned long ago. For several years Yale had argued that it had returned all borrowed objects in the 1920s, retaining only those to which it had full title. Yale proposed dividing possession of the artifacts. But negotiations between the university and the administration of President Alejandro Toledo, who was in power from 2001 until July 2006, broke down, and Peru threatened last year to go to court. On Friday night Yale officials and a Peruvian delegation that traveled to New Haven signed a preliminary agreement that would return title to Peru of more than 350 artifacts — ceramics and metal and stone objects — that are considered to be of museum quality and several thousand fragments, bones and other objects considered to be primarily of interest to researchers. The agreement, which establishes an extensive collaborative relationship between Yale and Peru, provides for an international traveling exhibition. Admission fees will be used to help build a new museum and research center in Cuzco, the city closest to Machu Picchu. The museum, for which Yale will serve as adviser, is expected to be completed in 2010. Some of the research-quality artifacts will remain at Yale, while others will be returned, though legal title to all the items will be held by Peru. Yale will also contribute what one university official called a “significant” amount of money to establish a program of scholarly exchanges that will continue
New York Times September 17, 2007 Yale Officials Agree to Return Peruvian Artifacts By RANDY KENNEDY After a long standoff with the government of Peru, Yale University has agreed to return a large group of artifacts that were excavated at Machu Picchu in a historic dig by a…
