Let’s start in Tumbes, the smallest region in Peru and the one with proportionally the most protected areas: 50% of the territory is covered by mangroves, dry forest and tropical forest. The Usual: From Puerto Pizarro boats can be hired to get to the Isla de Amor where you can enjoy a beer and bathe in the clear sea. The Little-Known: Entering the mangrove sanctuary by taking a boat from Puerto 25, be guided by locals involved in the conservation and protection of this resource, visit the protected area and later dedicate many hours to a refreshing dip in the Zarumilla canal where also, if lucky, you might see a wild crocodile.
Continuing south… The Usual: Stopping off at Zorritos beach, or going straight on to Punta Sal or to Máncora resort towns. The Little-Known: To stay in Caleta Grau at kilometre 1,242, at the edge of Tumbes and Piura. It boasts a large beach lined with simple houses where you can find a good room with bathroom for just 25 soles a night and eat fresh lobster for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
January 9, 2009 | Lima Region Guide
At just under 4000 metres (13,000ft), Cullhuay is a tiny town in the Chillón Valley who’s population survives by agriculture and fishing.
Providing passers-through the opportunity to get something warm to drink, oh… a see a mummy discovered in an ancient burial site nearby, Cullhuay is otherwise as quiet (and as friendly) as an Andean town can get.
April 6, 2008 | Lima Region Guide
The town of Canta sits upon a hill high up in the Chillón Valley of Lima. Sitting on another nearby hill is Obrajillo, and on another San Miguel. This peaceful and picturesque town, green throughout most of the year, is just two hours journey from Lima.
March 30, 2008 | Lima Region Guide
The rock art at Checta may be as much as 5000 years old, some say more. Carved onto rocks above the Chillon valley in the department of Lima, the petroglyphs hold the yet uninterpreted secrets of some of the most ancient Peruvians.
March 28, 2008 | Archaeology, Lima Region Guide
As with all valleys leading into the mountains from Lima’s desert coast, the Chillón starts sandy and dry but soon starting turning green the higher up you go, especially during the Andean rainy season which is yet to finish.
March 23, 2008 | Lima Region Guide, Nature
When I visited the small Peruvian village of Antioquía over a month ago, a town that has changed its fortunes by painting its buildings beautifully, I mentioned that the project was being replicated in other towns across the country. I didn’t expect to see another example so soon…
October 12, 2007 | Lima Region Guide
Continuing my series, Explorando Lima, in which I demonstrate the immense diversity that Peru has to offer without even leaving the region of Lima, I visit the town of Matucana and its surroundings, 75km from Lima at 2378 metres above sea level.
October 10, 2007 | Lima Region Guide
Chontay was once and ancient resting stop or tambo on the way to Pachacamac from Juaja. The pre-Inca tambo building that existed was destroyed by the Spanish who built a church of the same proportions in its place in the 1630s. The bell is almost as old, from 1794. Some ruins can still be found, along with farming terraces which were once used to grow cereals and coca.
September 14, 2007 | Lima Region Guide
![Qhapaq Ñan, Lurín]()
As part of the series Explorando Lima, in which I demonstrate the immense diversity that Peru has to offer without even leaving the region of Lima, I walk part of the Qhapaq Ñam, the Royal Road otherwise known as the Inca Trail, in the valley of Lurín.
For more on the Qhapaq Ñan, see The Chaski
The [...]
September 4, 2007 | Lima Region Guide
I’ve seen coastal scenes in the UK, in France and in Chile, all of which, although mostly the same, I feel give some insight into the country in which they are located.
I am familiar with seeing fishing boats coming ashore with their catch, birds flocking around harbours looking for dropped fish and all the sites you would expect on the coast. I’ve seen these scenes every year in my life and was interested to see the Peruvian version – and I did on my recent trip to the beach.
December 14, 2006 | Lima Region Guide
