Disocvering Icons of Peru with Abercrombie & Kent
It was my first trip to Chile and Peru. It was also my first trip with Abercrombie & Kent.
After 17 days traipsing around these two South American countries in planes, boats, 4Wds, and mini buses and on foot, I can say that the experience was to put it simply, and succinctly, stunning.
I was met at every airport by someone carrying a sign saying “Welcome Brian Crisp’’. Every hotel that was booked for me was the best available in the cities and towns that I visited.
My Abercrombie & Kent guides were like friends. Admittedly it was just the two of us, but I could not have asked for a better level of personal service.
On Machu Picchu I not only had my regular guide Juan Carlos, but Abercrombie & Kent organised for an expert to escort us on to the site. Alfredo Mormontoy is the former resident archaeologist at Machu Picchu.
Viewing this breathtaking Incan citadel with Alfredo is like talking tennis with John McEnroe, golf with Jack Nicklaus or sailing with John Bertrand. These
men are legends in their field, and so is Alfredo.
We take the path less travelled
We didn’t follow the crowds. our trek around Machu Picchu was my chance to discover the real story of this magnificent place.
I listened as the other guides would tell their stories. Alfredo would smile and then tell me the same story but with so much more colour, depth and history. When he spoke, Machu Picchu came back to life.
He kept us on the mountain longer than anyone else so that at one stage it was just the three of us – alone in the mist absorbing the spiritual power of one of Latin America’s icons.
And that was just one example of the extras available on my Abercrombie & Kent trip.
I love cooking. Actually I love eating, so I became a good cook so I could indulge myself.
On this trip I had the most amazing food experiences in Lima and Santiago and on board M/V Aqua on the Amazon river.
Penelope Alzamora and Maria Jose Neut not only took me to the markets to go shopping, but they took me into their homes and taught me how to cook – South America style.
Both women made me feel so welcome in their homes as we prepared Empanaditas de pino y pebre (meat empanadas with pebre, a tradition sauce based on tomatoes and coriander), Ecuadorian shrimps “al pil pil” (shrimps served with chili and garlic) and Pastel de Choclo (Corn casserole).
We prepared it. We ate it. And now they have a standing invitation to come to my home on the Gold Coast where I will return the favour.
A long and winding adventure
My trip took me from Sydney to Santiago, on to Lima, Iquitos, Arequipa, Colca, Cusco and Machu Picchu.
I visited Peru’s three distinctive climates – the coast, the mountains and the Amazon.
I even caught a piranha in the Amazon river and that gives me a lifetime of bragging rights. Here’s what it’s like to land one of the Amazon’s tiniest and deadliest creatures.
“Our guide had pulled the boat into a shady spot. Piranhas, and fair-headed people like me, like the shade.
We were handed poles with about a metre of fishing line attached and a small hook loaded with fresh meat.
The Amazon is not turquoise. It is not even blue. It is brown and you can’t see what is lurking below the surface. Five seconds later, the piranha strikes. A yank of the rod brings the flesh-eating fish out of the water. It swings past my face and I can’t help but duck for cover.
At least I have the photos to prove that I caught one.”
Wrestle with an alligator
I also have photos of our guide from the M/V Aqua, a small floating palace that cruises the Amazon, wrestling with an Alligator.
Roland spotted the gator’s eyes watching us just above water level from about 100 metres away. It is dark. Jungle dark. We were on a night excursion on a small boat that seated about 10 people.
As we get closer, Roland tells us that the eyes belong to a caiman, the local alligator. The lead launch edges toward the gator, which turns and scampers up the muddy riverbank. One of the guides leaps off the launch and wraps one hand around its throat, while the other hand struggles to get the tail under control.
This female gator, about two years old, is not much more than a metre in length but, as the guide brings it on to the deck of our tiny launch, you can see that it already has an impressive set of perfectly formed choppers. The guide’s choppers are also pretty impressive. He has a smile from ear to ear, proud of his night’s work.
The smile disintegrates, though, when the gator wriggles free, landing on the boat’s deck. All five passengers take a giant step backwards and shriek in unison as the guide hits the deck for round two of his gator-wrestling match.
It’s only when the beast is under control, and everyone has had a turn patting it, do heart rates return to a normal level.
Aqua luxury
It is the second night of our three-night cruise onboard Aqua which, with its sister ship Aria, is the best high-end Amazon cruising product in Peru and comes as part of the Abercrombie & Kent travel experience.
In this part of the world, river cruising is all about the animals. And, if tonight is any indication, we have had a successful excursion. Not only have we patted an alligator but we have also seen about 20 species of birds (including the toucan), watched from the water while monkeys cavorted in the trees above, spotted two different iguanas, had pink dolphins parade past the boat and seen a sloth.
The M/V Aqua sails from the rugged town of Nauta in Loreto.
On M/V Aqua, a 40m, 24-passenger boat, you cruise through one of the world’s truly great wildernesses, in unimagined luxury.
From air- conditioned cabins with private bathrooms, to a dining room that serves culturally inspired food made with uber- fresh local produce, this trip is not only a gourmand’s delight but also an adventurer’s paradise.
The days onboard start early, with breakfast at 7am, before the boats head off on the first excursion of the day. These vary from simply cruising the great river spotting animals to traipsing through the jungle behind a machete-wielding guide. The guides are local and excellent.
A sacred meeting with Paq’o
While the Amazon was exhilarating, a meeting with a Paq’o in the Sacred Valley, another special event organized for me by Abercrombie & Kent, brought me to tears.
Our ceremony starts with a ritual cleansing. Lucas then prepares the gifts for Earth Mother.
Lucas Checa is a holy man. A healer. An Andean shaman. In his late 50s, Lucas stands about 160cm tall. His grey hair is in plaits, his skin weathered from the high altitude sun and his voice is soft, almost hypnotic. He speaks no English, only Quechua, which is the Incan language, but I find myself hanging on his every word.
My guide translates as Lucas explains that we are about to make an offering to the Earth Mother.
The ritual is called Pago a la Madre Tierra, which translates to Payment to Mother Earth. It is a way of thanking the Earth Mother for what we already have received in life, sharing our good fortune with her, and asking her for help in the future.
Lucas asks Earth Mother to assure that I have a safe journey home.
The gifts, which seem to an outsider like me a very eclectic collection of things, are set out on a multi-coloured blanket.
Gifts to Mother Earth
Lucas says that these gifts are the things the Earth Mother likes most. They include oreos, llama fat, moss, a starfish, coca beans, magnets in different colours representing the rainbow, corn, corn beer, coca leaves, kiwicha (a high protein cereal), Lima beans, chickpeas, huayruro seeds, and alpaca hair.
There are two candy houses that represent my safe journey home. The offering also includes my breath that, after praying for what I want, is blown onto a fan of three coca leaves that represent the Inca worlds. This is called k’intu.
With the exception of the corn beer that is poured onto the ground, all these things are bundled together in gift-wrapping paper and tied with yellow and white cotton, ironically the Vatican’s colours.
Peruvian religion is often a mixture of Catholicism and Incan beliefs.
Lucas doesn’t burn the offering in front of me. He will do that at home later in the evening. Before he does that though he will drink alcohol, smoke cigarettes and chew some coca leaves. When he feels he has reached a certain state of enlightenment, he will burn the offering.
The 50-minute ceremony ends when Lucas hands me a gift – a silver piece of jewellery that has a huayruro seed in the centre. As he pins this gift to my shirt he hugs me. It is a warm, loving hug, not that of a stranger, and for reasons I can’t explain it brings me to tears.
It felt much like the love I now have for South America.