It is with great pleasure that we can announce, Aracari founder and president Marisol Mosquera has been included on Travel + Leisure’s A-list of the World’s Top Travel Agents for 2011. Hurray! Appearing in the September edition of the magazine, Marisol is listed in the Latin America section as the only entry for Peru. Having been awarded the same accolade in 2010, this marks the second year in a row that Aracari have made the T+L grade. With 2011 having been a particularly exciting year for Aracari so far, we’re delighted to have been recognised with this prestigious award in our 15th year of operation as premium luxury travel agents. As well as the exciting celebration trips that we have organised for our 15th Anniversary and the centenary of Machu Picchu’s scientific discovery, we have strived in our endeavours to offer the most innovative, imaginative and authentic tours in Peru and across the Andes region. To this end we've been running up mountains in Cusco, visiting local schools and communities in the Sacred Valley, collaborating with renowned archeologists on Northern Peru's Moche Route, and travelling the world to spread the word amongst other ventures. Travel + Leisure also picked up on our excitement in Lima’s thriving culinary scene, saying that “Mosquera’s go-to restaurants in the city are Mercado, which serves classic Peruvian dishes, and Maido sushi bar.” And we’re equally delighted to say there’s plenty more in the pipeline; we’re currently designing a new range of tours and visits, including an art tour of lima, brand new culinary tours, and a walking tour of Barranco. Keep an eye out!
It is with great pleasure that we can announce, Aracari founder and president Marisol Mosquera has been included on Travel + Leisure’s A-list of the World’s Top Travel Agents for 2011. Hurray! Appearing in the September edition of the magazine, Marisol is listed in the Latin America section as the…
You may remember not so long ago that we ran an “Innovation Competition” for our guides in Cusco. We asked all of our guides in the region to come up with new ideas to develop Aracari’s service, with the allure of a fantastic trip to another part of Peru for those with the best ideas. Well, one of the two prizewinners, Fernando, has recently returned from his prize trip to the Cordillera Blanca, a breathtaking and dense mountain range in northern Peru. He and his family stayed at the Llanganuco Lodge, which is owned and ran by our friend Charlie Good, and realised the “Maria Josefa” and “Llanganuco 69” trekking routes. As an experienced trekking guide in Cusco, this was a great opportunity for Fernando to compare trekking offerings in the two regions. He told us that he was “very grateful for the opportunity to build on my knowledge” and to “be able to visit this area, compare the stunning glacial landscape [with that of Cusco], and to be able to put this experience into practice when working as a trekking guide in other places”. Fernando likewise gave us alot of interesting feedback regarding his visit, saying that “the Cordillera Blanca region reminded me of Cusco ten years ago, when the area was a large presence of backpacking and low budget travel”. He went on to say that “the Cordillera Blanca has a lot of potential for tourism, to the level of Cusco if not even more so. What is needed is improved infrastructure and better capacitation [in services] to be able to realise this”. He also told us that the Cordillera Blanca “shows a lot of potential for the development of sustainable tourism ... something which is increasingly being lost in Cusco”. Of Llanganuco Lodge, an Aracari favourite in the
You may remember not so long ago that we ran an “Innovation Competition” for our guides in Cusco. We asked all of our guides in the region to come up with new ideas to develop Aracari’s service, with the allure of a fantastic trip to another part of Peru for…
While recently in the Cusco region, I took the opportunity to hike the lodge-to-lodge Ausangate trek. This is an incredible high altitude 5 day trek, staying overnight at authentic and comfortable mountain lodges. Walk along a miraculous trekking route that passes beneath the snow covered peak of Ausangate amidst other wonders. The Lodge-to-Lodge Ausangate Trek combines core Aracari values: authenticity, sustainability and adventure complemented by comfort and good taste. Lodge-to-Lodge Ausangate Trek Day 1: Cusco to Chillca Tambo (4,368 metres asl) Distance: 3.3 km Within about 20 minutes of being picked up from my hotel, it quickly became apparent to our group that the Ausangate lodge to lodge trek would be an out-of-the-ordinary experience. Our guide, Jeremy, jumped into the van where we had been waiting with a bag of coca leaves; “they’re fresh” he told us excitedly, going on to enthusiastically detail the small farm in the high rainforest, from where he had just arrived, and from where he had acquired the leaves. “We’ll need them for the walk” he continued with a wry smile that could not contain his glee. This was quite clearly a guide who was up for an adventure, and his sheer excitement at going to Ausangate with us certainly made us very much more excited about the prospect of what on earth lay ahead of us. Jeremy would later explain why coca is sacred, why it has been such a vital plant to Andean communities for millennia, and how it is a mediator between man, the earth and the gods, but there was no time for that now. We drove out of Cusco on the road to Puno for a couple of hours, all the while hearing Jeremy’s detailed, animated and, at times jovial, insights into the Cusco region, everything from the population and the economy to the awful bout
While recently in the Cusco region, I took the opportunity to hike the lodge-to-lodge Ausangate trek. This is an incredible high altitude 5 day trek, staying overnight at authentic and comfortable mountain lodges. Walk along a miraculous trekking route that passes beneath the snow covered peak of Ausangate amidst other wonders. The…
On July the 24th 1911 Hiram Bingham III first stumbled across Machu Picchu, the first outsider to visit the ruins with the intention of studying them academically and of highlighting their significance to the world. One century to the day and celebrations to mark the centenary of Machu Picchu’s scientific discovery have been wide and varied. The official celebration, under the title “100 years of Machu Picchu in the World”, took place on 7th July with light shows, orchestras and a traditional-style ceremony on top of the ruins, an extravagant fanfare to celebrate the pride of Peru. There has not been any shortage of media coverage to mark the occasion either; popular international press outlets from the New York Times to the LA Times, and from CNN to the BBC have offered their commentary, all vying to give their own take on what makes this marvelous ruin just so special. Aracari Celebrates In true Aracari style, we have taken a rather distinct approach to mark this year of celebration – also our 15th Anniversary. We have hand-crafted a trilogy of escorted trips that are designed to highlight not only the very best aspects of Machu Picchu, but to use this to bring other aspects of Andean history and culture to the fore. The first of these trips was led by world renowned historian Dr. John Hemming in April, called the “Trip of the Century”, and our guests were riveted to hear the first-hand knowledge of the author of the seminal work “The Conquest of the Incas” through a series of detailed lectures, and at Inca sites and historical properties in Lima, Cusco and the Sacred Valley. The second trip, the Mystical History Tour, had been scheduled to incorporate Cusco's fabulous Corpus Christi and Inti Raymi festivals in June as well
On July the 24th 1911 Hiram Bingham III first stumbled across Machu Picchu, the first outsider to visit the ruins with the intention of studying them academically and of highlighting their significance to the world. One century to the day and celebrations to mark the centenary of Machu Picchu’s scientific…
Live bands, a symphony orchestra, a traditional Inca “Tinkay” ceremony and a spectacular sound and light show are all on the bill for the official Machu Picchu Centenary celebrations which take place at Machu Picchu today to mark 100 years since the ruins were brought to the attention of the world. Celebrating the Machu Picchu Centenary Touted to be viewed by as many as 500 million people worldwide on HDTV, the official event will be attended by dignitaries from foreign countries, celebrities such as Nobel Prizewinning author Mario Vargas Llosa, outgoing Peruvian president Alan Garcia and a whole host of journalists, photographers and travellers from across the World. The events will be rounded off with a light and sound show which aims to recreate Machu Picchu as it would have looked during Inca times. The show will feature around 300 notable artists and musicians, including the Andean Orchestra, Cusco’s Symphony Orchestra and the renowned Peruvian musician and composer Manuel Miranda who is famed for his use of traditional wind instruments. There are also artistic and cultural events taking place in the city of Cusco, where large LCD screens will beam the events at Machu Picchu into the city’s main square. There was a 21 gun salute in the city early this morning to mark the beginning of the day’s proceedings, and celebrations are expected to run into the early hours. You can find out more about the official celebrations on ANDINA (the government's official news agency) and Prom Peru or catch the celebrations, which begin at 10.30am local time, on one of the 15 satellite channels broadcasting the events live internationally. New Wonder of the World Despite Hiram Bingham first coming across the ruins on the 24th of July 1911, the official ceremonies are taking place today firstly because it
Live bands, a symphony orchestra, a traditional Inca “Tinkay” ceremony and a spectacular sound and light show are all on the bill for the official Machu Picchu Centenary celebrations which take place at Machu Picchu today to mark 100 years since the ruins were brought to the attention of the…
