Peru

One of the reasons Don loves working for REI is that he gets to talk to people about vacations. Customers come in wondering about what equipment they should purchase before setting off on an adventure, and Don shares his expertise with them. Often the trips are to places we have visited, and he can offer practical advice -- "I thought I was going to lose body parts while waiting for the Northern Lights in Iceland, pack extra warm socks and gloves." Or, "book your tickets early to Sagrada Familia when you go to Barcelona." 

Or maybe those are pieces of advice I would offer.

Manchu Picchu keeps coming up as a place to visit. As it is in Peru, therefore in South America, it also ticked two of my 2026 goals: visit a country new to me, and go to one of the three continents I had not yet visited. When I saw a Black Friday deal on TravelZoo, I asked Don if he wanted to jump on it. He said YES!

The deal, through Exoticca, was $899 each for seven days in Peru, including flights, and a visit to Manchu Picchu. I reminded Don this was not the hiking trip his customers were planning to take, but a stroll through one of the seven wonders of the world. He was good with that, mostly because he knew I would not agree to a multi-day hiking experience.

To put the $899 in perspective, the cheapest airfare I was finding was over $1000 each. We did a small upgrade to fly out of Washington, DC's IAD instead of New York's JFK (Philadelphia, Newark, and Baltimore were not options). IAD is about a three and a half hour drive, adding to an already long day.

Itinerary:

Tuesday, February 17: drive to IAD, dinner outside the airport.

Wednesday, February 18: 1 am-6 am fly to Panama on COPA, 8:45 am to 12:25 pm, fly to Lima, Peru. Airport pick up. Rest of the day free.

Thursday, February 19: 8 am trip orientation meeting in the lobby, 9 am bus/walking tour of Lima with local guide

Friday, February 20: 6:25 am pick up for drive to airport, 9:55 am-11:30 am flight to Cusco, stop at Sulca Museum to learn about local textiles, check into hotel. Rest of the day free.

Saturday, February 21: Manchu Picchu, shuttle to train, train, bus to Manchu Picchu, tour site, bus back to town, train to shuttle bus, shuttle bus to hotel. Arrive back at hotel at 10 pm. A full day. 

Sunday, February 22: 11 am pick up to drive 90 minutes to Cusco. Rest of the day was free.

Monday, February 23: Meet at hotel at 2:30, 3 pm tour of Cathedral and Sun Temple. Black Friday special: learn how to make Pisco Sour.

Tuesday, February 24: 3 pm pick up, 6:40 pm-8:10 pm flight to Lima, transfer to hotel.

Wednesday, February 25: 8:50 am pick up for a 1:20 pm-5 pm flight to Panama, followed by a 6:40 pm to 11:30 pm flight to Washington, DC.

Pros:

They on ground support was excellent. They were where they would say they would be every step of the way.

I loved not having to take care of the logistics for once. I let them worry about timing and making all the pieces fall into place.

There was free time to explore on our own (though I wished we had at least one more day in Lima). 

We chose where we wanted to eat lunch and dinner, and there were lots of good options.

The dollar goes far. Dinners were often $10-$15 each. Our rideshares were under $10 from one side of town to another.

Nice people in our group.

Clean hotels.

Felt safe.

Cons:

Altitude sickness kicked our butts.

Exoticca support was non-existent. We tried to get on an earlier flight to Lima and they said they'd get back to us. Hmph. The moment we landed in Lima we both felt worlds better.

I did not wear sunscreen and got burnt (yes, totally my fault). I bought some, and still forgot to wear it one day.

The flights they booked us on were the equivalent of flying Frontier or Peoples Express internationally. Turned me off from wanting to fly again.

Landing at IAD, having to take a shuttle bus to customs only to learn Global Entry was closed, along with the only bathrooms, and the line for security. The former two because the floors were being deep cleaned for three days (really?), the later due to a shift change. Not the fault of Exoticca, but not the way I wanted to end the trip.

Constantly being harassed by locals in Cusco to buy souvenirs. 

Wishing I had studied some Spanish before we left home. Neither my English nor my French skills were useful.

Let the adventures and photo dumps begin!