HOME TOUR

From Cuzco to Lake Titicaca, we just got home from a wonderful South American adventure in Peru! See part 2 here. Back in January we started planning out our trips for the year and decided on Peru for a spring adventure. Truth be told, Japan was first on the list but after talking to a travel agent and recognizing that country was likely not going to reopen to tourism in time, Peru seemed like a safer bet! This was our first trip to South America as a family. “Why Peru?” Because it’s beautiful, has delicious food, is safe to visit, has lots of activities for the whole family, trains for Cade, is colorful, vibrant and lovely. The US dollar is strong and you can stay is some absolutely stunning accommodations while visiting UNESCO world heritage sites and a very famous wonder of the world. Why not Peru?!

We don’t often use a travel agent because I thoroughly enjoy trip planning but when we foresee a trip being “difficult” we call in the help. And traveling with kids is hard! Scott Dunn is a luxury tour operator that we’ve used once before (on this trip to Sri Lanka). They helped things move more smoothly and even remembered things like carseats without me even asking! They knew the ages of our kids and automatically put them in the van.

TRAVEL DETAILS

We knew that given where the sites were located in Peru that we wanted to visit, that we were going to be on the move.  Which naturally makes a trip more challenging because you need to figure out so many transfers. Peru also has some restrictions on their trains for bag size. We needed to repack a smaller bag with a one day outfit for all of us in order to go to Machu Picchu. That meant we wouldn’t meet up with our bags for almost two days. I didn’t want to worry about transportation within the the country or getting our bags from hotel to hotel which is where Scott Dunn really shined for us.

EXPLORING WITH KIDS

We had a private van and driver who stayed with the car and a tour guide for nearly the entire trip. We never needed to worry about where we were or if the food we were eating was safe and we had someone there to translate for us, especially at famous sites. When you’re chasing down a three year old, it certainly helps your sanity to have the survival details taken care of. And in case you’re curious, this is completely unsponsored. We love traveling and paid for 100% of this trip without any discounts. I’m happy to inspire your own world wanderings, especially wanderings with sweet kiddos in tow. Because Disneyland isn’t the only place you can go as a family. Travel is hard, expensive and exhausting with kids but it’s a comprehensive way to open their eyes to the great wide world, to teach culture, highlight differences and similarities amongst people and eat good food. Travel without kids is much easier but our days with our babies are short. So take the “difficult” trip with them.

DAY ONE

Our travel was BOSTON –> MIAMI –> LIMA via American Airlines (who were awful and we will never fly them again). We got in late and stayed at the very convenient Wyndham airport hotel in Lima specifically because we were taking a domestic flight from LIMA to CUZCO early the next morning. The fun began when we touched down in Cuzco and started our adventure. We were met by our driver and tour guide outside the airport and whisked out of the chaos, through the city and up to Sacsayhuaman, an Incan site just above the city center. Cuzco is at 11,000 ft in elevation and boy could you feel it. Because we had just gotten off the plane though, we didn’t have altitude sickness yet.

SACSAYHUAMAN

Our first Incan site of the trip, this UNESCO world heritage site is famous for the large stones that make up the fortress walls. They are famous for being massive and so tightly fitting that not a piece of paper can be squeezed between. I was taken aback by the beautiful wildflowers that were abundantly blooming. It also had a stunning vista of the city of Cuzco and lovely walks through queñua trees.

From Sacsayhuaman, we stopped at an Alpaca farm and weaving center before making our way down into the Sacred Valley. The kids really loved getting to be up close and personal with Alpacas. They decorate them with pom poms and the baby had a woven flower collar. Melted my heart!

Scott Dunn recommended saying two nights in the Sacred Valley to help with altitude sickness. This was actually the longest stay of our trip. It is lower than Cuzco (still at 9000+ ft) but that 2000 ft difference is supposed to make acclimatization easier.

We had a delicious lunch in Pisac, stopped at a tourist market and then headed to our hotel. I really wanted to stay at the charming Sol y Luna because the gardens are lovely and food delicious but more importantly, the owners fund their Intercultural school with the hotel. You’re supporting the local children’s education by staying at this beautiful hotel.

Dress | Belt | Strappy Sandal Similar Here and Here)

SOL Y LUNA

The stone walkways and flowers overflowing the paths were some of my favorite parts of this relaxing and lovely hotel. We stayed in a Familial Casita which had a charming upstairs with two twin beds for the boys. Aubrey slept in a crib next to our bed. The art in the rooms and at the restaurant was so unique and offered the perfect ambiance.

DAY TWO

We woke up our first morning in the Sacred Valley with pounding headaches and lots of fatigue. All the hallmarks of altitude sickness. Which is not surprising given we are sea level babies! Going from spending your life at sea level to 9000 ft is intense. I packed these altitude pills and powdered electrolytes which we feel like helped. But you also just need to anticipate feeling lousy for a bit and build in rest breaks. We all felt better after a filling breakfast, lots of water, coca tea and some time at the pool.

COCA TEA

We drank coca tea daily while in Peru as it is widely consumed and supposed to help with altitude sickness. But know that if you come home and need to take a drug test for work, you may test positive for cocaine. The alkaloids found in coca leaves are the same used to ultimately produce cocaine although the brewed tea is a much more natural and mild drink. We never felt a buzz or anything weird but chewing the leaves did make our mouth numb. When in Peru.

PERUVIAN PASO HORSES

Another reason we loved this hotel is that it is working ranch with beautiful Peruvian Paso horses that look like they are dancing. The hotel has periodic shows with these beautiful horses. The kids spent quite a bit of time down at the ranch and named all the horses. After a show the rider came over and they got to ride a horse named Burrito.

This was a major highlight for my kiddos! Each one of them had the biggest smiles and loved every minute.

DAY THREE

We were picked up around 9:30a from our hotel and driven to Ollantaytambo. A darling town, I wished we had another day just to explore it. It was here we got on the Peru Rail with service to Aguas Calientes for Machu Picchu. Our guide Julie came with us on the train and was our guide at Machu Picchu. The train is beautiful and takes you along a river through the Sacred Valley and Andes mountains. Gorgeous vistas of snow-clad peaks and eventually into the cloud forest as you get closer to Machu Picchu. You can see Incan sites and terraces dotting the mountains. It’s all very magical. The train ride is about an 1.5 hrs. Like I mentioned earlier, bag size is limited so you’ll need to repack into a smaller bag. Scott Dunn kept our main baggage and we eventually met up with it again when we got back to Cuzco.

We got off the train and immediately into the bus line (which was quite long) to Machu Picchu. The bus service is quite efficient and although the line seemed long, we were on a bus within 10 minutes. The bus ride is terrifying. It’s a single lane dirt road up a series of steep switchbacks and the buses were constantly stopping and *backing up* to let other buses go by since spots where the road was wide enough to pass were limited. I kept my eyes fixed on the seat in front of me.

But then you make it to the top and Machu Picchu is magical. We unexpectedly had a bright, sunny day and it was quite hot. April is the end of the “wet season” so we had assumed we’d be on a misty mountain in the rain. We lugged all our rain coats up and didn’t need them at all. We had an afternoon entry time which may have helped. Peru is still quite adamant about medical masks and even in Machu Picchu they wanted you to have your n95 on. Which with altitude and all the stairs was quite miserable. We took them off for the most part when breathing was challenging.

MACHU PICCHU

Machu Picchu is one of the seven wonders of the world and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. At just shy of 8,000 ft, on a steep mountain ridge and in a lush jungle, it is truly spectacular. It should be on your bucket list and is even better in person than in pictures. For us it was one major highlight of our trip. Your tickets have entry times and you are allowed 4 hours within the site. Not a single guard checked our tickets though. You need separate tickets to climb the two mountains accessed from Machu Picchu citadel and there are only a limited number of passes allowed each day. With all the stairs it is not very handicap accessible but there is a tour company, Wheel the World, now offering accessibility.

Julie walked us around and showed us important sites within the citadel. I would recommend having a guide to help you navigate because there are many different paths through the site but they don’t let you back track which means you may miss something if you don’t choose the right way.

We caught a bus back down to Aguas Calientes and Julie walked us to our hotel which given how lush and exquisite it was was shockingly close to the main town center and train tracks.  Inkaterra Machu Picchu Pueblo Hotel in Villa Inkaterra (room 39 and 40) had a wonderful, romantic jungle feel. We had a truly spectacular room with an amazing outdoor shower and heated jungle spa in the rocks. It came with our own butler, something we’ve never experienced before. It was lovely and another spot we wished we could have stayed for two nights.

DAY FOUR

Kai woke up in the middle of the night sick. Since no one else got sick we concluded it was water that he had drank while either in the jungle pool or taking a shower/brushing teeth. We had second day entry tickets in the morning to go back up to Machu Picchu without a guide. No one was more disappointed than Kai to miss that adventure. Matt stayed at the hotel with the kids and I soloed back up to Machu Picchu. I almost didn’t go but couldn’t shake the feeling that I would regret it immensely.

The weather was overcast and chillier but dry. It was shocking how different the colors looked in that lighting. I would definitely recommend a second day entry just to experience this amazing site in different light and weather. It was also an entirely different experience without kids. Machu Picchu has lots of scary spots kids can fall down for a long ways. With that worry completely abated, I was able to see things I had missed the day before which was a gift. I’m thankful for a sacrificial husband who stays with puking children.

On thing I did on this day 2 entry to Machu Picchu was climb Huchu Ypicchu Mountain which was the smaller of the two options. When you’re looking at that famous picture with the two steep mountains behind the ruins of Machu Picchu, it is the mountain to the left which from that view, looks like a tiny hill, until you are actually climbing it. So so thankful we did not do it with our kids. There were steep drop offs and narrow passages on the edge of the mountainside. I would not have felt comfortable attempting this with the ages of our kids (3, 6 & 8).

The view was spectacular from the top and I’m glad to have done it myself. It didn’t take me but 20 minutes and wasn’t incredibly strenuous but I imagine it could be. It is steep and scary at times. I spent a few minutes at the top and then made my way back down. I was eager to get back to my babies and check on Kai.

This was a long travel day and hard on the kids. From Aguas Calientes, we took the 1.5 hr train ride back to Ollantaytambo where we were met by our guide and van and driven back to Cuzco. It was a long drive, almost 3 hours with traffic and Cade wasn’t feeling great with motion sickness. The roads through the Andes are windy so if you are sensitive to movement you need to be prepared with Dramamine. Next up in part two of our trip to Peru: Cuzco and the Belmond Andean Explorer to Lake Titicaca.