Cusco Cultural, religious and historic sites Tours 2019/2020

“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, Unu Raymi Expeditions, 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.”

“Amazing trip! Have not done much traveling outside the U.S., so was a bit nervous. Our travel specialist was James Mackender, and he made us feel very at easy with traveling abroad in Peru. Everything was perfectly planned--flights, pick-ups and drop-offs. Our guide for the Treehouse Lodge/Iquitos was Guido. Very knowledgeable, spoke excellent english, friendly, very personable. The Treehouse Lodge was beautiful, and the day and night excursions were once in a lifetime. Our next part of our Journey in Peru was seamless--the guide from the Treehouse took us directly to the river boat. The 7 man crew on the Spondias was amazing. They were so attentive, knowledgable about the amazon and Peru. My favorite part of this portion of the trip was when we spent time with a local family at the river village. They invited us into their home, we shared some food, and discussed the commonalty and differences of our daily lives. Our guide on the Spondias was Charlie, and he likes birds and was very knowledgeable about the different species of birds. Our chef, Francisco, was wonderful and his creations were excellent. Our waiter/purser was Jairo, he was a friendly young man, full of knowledge and we practiced english and spanish together. The only flaw was that we missed our connecting flight in Lima to Cusco. After an hour of being sent to 5 different desks to get our flight rescheduled, one phone call to James and in 10 minutes the whole situation was remedied. It relieved so much stress to know that James was looking after us. The last stretch of our trip was to Cusco and Machu picchu, and Zac was our guide. Zac was, hands down, the best guide I have ever had. He was so knowledgeable about Peru, Cusco, Incan history, Machu Picchu. The way he introduced us to Machu Picchu was perfect, and he even took video of our initial reaction to seeing this Wonder of the World. He was so kind, so enthusiastic, I definitely would do another trip with him as our guide.

This trip was just perfect. James did an amazing job listening to what we wanted to do, and making all of those wishes come true. Will definitely be using James again when we travel!!”

“Our tour guides were remarkable!! Very knowledgeable and fun to be with! We were always laughing and felt comfortable with them guiding us around the parts of the Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu. Hubert was one of the best guides I've ever had on a trip!”