The Andean Baroque Route is a picturesque half day tour outside the city of Cusco which primarily focuses on churches that belong to the Andean Baroque artistic movement, including the church of San Pedro de Andahuaylillas often called the “Sistine Chapel of the Americas”. The Andean Baroque Route takes in beautiful views, tall mountains, quaint villages and churches full of colorful paintings with lots of history. These rarely-visited churches are humble on the outside but impressive on the inside and were structured and designed to convert the local people of the Altiplano to Christianity during the Colonial times. The Andean Baroque Route in Cusco Specialist Guide Lisy Kuon Bright and early on Friday morning I met the rest of the group at the airport in Lima to catch our 6:35am flight to Cusco. Here we met Lisy Kuon, Aracari's specialist guide on Colonial History and Architecture, who would be our guide for the day. Lisy studied Humanities and Anthropology at the National University of Cusco and the University of Washington in Seattle, specialising in expressive anthropology, now known as visual culture, of the Southern Peruvian Andes from the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries. Her focus for the last 40 years has been on colonial art from Cusco and Puno. Learn more about Lisy Kuon. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LU55hv_VSuk Departing Cusco As we were leaving Cusco, we passed through the San Sebastián district and Lisy pointed out the Iglesia de San Sebastián. As we traveled farther southeast away from Cusco the scenery transformed from urban to more and more green, mountainous, and rural. We passed through a small town called Oropesa, famous for baking bread in large ovens made out of wood and stone. Rumiqolca Archaelogical Site Our first stop was an archaeological site called Rumiqolca. In the 9th-12th centuries it functioned as an aqueduct that provided water to the city
The Andean Baroque Route is a picturesque half day tour outside the city of Cusco which primarily focuses on churches that belong to the Andean Baroque artistic movement, including the church of San Pedro de Andahuaylillas often called the “Sistine Chapel of the Americas”. The Andean Baroque Route takes in beautiful…
A perfect luxury amazon cruise A visit to the Amazon Rainforest can be a transformative journey, allowing you to immerse in nature and experience the beauty of the planet’s most intense and diverse colors, smells and sounds as you encounter the exotic flora and fauna. Of course, the Amazon is a jungle and is not for everyone: it is hot and humid, it rains, there are bugs and mosquitoes—it is the wild at its finest! However, on the Aria Amazon cruise, you can experience the Amazon’s beauty in the luxury offered by a fine hotel. I recently went to Iquitos, in the Peruvian Amazon, where I began a 4 day, 3 night journey on the Aria cruise ship. Day 1 After a short flight from Lima, I disembarked to find the Aria staff waiting with a sign. The heat of the Amazon was intense—quite a change from Lima’s more temperate climate. From the airport, we travelled by land in vans (thankfully with air conditioning) on a paved road about two hours to Nauta. We met our guide, Julio, who talked about the Amazon, the local communities and our journey on the Aria. At the pier at Nauta, we got on a motorboat to get out to the Aria cruise ship. We were twelve people in total, a mix of Peruvians, Americans and a Japanese family with their 8-year-old son. On board the ship, we were greeted by the cruise director and then shown our rooms before the briefing in the lounge. Inside, the Aria looked like a luxury hotel with elegant, understated decorations—it just happened to be a hotel floating along the Amazon River with views to prove it! There are three decks. In the first or lower deck, there are eight staterooms and the embarkation platform. In the second
A perfect luxury amazon cruise A visit to the Amazon Rainforest can be a transformative journey, allowing you to immerse in nature and experience the beauty of the planet’s most intense and diverse colors, smells and sounds as you encounter the exotic flora and fauna. Of course, the Amazon is…
Notice something different? That would be "The Khipu", our new look blog and monthly newsletter. There's always time for a fresh, new look. Through The Khipu Blog, we will continue to inform you of the latest developments in culture and travel in Peru, Bolivia and the Galapagos Islands, with personal in-depth accounts of our journeys across the continent and throughout the world. Sent monthly, The Khipu Newsletter will round up all the latest from around the web to give you a digest of the most important stories covering our region. The first edition of The Khipu, October 2014 It's not by chance we chose to use the name "The Khipu". A system of knotted and colour-coded cords, Khipus were used by pre-Columbian peoples in Peru to record information, store data and as an aide to recount stories. At the height of the Inca Empire, Khipus were carried by messengers throughout the Andes along the network of Inca Trails to transmit messages and deliver important communications. Seeing as we are delivering you news direct from the Andean region, we felt it a most fitting metaphor for our own, rather more modern communication channels! Please do let us know your feedback on the Khipu by leaving a comment below or by writing an email to news@aracari.com. You can also subscribe to The Khipu by clicking here. We hope you find the Khipu Blog and Newsletter to be as informative as those Khipus themselves...
Notice something different? That would be “The Khipu”, our new look blog and monthly newsletter. There’s always time for a fresh, new look. Through The Khipu Blog, we will continue to inform you of the latest developments in culture and travel in Peru, Bolivia and the Galapagos Islands, with personal in-depth accounts…
The Cordillera Blanca is one of the most impressive mountain ranges in Peru and arguably South America with 20 peaks that reach over 6,000m in altitude, including Huascaran at 6,786m (22,263ft), which is the highest mountain in Peru and one of the highest in the Americas. This region is a haven for hikers and has a wide variety of day treks and multi-day treks for all skill levels, from those who want to try trekking for the first time and those who are more experienced and want to scale some of South America’s most beautiful mountains. The Cordillera Blanca's Santa Cruz Trek is a relatively easy multi-day hike, camping in spectacular mountain scenery. Hiking the Santa Cruz Trek in the Cordillera Blanca Of the treks, the classic Cordillera Blanca Santa Cruz trek route is one of the most popular in the Cordillera Blanca. The three or four-day trek in the protected Huascaran Reserve is a great introduction to the region of Huaraz and gives travelers a glimpse of the stunning beauty of the Cordillera Blanca with its snowcapped mountains, lagoons and forests. The trek can begin or end in one of two towns, Vaquería and Cashapampa. Traditionally it begins in Cashapampa and ends in Vaquería, but for those doing the trek in three days, beginning in Cashapampa is more strenuous as more of the route is uphill. Acclimatizing for Santa Cruz trekking A friend and I recently traveled to Huaraz to get a much-needed dose of nature and change of scenery from Lima’s cityscapes. We spent three days in the city to acclimatize with a few day treks before doing the Santa Cruz Trek in three days, beginning in Vaquería. The Santa Cruz trek day-by-day review Day 1 - LLanganuco Lakes We were collected from our hotel at 6am and
The Cordillera Blanca is one of the most impressive mountain ranges in Peru and arguably South America with 20 peaks that reach over 6,000m in altitude, including Huascaran at 6,786m (22,263ft), which is the highest mountain in Peru and one of the highest in the Americas. This region is a…
The Museum of Mario Testino (MATE) in Barranco introduced its first exhibition of the series “Masters of Photography” in its temporary exhibits salon, which will showcase the works of photographers who have influenced the field and whose talents resulted in iconic images. The inaugural exhibit, titled “Legends in Light”, features images of Hollywood stars taken by North American photographer George Hurrell. Born in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1904, George Hurrell was a master in studio portraits during Hollywood’s golden years. He found his way into photography and Hollywood by chance and became one of the most sought-after photographers in the field. He opened a studio in Los Angeles in 1927 and by 1937 had become a household name thanks to publications in Esquire magazine. His photos captured the glamor and elegance of some of the biggest stars of the cinema that continue to define the era and influence photographers today. Portraits of actors like Katherine Hepburn, Joan Crawford, Clark Gable and Douglas Fairbanks—just to name a few, have immortalized them as icons of the time. The use of light and shadow in Hurrell’s images has a dramatic effect and set the standard for Hollywood glamor shots that influenced the works of photographers during the century and beyond. The George Hurrell exhibit will be on display until December 6th 2014. After seeing the collection of Mario Testino, the exhibits of “Masters of Photography” are a bonus to any visit to MATE. Once you’ve finished your visit, you might enjoy a delicious piece of carrot cake and a cappuccino at the MATE Café or have a light lunch on the lovely patio.
The Museum of Mario Testino (MATE) in Barranco introduced its first exhibition of the series “Masters of Photography” in its temporary exhibits salon, which will showcase the works of photographers who have influenced the field and whose talents resulted in iconic images. The inaugural exhibit, titled “Legends in Light”, features…
Last Thursday evening the Centro Colich in Barranco, Lima was abuzz with people milling through the gallery to see the works of artist Puchi Noriega, a friend of Aracari. It was Puchi’s debut in the Lima art scene after having moved back to her home country two years ago. The exposition, called Vi-Gente, attracted a lot of attention and stimulated many conversations in the evening as gallery visitors sipped wine and chatted about the pieces. After a successful inauguration, I sat down the following afternoon with the artist to talk about the exposition, her art and her experience returning to Peru after twenty-nine years abroad. Puchi Noriega Puchi, a self-taught artist, was born and raised in Peru, where her family had a ceramics studio. Her favorite subject is the human form, and she has exhibited her works in over 50 group and individual expositions. She explained that she has always had a studio and doesn't know what life without a kiln would be like, having grown up immersed in the world of clay sculpture and ceramics. At age 14 Puchi and her family moved to Canada, where she maintained strong ties to her Peruvian identity, practicing Spanish daily with a friend and cooking Peruvian recipes like tamales to ensure that she would not lose it. In her late teens she moved back to Peru for a few years, teaching sculpture in Lima and after lived in Miami for twenty years before her latest return to Lima. Six months ago the Centro Colich gallery commissioned her for this exposition, and she has worked hard—up until three days before the inauguration—to get her pieces finished. She explained to me that the week before the inauguration she was firing pieces every day. Working with clay is a complicated and slow process. Sometimes people ask
Last Thursday evening the Centro Colich in Barranco, Lima was abuzz with people milling through the gallery to see the works of artist Puchi Noriega, a friend of Aracari. It was Puchi’s debut in the Lima art scene after having moved back to her home country two years ago. The…
