Travel and Flight Arrangements:
Please Confirm our receipt of your tuition PRIOR to booking your airline tickets.
Your flight destination is Cusco, Peru. Your tuition covers all travel after your arrival in Cusco plus all your lodging and food. All flights to Cusco are routed through Lima, Peru's capital city, and many itineraries require a layover in Lima ( usually 5-6 hours on the way in and 8-10 hours on the way out. When we have a layover, we generally wait in the Lima airport on the way in and book a day hotel in the Miraflores area of Lima on the way out. We can assist you with this upon registration. The best internet search engine I've found for travel to Peru is: www.kayak.com
Your tuition covers your lodging for the 13 nights of the journey, from the night of October 25 through the night of November 6, so plan on arriving no later than the morning of October 25th and leaving no sooner than the morning of November 7. If you would like to arrive earlier or stay longer ( we recommend the later), to explore other areas of Peru like Machu Pichu, there are on-line tour companies in Cusco that can make your arrangements.
Laying over in Lima Airport :
Due to international flight arrivals and departures, and connecting internal flights within Perú, it may be necessary to spend some hours at the Lima airport waiting for your connection. Fortunately, there is a luggage storage facility and there are 24 hr. restaurants located upstairs above international departure ticket counters.
Weather:
Both in the high Andes near Cusco and in the jungle the dry season is from May through October with plenty of sunny days. The highlands have a fresh and dry climate and October is the warmest month with high temperatures around 70* Fahrenheit and lows in the mid 40's. The climate In the Sacred Valley is generally dry and warm almost all year. The rain forest is warm and humid with highs in the 80's and lows in the 60's.
Passport -- recommended to be valid six months beyond intended stay ( also carry a photocopy of the passport page with your photo). No Visa required for stay up to 90 days
Health: vaccinations are not required for travel to Peru, however, check with your health care provider for any health considerations. One thing we do to make the trip easy on the stomach is to begin taking a natural antibiotic called "Citricidal" about a week before departure, then continuing while in Peru. (It’s a grapefruit seed extract, available from most health food stores …I take 5-6 tabs a day). Olive leaf extract is another great natural antibiotic and booster for the immune system.
Money
As of January 13, 2010
1 US Dollar = 2.88 Peruvian Nuevo Sol and 1 Peruvian Nuevo Sol = 0.35 US Dollar
Note: Arilu, Americo's daughter, recently emailed me to let me know that some money changers and banks are hesitant to accept US $100 bills due to a counterfeiting scare. She recommends that you bring $50 bills.
At the Lima (Jorge Chavez) Airport: Banco Mercantil and Banco del Comercio in the Departures terminal both change traveler's checks (Amex and Citicorp), no commission, and give cash advances on Visa or Mastercard. They're open 24 hrs; Also, in the Departures terminal, there is a Visa ATM. In the International Arrivals terminal near the baggage carousels (before going through customs) Banco Sur is open 24 hours and changes cash and traveler's checks.
ATMs are plentiful in Cusco, and is the easiest way to access cash at a good exchange rate. VISA/Plus is more common than Mastercard/Cirrus. Money exchange offices (Casas de Cambio) are available in Cusco.
Credit cards are accepted by some businesses but a surcharge of up to 12% is usual. VISA is the more common, Mastercard less so, and Diners and Amex hardly at all.
American Express are the most widely accepted travel checks and can easily be changed at banks. Other brands of travel checks are treated with suspicion and holders may have some difficulty getting them changed.
What is not included in your Tuition:
Airfare to Cusco, 3-4 days restaurant meals in Cusco ( except breakfast which is included, meals are quite inexpensive-aprox. $15/day), tips, laundry, bottled water ( except at Salk’a Wasi), personal needs, optional trips, and airport taxes (around $30).
Dealing with altitude:
To prevent Soroche, or altitude sickness, take things easy as soon as you arrive. Once settled in your hotel room have a lie down for a while and drink plenty of fluids. Avoid alcohol, cigarettes and heavy food. Drinking mate de coca (an infusion of coca leaves - and perfectly legal in Peru ) may help.
Personal Equipment
Pack what you need for the 13 days (or more, if you’re staying longer), keeping in mind that we’ll have the occasional opportunity to have laundry done by the hotel. Personal items you will need to bring are a towel and a sleeping bag and small pillow for use during our stay at Americo’s ancestral home of Salk’a Wasi.
Reciprocity
Also, as part of our reciprocity with the village of Mollomarka, we’d like to suggest that you bring used clothing which we’ll present as gifts to the villagers. Long pants, sweat shirts, T-shirts, caps, jackets, sweaters etc. are all appreciated. Any size from toddlers to (smallish) adults. Also, ‘school oriented’ gifts for the kids would be great…pens, pencils, crayons, coloring books, small notebooks, etc.
About packing and luggage:
Check with your airline to make certain you understand their baggage allowances.
It won’t be necessary to haul all our luggage around all the time. Our hotel in Cusco will be ‘home base’, and we’ll be returning there intermittently. We’ll be taking trips from Cusco to the Sacred Valley of the Urubamba, Salk’a Wasi, and, weather permitting, the rainforest.
I usually travel with one duffel bag full of clothes and gifts for the folks in Mollomarka and one bag containing my personal stuff ( including a medium duffel-bag that can be used for side trips). I store the gift bag and my large bag at the hotel in Cusco, so I’m traveling with only the stuff I need at the time.
What to Bring: These are the items we recommend
*Passport -- must be valid six months beyond intended stay ( also bring a photocopy of the passport page with your photo). No Visa required for stay up to 90 days
* Sleeping Bag and small pillow for our time in Salk'a Wasi
* One small flashlight with extra batteries.
* Camera gear including an extra memory stik or plenty of extra film
* Backpack or daypack and fanny pack
* Long pants .
* Absorbent socks. Light wool hiking socks will keep your feet dry
* Sturdy sneakers and/ or hiking boots (worn in), sandals / slip-ons other shoes
* Lightweight rain poncho
* Long-sleeved shirts and T-shirts.
* Hat with sun visor or full brim, e.g. baseball cap, etc.
* Medium weight jacket and sweater
* A water bottle to carry water on outings
* Insect repellent
* Personal toiletries and medications
* Spending Money (US dollars are the easiest to exchange) and a credit card in case of an emergency. Credit cards are good in cities at hotels, large stores and ATM's.
* Plastic bags to hold wet or damp items
* Sunglasses
* Hand Sanitizer and/or personal antibacterial wipes
* Personal favorite snacks that can be easily carried in your day pack
* Books…A journal and pens.
* Travel clock/watch
*Towel
Bring other essentials like:
Advil/Aspirin
Band-aids
Lip balm
Lotion
Nail clippers/pocket knife
Neosporine
Q-tips
Soap
Shampoo
Sunglasses
Sunscreen
Toothbrush/paste/dental floss
Needle and thread
Articles difficult to find in Peru:
* Specific Medications, drugs
* Energy Bars, i.e. Power bar, granola bars
* Feminine Products
* Outdoor gear of any kind
My purpose is not to solve any particular crisis, but to offer some insights of a spiritual nature. When I speak, it is not of my personal vision but of the cosmos as seen by the Incas, the people of the Andes, the people of Q'ero. It is a view that is millennia old. The message of the Q'ero is that people need to reconnect with the matrix of the cosmos - with the spirit of Pachamama (Cosmic Mother), which is the Earth, with the spirits of the mountains, or apus, and with the spirit of the stars.
We know that the Andes is a source of tremendous spiritual light, and that these filaments of light - or threads of energy - are part of a tapestry of spiritual awakening across the planet, the birthing of a new light on Earth.