Advice for a family going to Machu Picchu and the Amazon
Jul 19, 2017, 11:09 am
#1
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Advice for a family going to Machu Picchu and the Amazon
Looking for some advice about my next adventure with my family -- all well travelled. We have two kids (12 & 6 yo).
I am looking at a tour package thru treehouse lodges which will give us approx 3-4 days in the Amazon and then 3-4 days doing the MP trail.
Then, my family would like to relax at a beach in Peru. I have been trying to find some good areas, but most of the reports say that the beach areas are not well developed.
We will be going in June/July 2018. How are the beaches at that time?
All advice is helpful. Thanks in advance.
I am looking at a tour package thru treehouse lodges which will give us approx 3-4 days in the Amazon and then 3-4 days doing the MP trail.
Then, my family would like to relax at a beach in Peru. I have been trying to find some good areas, but most of the reports say that the beach areas are not well developed.
We will be going in June/July 2018. How are the beaches at that time?
All advice is helpful. Thanks in advance.
Jul 19, 2017, 11:33 am
#2
Join Date: Mar 2017
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Well, the Peruvian beaches are far from the Machu Picchu and excepting some beaches used by surf, yes, are not well developed. Also, June/July is winter in South America and the Pacific Ocean getting colder (by nature is cold). Don't expect a warm water there.
Luck
Luck
Jul 21, 2017, 12:24 am
#3
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As has been mentioned, it'd involve a lot of moving around. Have been to Cuzco and MP and also Iquitos (prolly the premier Amazon city and largest in the world without road connections to outside). Piura and the Mancora area is supposed to be the best beach (in the north, near Ecuador), but it hasn't had much of a pull for me because I'm skeptical about it being world class (have been ruined on places like the Seychelles, or even Cancun). In any case it'd be a long bus ride or flight from LIM, and the water right near LIM is polluted enough that you can smell (you won't see many people besides surfers in wetsuits in it) and the beaches a little ways out of town are nothing that special.
For Iquitos I stayed in the town near the plaza and ventured out on daytrips. There were some visitors but not that many, and they quickly got to know me at the Texas place and the Dawn on the Amazon cafe (two extranjero hangouts). Dawn on the Amazon runs lots of tours and the multi-day ones get booked up in advance a lot. Their daytours were the best because of using multiple boats to go places others with a single boat couldn't do (such as transferring to dugout canoes for the Belen water village). Looking for the river dolphins and the zoo and some of the touristy things (like the native village) might have appeal for kids. OTOH, I visited a lodge where all electricity was from car batteries...they had fresh meals and some excursions by day but you had to bring some books and lie in a hammock at night, as there wasn't much to do except listen to all the wildlife sounds then. More-expensive lodges might have a generator, but it's true isolation.
Cuzco is far, far more visited and can support ancillary stuff like the chocolate museum and cafe, and while I was there, there was always something going on at the Plaza de Armas as well (costumed parade, angry protest, ya never knew). Also lots of Inca sites besides MP to go see, but the altitude is twice as high as Denver and can take some adjusting. Also tons of travel agents selling tours or train tickets or what-not. I think you can also get to Puerto Maldonado from there, which is road-accessible and further up the headwaters of the Amazon.
For Iquitos I stayed in the town near the plaza and ventured out on daytrips. There were some visitors but not that many, and they quickly got to know me at the Texas place and the Dawn on the Amazon cafe (two extranjero hangouts). Dawn on the Amazon runs lots of tours and the multi-day ones get booked up in advance a lot. Their daytours were the best because of using multiple boats to go places others with a single boat couldn't do (such as transferring to dugout canoes for the Belen water village). Looking for the river dolphins and the zoo and some of the touristy things (like the native village) might have appeal for kids. OTOH, I visited a lodge where all electricity was from car batteries...they had fresh meals and some excursions by day but you had to bring some books and lie in a hammock at night, as there wasn't much to do except listen to all the wildlife sounds then. More-expensive lodges might have a generator, but it's true isolation.
Cuzco is far, far more visited and can support ancillary stuff like the chocolate museum and cafe, and while I was there, there was always something going on at the Plaza de Armas as well (costumed parade, angry protest, ya never knew). Also lots of Inca sites besides MP to go see, but the altitude is twice as high as Denver and can take some adjusting. Also tons of travel agents selling tours or train tickets or what-not. I think you can also get to Puerto Maldonado from there, which is road-accessible and further up the headwaters of the Amazon.
Jul 23, 2017, 9:48 am
#4
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You can easily do the rain forest & Cuzco parts of your tour in a single trip from Lima to Cuzco to Puerto Muldonado with return to Lima. Puerto Muldonado is not strictly "the Amazon" as it's upstream and the rivers are smaller tributaries of the Amazon; so you won't see the expansive river you would see at Iquitos. But setting that aside, if you want to see rain forest you'll see plenty of it either in the Manú or up the Tambopata river.
It's not true that the beaches of Perú are "not well developed". You can go to Asia beach about 100km south of Lima, for instance, and find plenty of development, perhaps more than you might like. Yes, June and July are winter season and the weather will be cool and foggy...but at least the beaches will be empty!
The only Peruvian beaches where you will find sunshine and warm temperatures in July are in the extreme north, around Máncora and Punta Sal. To get to these places you would need to fly to Piura or Tumbes, then drive for an hour or two (the resorts offer easy and cheap transfers from the airports, especially Tumbes). Just one thing, the beach at Máncora is rocky in places and you can never tell where you're going to get a nasty scrape. Punta Sal is pure sand and so with kids, that's the place I recommend for some pleasant beach days.
It's not true that the beaches of Perú are "not well developed". You can go to Asia beach about 100km south of Lima, for instance, and find plenty of development, perhaps more than you might like. Yes, June and July are winter season and the weather will be cool and foggy...but at least the beaches will be empty!
The only Peruvian beaches where you will find sunshine and warm temperatures in July are in the extreme north, around Máncora and Punta Sal. To get to these places you would need to fly to Piura or Tumbes, then drive for an hour or two (the resorts offer easy and cheap transfers from the airports, especially Tumbes). Just one thing, the beach at Máncora is rocky in places and you can never tell where you're going to get a nasty scrape. Punta Sal is pure sand and so with kids, that's the place I recommend for some pleasant beach days.