Pre-trip local tours in Lima...
We are going on the April 21, 2015 tour. We will be arriving in Lima Sunday April 19th. We're considering doing a day tour on Tuesday the 21st, to a Shanty Town and the City of Kings, with Haku Tours. Does anyone else have any interest in doing this day tour? And, if anyone has done this tour please feel free to provide some input... Thanks.
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We were warned not to hail taxis on the street, but to go to a hotel and let them get us a taxi. So we had our hotel get us a taxi and we went to the Iguana Park which was a lot of fun, hundreds of very friendly iguanas, squirrels, etc. There is a cathedral across the street. We then took a short walk, 3 or 4 blocks, to the riverfront, the Malecon 2000, which is a beautiful boardwalk along the river. The Malecon leads to a large hill, the Cerro Santa Ana or the 465 steps, which you can climb. It is the old part of the city with winding streets and at the top is an excellent view of the city and the river. After we came down, we walked around the back of the hill, to the Wyndham Hotel Guayaquil and we had them call us a taxi. It was a very enjoyable day, and we never felt concerned or threatened. I'm sure there are areas that you shouldn't walk but these areas seemed relatively safe to us.
We just returned from this trip and had a fantastic experience. Unfortunately, we are not going to be much help regarding pre-trip days because we chose to take it easy in preparation for the tour. We arrived 7am Monday having flown overnight directly from JFK and met one other couple who came in on the same flight and were also on the tour.
We decided to go with them to visit the Gold Museum which both of us had on our pre-trip list to do. It was a 20min or so cab ride from the JW Marriott. While not fantastic it was an interesting experience that would take an hour or two max to go through unless you are an avid war museum buff. The first floor is a military museum with lots of old rifles and suits of armor. The lower level is the Gold Museum with many interesting pieces of Inca gold artifacts. We found out after the fact that many were replicas. But they were still worth viewing.
We met our friends the next morning at breakfast and decided to simply walk around the promenade and do some shopping in the mall across from the Marriott. We then decided to go to lunch at Cebecherie La Mar which was simply fantastic. Check it out on trip advisor; for whatever reason the forum won't accept the link I was trying to embed.
It is about a half hour walk from the Marriott by the ocean front toward the lighthouse then inland. We stopped for many photo opportunities by the shore. Our lunch was so filling that we passed on having a large dinner and had another early night.
Some helpful suggestions:
1. My wife chose to not take the altitude medication and she had headaches and stomach issues. I took the meds but still had a minor case after being at the high altitudes for a couple of days. My wife took oxygen at night to help her sleep. The hotel people at Sol Luna were very accommodating and allowed us to keep the O2 cylinder all night.
A number of people found they had to take deep breaths to get enough O2 especially at night. I would wake up and found I needed to inhale deeply to get enough oxygen. Not really a concern but just be aware things are different at the higher elevations. Also, I can't stress enough how eating lightly and avoiding liquor especially at dinner will help you weather the altitude effects. I highly recommend you not eat the roast pig at the Sanctuary hotel at Machu Picchu. One of our traveling companions did and spent the next two days regretting it. It turns out any heavy meal will cause a problem given that your metabolism slows with lower oxygen intake. The symptoms will disappear completely once you return to sea level.
2. Not sure you need the walking sticks that are provided unless you plan on hiking up to the Sun Gate at Machu Picchu. However they are a help if you are the least bit unsteady. Same with using them on the Galapagos islands. There are a couple of places where they can help but if you are in good shape I wouldn't take them.
3. Wear low socks with your Keen's sandals for the wet landings and forget about the fashion statement. You get so much sand in your sandals that the socks really help make walking more comfortable.
4. The internet connection on the Isabela is slooooooooooow. Even when it appears no one is on it. Best time to catch up on email is early before breakfast.
5. The sea lions are a blast. The young ones will swim right up to you and try to play. They will jump out of the water and somersault in front of you underwater.
6. The pictures the guides give you in the Galapagos at the end of your trip are fantastic. So even if you miss some photo ops you may find what they give you will make up for it.
7. Long sleeve rash guards are a help in the cooler water. But don't pass up on the snorkeling because the water might be cold. It is not that bad especially with the rash guards. The coldest water we had was 68-69F.
The tour guides are great. Very knowledgeable and helpful. It should be a great trip. Enjoy!!!
Thank you verrrrry much for your post. Everything you mentioned is useful. I appreciated your comments about the altitude meds, eating light meals/no alcohol in the pm, as well as the Galapagos photos from the guides - These were all things that I had been curious about. Did the photos given to you by the guides include under-water shots? Did you have to pay for them?
Your comments about wearing socks with sandals was very timely. I had been wondering about the amount of sand and whether, or not, it would become an issue while walking.
Were your guides forthcoming with information/tips regarding altitude sickness or did you have to sort it out for yourself?
I will make a note of the restaurant where you had your lunch.
Once again, thank you very much for all the information you provided.
We are really looking forward to our trip.
Here's to hoping all your future travels are safe!
HML
The photos are a minor disappointment. At our last meeting they showed the photo collage with videos embedded in the presentation and included underwater shots. I think they had some issues copying to a CD/DVD and all that we received were photos from the land excursions and no underwater shots. The photos they provided were great. Not sure what happened but I was looking forward to the underwater shots as well. But it didn't matter too much because I had taken my own photos and videos while snorkeling. I have a Nikon AW100 waterproof camera and would highly recommend it. I believe its been replaced by at least the AW110 and maybe an even later model. It is relatively inexpensive and goes for $299 as I recall. Takes fairly good shots, although you will probably have to edit them a bit given water depth, etc. I use iPhoto and iMovie to edit and its pretty simple and the edited shots look great. Did not have to pay for the pictures provided by Tauck which is a nice touch.
The main tour director was very helpful regarding the altitude issues. He took great pains to explain it in a fair amount of detail and what to do about it. He was very willing to consult with anyone having an issue. Also, I forgot to mention my wife drank Coca tea which also helped. It was one of the things recommended by the tour director to address altitude issues. The only problem is coca tea can inhibit your sleep so you should not drink it before you go to bed. It is fine during the day. I am also under the impression you should space your intake throughout the day. My wife drank it at breakfast and lunch. One final comment on the Diamox/acetazolamide intake. We had a opthamologist on our trip who has prescribed this on many occasions for eye issues. He told me it takes effect in about 20 minutes so he was going to wait before he took anything to see if he needed it. He also said you can take half a pill initially to see if it is enough for you. Unfortunately for me, I had the timed release version so I had capsules rather than pills and had to take the full dose of a pill a day and kept it up throughout the trip. I would suggest talking with your physician about what he prescribes and then devise a strategy. According to the doctor on our trip this stuff is a pretty strong drug and that is why he was going to use it sparingly.
One last recommendation. My wife and I were really looking forward to going to a restaurant called IK Restaurante. It is supposed to be one of the very best new restaurants in Lima. We were just too full from Le Mar that we wound up passing. If you have time, check out its reviews on trip advisor and plan accordingly.
I just finished editing my photos and it just made the trip come back to life.
Safe travels. It is an experience of a lifetime.
Mike
Thank you, again.
I have read many comments about the coca tea and will definitely search it out if necessary.
It is our common practice to consult with our Doctor prior to travelling and we will absolutely do that again this time around.
I have a good, general camera that I am comfortable and content with. But, lately I have been considering my options regarding under water shots. I will do some research on the AW110. Thank you for your input.
I suffer with migraine headaches so the altitude sickness symptoms are my biggest concern currently.
How was the weather at MP? Were you able to get some nice photos? Are you still able to wander at your leisure or do you need to be with a guide at all times?
I plan to re-visit these posts closer to our departure so I can re-fresh my memory with all your valuable information.
Many thanks.
HML
I have been taking underwater photos for MANY years (old, manual Nikonos II and housed cameras). The sad fact is that unless the camera has a good flash or is equipped with a big external flash (or movie light if shooting videos) the quality of your photos will not be good. Water filters out most colors except the blue/greens, so just a few feet below the surface even if the sun is bright, you will not get good color rendition. You also need to get very close with most U/W cameras- fish swim fast and typically don't pose nicely. The useful range of the flash will be significantly reduced from its dry land capability as well.
All that being said, I will take my little GoPro when we go to the Galapagos.
These photos will illustrate what I mean. They are too big for this site, so I only put the link here. I used a dive boat supplied Sony camera (no flash) in clear water of Maui:
A little box fish shot in very clear water off Maui:
https://scontent-a-dfw.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xaf1/v/t1.0-9/301979_638043892878407_272023635_n.jpg?oh=5e3e731b4a1f7b0911b6216d81774fef&oe=54EA0B6C
Another fish about 12" away:
https://scontent-a-dfw.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xaf1/v/t1.0-9/420685_638044219545041_174509963_n.jpg?oh=57304495c69f671bfbdb6c00c6b44cb9&oe=54EFA14A
Four-eyed Butterfly fish:
https://scontent-b-dfw.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfa1/v/t1.0-9/422151_638046246211505_1559274580_n.jpg?oh=ad00e5594c823ed8585b4c61c23287e8&oe=55227F28
Cheers,
Jan
PS: Naturally, seek your own medical advice!
The weather was problematic. Our first afternoon was cloudy and overcast and it rained for about a half hour causing us to don our rain gear. It remained cloudy and overcast for the remainder of our stay that day. The morning of the 2nd day was exquisite. Sun and blue skies caused me to reshoot all of our pictures. The 2nd set of shots came out great.
You are able to wander around without a guide. Having said that, the guides are a wealth of information. The only time I wasn't with a guide was when I made the trek up to the Sun Gate.
I also agree with what AlanS said in the following post regarding underwater pictures. The only add I would make is I found the water surprisingly murky with lots of floating sediment. It is my experience that when you try to use a flash in these conditions you get a flash-back that ruins the photo. Hence I only try to shoot without a flash and hope for some sun penetration. But again, my Nikon only has a small built-in flash which is no where near what you would need at deeper depths.
Interestingly enough, I was not able to edit out the greens as much as I've been able to do in the past in the Caribbean. It was because of the depth of some of my shots and as Alan's pictures show there is a strong sense of green the deeper you go. There were schools of fish swimming not 10' below the surface and when the sun is out these shots came out relatively good after they were edited. I took videos of Eagle and Golden Rays swimming in formation but they were much deeper and I could not clean them up as much. Pray for sun and clear waters.
I am very much a casual and amateur photographer so I found your comments about under water photography very informative indeed. I enjoyed seeing the photos you attached.
When we were in Columbia a number of years ago we chartered a sailboat to do some exploring/snorkeling. To this day, I can still remember the bright, vibrant colours of all the fish. Hence, I was hoping to get some quality u/w photos while in The Galapagos. However, after reading your comments I'm doubting that it will happen. Instead, I will hope for some good photos (from the guides) at the end of our trip...
Thank you again, AlanS.
Mike the Elder,
Thank you for the additional information regarding MP. I have read some articles that stated there might be some changes coming to the MP Regulations which will require visitors to be in the company of a guide at all times as well as being confined to the definite marked paths.
I really do appreciate all you input.
Jan,
The extra details regarding the altitude sickness symptoms and medication was welcomed. Considering how long I've been wanting to take this trip, I'm not willing to take any chances so I'll definitely be using a medication of some type.
Thank you for sharing your knowledge.
It is useful and appreciated.
HML
The inexpensive underwater digital cameras have improved exponentially. We bought one for $99 at our local dive shop last winter and used it all during a trip to Tahiti in February. My observations: it look a while to learn to use it (probably a day), but it took great photos. They are billed as being usable on land or underwater, but after using it underwater, there were some severe fogging issues on land in a warm humid environment. However, the underwater shots were great at snorkeling depths (within 15-20 feet of the surface). The real trick to using it is to realize the LCD screen is virtually worthless because of the reflection underwater. You really just have to learn to float motionlessly while photographing, and shoot a large number of photos, because a large number of them will not be "keepers. That said, it gave us some really great irreplaceable shots, like swimming with reef sharks.
If we ever go on the Galapagos trip or take a trip back to Hawaii I will see what my GoPro can do. I'll still have the same issues with lighting, but with its very wide angle fixed-focus lens I can put more effort into framing my shots and maybe cull some decent stills from the video as long as there is decent lighting. The shots in my earlier post were taken with a little Sony digital U/W rental camera with 2 min. of instruction and absolutely no practice. I really had little clue how to get the flash no less the camera to work. Plus, I hadn't been diving in years! The end result was at best about 8 - 10 marginal photos from the 70(?) shots I took. I got some well framed shots of a couple of large sea turtles and an octopus, but they were colorless and unremarkable. : (
Thank you (again) for the valuable information.
I think I might just "bite the bullet" and purchase a basic u/w camera.
The Olympus TG3 has been recommended to me multiple times.
Only three months and we will be departing...
HML
Well, I did it - I bit the bullet -I bought an Olympus TG3.
Now I get to experiment and educate myself...
Again, "Thank you" for all your input.
I do appreciate it.
Jim and Stacy,
Thank you, as well, for your comments.
When all is said and done I'll be content if we can get even just a few "good" under water photos.
Now I'm getting excited!
HML
Find some area of the pool where you can shoot photos of objects to get a feel what it will be like aiming the camera and framing your subject(s). It will be time well spent!
Have a great trip and don't forget to post an after-action report with pics!
What a great suggestion!
We live only a ten minute drive from the ocean, here in beautiful British Colimbia, so I will venture out there as well. Yes it will be a bit chilly, but hey, all in the name of the Galapagos Islands...
While in the Galapagos, hopefully I will get a couple of photos that will be worthy of posting here upon our return.
HML