Most Inspirational Moment
Our hard-working porters who amazed us everyday by setting off after us on the trail, carrying their enormous packs and by the time we finally arrived, not only clapped us in, but had warm drinks and tasty meals ready, and our tents all set up! In terms of what we experienced - amazing condors soaring on the thermals in Colca Canyon; the huge numbers of breeding Peruvian boobies and pelicans on and around the Ballestas Islands (not to forget the penguins); tarantulas and ghost spiders in the jungle, and brightly coloured humming birds in so many places - and finally the brilliant clear night sky in Nazca!
Thoughts on Group Leader
Renaldi (Reny) was informative and helpful throughout and mindful of group members' different needs, particularly on e.g. long travel days where travel sickness affected some of the group. He gave us interesting insights to Peruvian life and culture and brought alive what we were seeing day to day in the countryside, villages and towns, as well as describing the challenges of a society in transition from a largely rural way of life to an urban one. He worked well with local guides, and all the guides we had were personable and well informed and made the places come alive.
Advice for Potential Travellers
It's not really a holiday more an experience! Read the trip notes carefully - this holiday calls for stamina and resilience because of the early starts, long road journeys and the altitude changes. Once at altitude pace yourself - it's surprising how quickly you get out of breath! The Inca Trail length is moderate but the altitude make it tougher, plus Peru weather is more variable than it used to be. For example, although dry season, we had two days of rain on the Inca Trail. So go prepared for all seasons and seek your guide's advice on what's expected for the days you're walking.
Suggestions
Generally having a briefing each evening for the following day, (along with a quick note of the start time for the day after that) worked well. The exception was arriving in Cuzco after a long day on the coach, complicated by the need to decant into a minibus to negotiate the narrow streets. It then came as a big surprise to find that we would in effect have to pack for the Inca Trail by breakfast time next morning. This generated more questions from the group than all the other briefings combined, before we got to a clear understanding about the logistics i.e. that we would need to pack an overnight bag for the hotel in Ollantaytambo as well as stuff for the trail, and have both of these on the bus for the day in the Sacred Valley. Ideally the trip notes would contain a clear bullet point summary to read in advance, or a handout given earlier on the trip, to make it clear that we leave the main luggage a day earlier than everyone anticipated.