Peru Customized Tours and Custom Trips 2023/2024

I booked an 18 day trip with the local travel specialists in March 2022 and would recommend them wholeheartedly. My 18 day adventure around Southern Peru was fantastic - James and the team were incredibly professional, organised and helpful. From the start of the process, James helped me curate a flexible tailor-made tour at a very reasonable and competitive price. Before the trip, the team was in touch regularly to discuss and provide ideas for places to visit. During my visit to Peru, James was highly communicative, friendly and went to extra mile on numerous occasions and provided an exceptional service. I went on a number of hikes which were superb and very well organised. Overall, my tour was a stress-free once-in-a-lifetime experience and a perfect way to see one of the most beautiful countries. My full itinerary included: Lima, Paracas > Huacachina > Ica > Nazca > Arequipa > Puno and Lake Titicaca > Cusco > the Sacred Valley > Llactapata Inca trail > Machu Picchu > Ausangate and Rainbow Mountain trek > Cusco back to Lima.

James was very helpful and kind! I really enjoyed exploring Cusco with his help! He made things so easy!

I spent a day Cuzco , a small quaint place, being the basilica cathedral, plaza de Armas in the center, theres plenty of restaurants and bars in town , the second day I headed down to the Sacred valley to visit ancient Incan sites and visited an ethnic group that showed how they use different color dyes derived from plants, flowers and insects used to color the alpaca yarns for clothing, ponchos, hats, gloves etc

I was very keen to trek in Cotahausi Canyon, an isolated area 8 hours travel by bus from Arequipa, and well away from general tourist attractions. I had contacted many trekking companies from Arequipa and Cusco but most were only interested in taking me to Colca Canyon, a popular and closer option. Through Bookmundi, I was lucky enough to contact James Mackender, who was willing to look into the possibility of arranging flexible trekking options for me from the township of Cotahuasi, in Cotahuasi Canyon. James also organised the guide from Arequipa as well as accommodation, meals, bus and plane fares. I travelled with my guide in a bed bus from Arequipa to Cotahausi and at 5:00 am the next morning we caught a collectivo to start the first trek. All travel to the distant little villages in the Canyon was by local collectivos and the guide used his knowledge of the timetables to catch the collectivos on their return journeys. Travelling with local people was an extremely interesting glimpse into everyday life. One morning we caught a bus at 3:00 am to travel to Puyca to walk up to the Wari ruins high above the village at the Archaeological site of Maucallacta, 3925 metres: such a peaceful, pre Inca site high up against the heights of the Canyon overlooking ancient terraces that swept down to the bottom of the valley. There was even a stone bathing area that we recognised as an Inca addition. Cotahausi Canyon is extremely beautiful, remote, diverse and unspoilt with many interesting attractions to walk to including the impressive tall Cactus Forest and Sepia Falls. One very cold morning we travelled to a village called Huaynacotas high up on the sides of the Canyon. It had snowed the night before and a volcanic crater and the ridges above the snow line were dusted with white. After walking along the ridge road to enjoy the view along the canyon, we took five hours to walk on a narrow track down to the river and then on to Luicho to splash in the local thermal pools. Cotahuasi Canyon is an amazing place to trek and I am very grateful to James and my guide that I was given the opportunity to have such an authentic experience.

We had an excellent experience on the Salkantay trek. I would highly recommend this company - they go above and beyond. Thank you to Katy, Steve, Victor, Zacarias, and the whole team for an unforgettable trek. Highly recommend - 10/10. The views are among the best I've ever seen. The entire group had an excellent time.

Wow! The trip was really amazing. I can absolutely recommend it, if you like to stay outside! Trust me. I did a private tour with a 4-person team (guide, nurse, horseman and a cook). They took really care about me. The guide were very flexible, so we could spontaneous add the rainbow mountain to our tour (we arrived before the tourists so we could create perfect pictures). The guide (Edu) was an excellent storyteller. I took the time to explain me a lot about the Inkas (incl draws in the sand for better understanding). The nurse (Rexona) was a very kindly and lovely person! She was really caring about me. The trekking it self was most of time with the guide and the nurse only. At the camps and while the eating, the cook and horseman were with us (and did an awesome job). The cook (Theo) was an amazing chef. Every meal was created on gas and consisted three courses. All of the meals were "muy muy muy rico" (yes, really delicious)! We ate soup, dessert, lasagne, pasta, banana cake, pancakes, fish and much more (yes all was created on the fire! Crazy, isn'it) Sure, also the horseman (Wilfredo) was a absolut nice person. You see, the team was really great. And also the landscape. We were while the rainy season (in february). We had every kind of weather (sun, rain, hail, snow) multiple times per day. No problem if you have a good equipment. And the nature looks very breathtaking. The green is so nice and everywhere nice rivers. If I would go again, I would also pick the rainy season. Because i think the nature is much more impressive. Most of the time, there was nobody else (not even locals). Only the nature. Before the tour i stayed in contact with the tour operator (James). He was very courteous. We changed the phone numbers and i could ask him every question i have while packing at any time and did a quick response via whatsapp. Tips: - Take a water filter system with you. There are a lot of rivers with water from the glacier. At last: The tour was quit long, strenuous and the evening/nights were cold. I liked it. It's just important that you be aware of this. There were two hotspring on the way (first and last day). According to the plan, we would only spent ca. 1 hour there on the last day. So if you can, maybe you should do the trekking in 6 days, instead of 5. Then you have more time, to enjoy everything. But the most hard thing for me was the cold weather in the evening and night. So i was lucky with 5 days ;). Best Michael