INCA TRAIL || Rafting, Trekking, Biking, Manu tours, Bird Watching - Peru Eco Adventure & Cultural Trips

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Health care, tourist information and safety

Health care
Peru generally maintains good health conditions. Hospitals and clinics provide adequate services, specially in Lima and the other main cities.

It is recommended that you take the proper measures to protect yourself, specially from mosquito bites, in order to prevent infection from, among other diseases, yellow fever (vaccination) and malaria (repellant and medication). Consult your doctor before traveling.
A yellow fever vaccination is required for traveling to jungle cities, and it must be administered at least 10 days before your trip. If not, it will not be effective.

To avoid altitude sickness or soroche, we suggest you to ascend gradually in order to become acclimatized, rest on the first day of your arrival, eat light foods, drink plenty of water and keep lemon candies at hand. If you have heart problems consult your doctor.

To keep from getting gastrointestinal infections, we recommend you take care when eating raw foods. Drink bottled or boiled water and do not eat food from street vendors.

Tourist Information and Assistance Service
During your stay in Peru, you have the right to receive the agreed upon tourist services to the quality and with the characteristics that are promised by the companies offering them. If this is not the case, you have the right to complain or to make a claim against them. To do so, you may contact Iperu, Tourist Information and Assistance Service.

Safety
During your visit to Peru, it is important that you take the precautions that are shared among the world’s main cities and tourist destinations, such as not neglecting your belongings in public places or avoiding deserted places at night. Besides, we recommend taking the following:

• Consider getting a copy of your passport, airplane tickets, and credit cards; likewise, think about the option of leaving your personal documents in the safekeeping of the hotel and taking the copies with you.
• Discover where the unsafe areas of the city are and avoid visiting them, especially at night. Also consult the appropriate hours for visiting tourist attractions.
• If you must exchange money, do so in banks, exchange houses, or in your hotel. Avoid doing this in plain sight.
• If you drive a car, try using a parking garage or similar service. Do not leave it in dark spots or leave valuables in plain sight.

Projects

We are beginning all those projects

We are initiating a group composed of several projects. These are intended to be developed -at the outset –in the Cusco region, to be followed by implementation in other parts of Peru. For reasons stemming from both proclivity as well as need, we extend to you an offer from our part to join, pitch in or participate in this effort in form or fashion you deem convenient or suitable.

In South America and Peru in particular we are poignantly aware that our once seemingly endless natural resources are dwindling at an ever-increasing rate. It is of the essence to act now –first and fast- before the “point of no return” is reached. The massive deforestation of many areas is accelerating a generalized process of erosion never seen before. The Andes are –in effect- collapsing. This is generating radical changes in the weather and ensuing mass flooding of catastrophic magnitude. Paradoxically, our own demand for natural resources is escalating dramatically –along with the rest of the world’s- which results in an alarming decrease of wildlife and nature protected areas as these become sacrificed to “progress”. The indications that we should effect a radical change in our activities and life style ring ominous and crystal clear. The present situation has already altered the world of tomorrow in several irreversible ways. Future generations will never see our planet as it was. Sad and unfair as it is, it may still lie within our power to save at least something to be seen.
Generating and developing projects as the ones listed below helps to raise concern and awareness and gradually bring people together to push for change in favor of protection and conservation.

As many are now aware, the increasing scarcity of water has raised its rank among the most precious of disappearing resources to the same level as oxygen producing forests. Indeed, the two are almost inseparably linked. Among the tenets of our organization we are of the opinion –considering the fact that we derive a part of our income through operating activities such as river rafting and kayaking tours-- it is our obligation to contribute and participate with the local population in all and every effort to conserve and improve the conditions of our rivers. Consequently, we have involved ourselves –as an institution- in campaigns undertaken to clean given sections of rivers as well as adding our protest to others remitted to the local authorities. Some of our nascent projects are devoted to that particular subject. Among the first of these are ones related to the lower sections of the Vilcanota River. These are sections where we do not operate because of their extremely polluted condition. As an alternative, we raft the upper sections of the Vilcanota which are still remarkably free from human the consequences of irresponsible human activities. Needles to say, we take all the precautions necessary in order to keep it that way. We are currently trying to establish some level of working cooperation with the local authorities on the mater, but all will eventually prove fruitless without the active support of the local population.

It should be noted that 98% of Peru’s water resources (i.e.: rivers and fluvial systems) lie on the eastern slope of the Andean Cordillera (in other words most all are part of the great Amazonian watershed) and only 2% discharge along the western slope into the Pacific Ocean. Due to global arming and the resultant recession of glaciers, the mean annual flow of these rivers is rapidly decreasing. Those that will feel the initial impact first and hardest are the few streams that cut through the barren lands of the Pacific desert –many of which are intermittent in flow or long dried up- but in time the great Easter slope system will also feel the crunch. Considering that most of that irrigates the Amazonian plain, its decrease will affect the botanical biomass which is the largest single oxygen producing area in the world. And the country –as with virtually all other natural resources being exhausted- will need yet more water. Peru and neighboring countries are in dire help to conserve and preserve their water resources and that help is needed now.

Hand in hand with that is the subject of reforestation which, more simply put, signifies oxygen production. An important part within the reforestation involves the replanting and re introduction of our original native arboreal and plant species which have gradually been displaced or eliminated by intrusive exotic species introduced since the era of the European invasion. Whatever the case, reason or method, deforestation must be stopped and reversed NOW. For every tree that goes down, there is less oxygen production, more erosion and changes in the weather. One can only feel horror at the thought of the thousands of hectares that are logged daily.

Yet another substantial factor in the general degradation of the forest land (as well as more commonly cultivated valley plots) are the slash-and-burn techniques used since time immemorial by the local population. This particular subject is socially complicated: on one hand, the slash-and-burn technique causes serious changes in the environment, destroys native flora and eventually makes the land poorer by stripping it of nutrients, altering its PH, etc.; on the other hand, there is the social imperative which reflects itself in ways such as the convenience and rapidness with which the land is cleared and weeded, the relatively fast and plentiful yield (initially) due to the amount of ash and charcoal. These, of course, represent a benefit and at times a bonus for an ever growing population composed of large families with limited financial resources and many mouths to feed. Frequently, areas that are classified or lie within the bounds of legally protected conservation reserves and National Parks are simply occupied or taken over by migrant farmers who lay waste to the carefully preserved environment. Regarding the matter of reforestation with the original native plant species, the initial motivation behind it was to restore the forest to a more original pristine state for the benefit of future generations. At the same time, there is food for though in the consideration that the reintroduction and incorporation of the original native flora may well play a significant ecological role as it surely must have hundreds of years ago.

It is because of those and many more reasons that we –regardless of being a tourist company- feel compelled and motivated to design and structure projects to protect our natural resources and benefit the traditional culture of the people.

Sustainable Tourism

Very important especially in our reality

This is a very important subject, especially so in the case of the reality we presently live in.
This activity plays a very important role as regards our present-day environment, in which change is so quick and overpowering –particularly because of the accelerated development in a wide range of level from communications and technology to social progress, or evolution. We understand the inevitability of all that, but are keen on the idea of trying to make all of profitable for everybody even those with “different “ activities, who are not at all involved in changing the environment or the culture.

From the start we have considered as part of our mission –within my limited role as a guide and head of a small company as ours is- to assure and ensure that it lies within our power to make these activities less impacting as well less negative in collateral consequences to the environment, nature and culture. When we mention “the culture” in this particular context and circumstances, one is not only referring to the impact created and felt directly by a given community and village. The implication is broader, encompassing among other aspects- the way and mode in which we work and interact with the community and village. We take special care that our porters and staff receive the best conditions and treatment, as well as –of great importance- that the women of the community, who are gifted weavers and crafters, are fairly and generously paid and remunerated for their work.

We also empathize with them on environmental issues, projects and ideas, more than often sharing and agreeing in our experience.

We also empathize with them on environmental issues, projects and ideas, more than often sharing and agreeing in our experience. The naked truth of the matter is that it is virtually impossible for an outsider to not impact in some way upon a native community and local inhabitants. There are, however, multiple ways and means of creating and conditioning an “impact” of the nature referred to as well as its effect. We opt for channeling that impact into generating different ways of support and conceptually constructive though and minimize the “impacting” aspect by our activities.

Some of the projects listed herein are involved with folk art and handicraft activities such as weaving, also agriculture, education and training people in different fields. There are also projects dedicated to health and care. There are also nature oriented projects where we help in reforestation and the creation of an environmental consciousness among and between the local people. We likewise impart instruction and teaching to locals practices on biodegradable activities as well as the importance of recycling waste products in order to protect nature and preserve the surrounding environment.
 

Some of those projects will have to be with weaving, agriculture, education and capacitationin deferent’s fields; as well projects related with health care and in the natural aspects we help in reforestation and to create the environmental conscience. Also the process of separation in between biodegradables and not as well recycling everything is possible in nature of industry.

As mentioned earlier, we want to help but also bring you along and let you become a part of it all. We would like to have you participate in different projects and in the activities we carry out. We avow that what we say is what we do for the environment, nature and people.

General Info

Languages, curreency, electricity, telefonía, internet and postal service

Languages:

The official languages are Spanish (80% of the population), Quechua (Andean and highland regions), and Aymara (in the Puno high plateau). In addition, there are around 50 native languages.

It is possible to communicate in English with tourist services workers such as tourist guides, travel agency employees and 3 to 5-star hotels staff.

Currency and forms of payment:

The official currency of Peru is the Nuevo Sol (S/.). The U.S. Dollar is accepted in some local businesses, restaurants and gas stations at the day’s exchange rate.

It is also possible to exchange foreign currency (US$ and Euros) at hotels, banks and authorized exchange houses.

Working hours for most banks and exchange houses are from 9 A.M. to 6 P.M. Monday through Friday and Saturdays to 12:00 P.M.

The country’s main cities have ATMs that accept different kinds of debit and credit cards.

The most widely accepted credit cards are: American Express, VISA, Diners Club and MasterCard. Travelers checks have limitations, so we recommend consulting the establishment to see if they accept them or not before making purchases or ordering. For more information:

• Visa: (01) 242-2975 | 108 - (001) 410 5819754 (from a landline)
• Master Card: (01) 311-6000 | 108 - (001) 636 7227111 (from a landline)
• American Express: (01) 221-8204 / 221-8207 | (001) 312 9353585 (reserve charges)
• Diners Club: (01) 615-1111

Electricity:

220 volts. Most 4 and 5-star hotels do have outlets equipped for 110 volts.

Telephone:

• International calls to Peru: 00-51-city code + phone number
• Public telephones accept coins and phone cards that are sold in kiosks and supermarkets. Make certain that you are buying the phone card from the company you wish to use. It is possible to make collect calls from some public phone booths.
• To get more information about telephone numbers, call 103 (service in Spanish).

Internet:

Public internet booths are found in the country’s main cities.

• Wireless internet service is provided in most 4 and 5-star hotels and in shopping centers.

Postal service:

• Post offices are located throughout all regions of the country. For more information, go to www.serpost.com.pe

Source: www.peru.info