My wife and I were in Lima in 2013. We got seafood restaurant recommendations from a relative who is married to a Peruvian and is a travel agent. The two places he recommended were both stunning: Lima27 and Calera. There is an abundance of good food in that city.
Thanks guys…keep 'em coming! This trip is still a ways off so I have time to plan.
Cheers!
Marshall ![[berserker.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/8/8600bbd4810d342b8fbd4ffb62b4f0026275fd37.gif "berserker"){kind=small}
Did you see Roberto’s link from a week or so ago?
We went to the Galapagos a few years back, and we stayed in Quito a couple of days on both ends. It was fun, but not necessarily an exciting place. Same with the food - it’s good, but we found nothing great. The beer is ok, but the wine lists are minimal and expensive. Will mostly be Argentinian and Chilean wines as well (not that there is anything wrong with that). Avoid the Cuy - deep fried guinea pig (tastes like a deep-fried rat).
Roaming the old town area is fun. If you’re into pre-Columbian artifacts, a couple of good museums. Also, the Olga Fisch store is nice, and the family has what I would consider to be a museum, upstairs. Go to the shop, and ask to see it. The family has a large collection of artifacts.
You have to stop and get a hat: Homero Ortega Panama Hats - Cuenca, Ecuador Shop is in the Old Town area. Plus, a lot of shops sell some of their hats. We stayed at some kind of Marriott (I think) and they sold their hats.
The gondola ride to the top of the mountain is fun for what it is.
There are a couple of competing places for where the real equator is. Both are tourist traps, but, whatever.
I’m not making Quito sound that great, but we did have a fun time. Again, most fun was just wandering the Old Town area. Lots of little shops. Quaint architecture. Decent places to eat. Lots of colonial architecture.
We actually did a Celebrity cruise, but it was on one of their smaller ships. Probably less than 100 people on it. Friends did a bigger boat, and were not as thrilled. Also had friends do as small as a 25-person boat. In one case it was with National Geo, so it was top-rate, but top-cost (I guess you get what you pay for - they loved it). Another friend did a small boat that was no thrills. Got essentially the same guides, but at night, it was pretty minimal. But keep in mind, going between the islands, you’re out on the ocean. Their complaint was that they got rocked around, but in a small boat they also did not cover as much ground. In the bigger boat, they hit fewer places because they were too big to dock. But just about every island, you’ll have to be tendered.
Bring a camera. Bring a camera. Bring a camera.
Bring sunscreen. Bring sunscreen. Bring sunscreen.
Dress to go hiking in a wet dessert. Some islands are like walking across Mars, and in some cases, you’ll have to wade water. Try to at least snorkel so you see the turtles and penguins. Get some local coffee off the islands.
The Galapagos were absolutely one of the best trips we ever took.
Thanks Paul. We will spend a couple of days prior in Quito and probably a bit longer in Lima at the conclusion of the trip. We are on an under 100 person boat and it is National Geographic. We had thought about Celebrity but Nat/Geo is much “fairer” with single supplements and we are traveling with a single friend. Celebrity and most cruise lines actually charge double for most single travelers while The Nat/Geo ships have some single rooms.
I will certainly have a camera and quite a few SD cards… ![[winner.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/07ec25c9fd71159fe15d7f1ba5fad64e91238d0e.gif "winner"){kind=small}
Cheers!
Marshall ![[cheers.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/0ff9bfcdb0964982cd3240b6159868fbdf215b1a.gif "cheers"){kind=small}
We wanted to go to Machu Picchu at the end as well. Celebrity offered a 3-day extension that was EXPENSIVE.
Friends who did the National Geographic tour LOVED it. You’re going to have a great time.
Gotta ask: how do you know what deep fried rat tastes like? And are you sure this wasn’t deep fried rat? How do you tell the difference? 
It tasted exactly how I would imagine a deep-fried rat would taste. I had heard about it, but only seen it on the side of the road at stands. Finally the last night, went to a nice restaurant, and they had it on their menu. Friends dared me to order it.
It should not come as a big surprise, but there is not a lot of meat on a rat. What did surprise me was how boney and fatty it was. A lot of work for very little reward. I ate about 2/3 of it, before the taste of rat got to me.
This is now in the NYT
I used to do my research in the Peruvian Amazon… never had a guinea pig (more of a mountain delicacy), but I did have a few roasted jungle rats. Quite good, in my opinion, and very lean. I hate to say it, but it reminded me a lot of a nice roasted chicken…
we had friends who thought Astrid y Gaston. Degustation menu was the best meal out of 3 top 25 world restaurant’s they visited in June. Alinea was the worst and the Sao Paulo restaurant was 2nd (can’t remember the name).
Bump for Marshall. My daughter is in Quito right now, for another couple weeks, if you have anything you want me to ask her.
Thanks Alan; I would like to know a bit about shopping for local crafts as I always enjoy that aspect of a country.
Cheers!
Marshall
We just got back from Lima, Machu Picchu and the Sacred Valley. My wife and I, and another couple we are friends with. Was one of the best trips we’ve ever taken. Had a blast. And the Peruvians do a much better job with cuy than the Ecuadorians. ![[wow.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/7/7d450e9830889c8943b674446a21b7254cad657e.gif "wow"){kind=small}
In Cusco we also ate at Cincha. Was good and would recommend it. If you also need a less expensive place to eat, try Greens. It is right on the square. It was good enough that we went back a second time.
In general, we loved the food in Peru. Peruvian food seems to be hot right now, so I kinda knew what to expect, but we were all still surprised by how well we liked the food in Peru.
Tanta just opened in Chicago, and my wife, by coincidence, went there about a week before we left. So we hit the one in Lima at Larcomar, which is across the street from the JW Marriott. A little touristy, but nice.
We stayed in Miraflores at a Tierra Viva, and we also stayed at one in Cusco. Both were nice, and if anyone is looking for something comparable to a Marriott Courtyard, these are great local options. We stayed at a smaller, local place in Ollantaytambo (it was ok - price was right).
We flew into Lima, stayed one day there (2 nights at Tierra Viva), then next day flew to Cusco, and spent all day touring on our way to Ollantaytambo. Next day we went to Machu Picchu, which is a short train ride from Ollantaytambo, so 2 nights in Ollantaytambo. Then we did that area the next day, then drove towards Cusco. That was a long day (well, they were all long days). Stayed two nights in Cusco at the Tierra Viva. Spent one day around Cusco, and then next day we flew back late to Lima to get some time wandering on our own in Cusco. Then flew back to Lima for one more night and day.
So we were gone a Friday-Sunday. A little short? Maybe, but we did a good job of planning the days. In fact, we all agreed that we wouldn’t change the itinerary much. We hired a private guide for 4 days. I would HIGHLY recommend him. He turned out to be terrific!
Anyone can feel free to PM me or ask me anymore questions here. I’m still working through all my photos, but I posted a few already on FaceBook: https://www.facebook.com/miller.paul/media_set?set=a.10152877296397759&type=1&pnref=story
Enjoy your trip!
I’ll ask, but I’m not sure she’ll be of much help on that one. Have you researched what the local products are? The one I know about is Panama Hats, and there is a fairly large producer called Homero Ortega with their production in Cuenca, but a shop in Quito. Probably others as well. Prices are significantly better there than here.
You can do this as well as I, but I quickly found these sites talking about local products and shopping:
http://blog.destinationecuador.com/?p=31
http://www.metropolitan-touring.com/news-archive/top-6-souvenirs
Thanks Alan. I have been doing a lot of research as well and appreciate the links. Any personal tidbits she could add would be a bonus.
Cheers!
Marshall
She’s down there doing volunteer work in a school that travels to different markets, and teaches kids who are at the markets with their parents, and don’t get formal schooling (I think it’s more preschool than grade school). So shes’ not getting a whole lot of “tourist” time, and she’s living very cheaply in homes that take in the volunteers, not eating out much except lunch, etc. The one thing she mentioned is the traffic is pretty bad. Plenty of rain off and on, pretty much as the weather shows if you look it up from here. But if I find out more I’ll let you know. How much time will you have in Quito?
In preparation for your trip, make sure you guys are doing plenty of walking, hopefully with some hills involved. Quito is very hilly, and also 9,000 feet. And of course your Peru destinations are even higher.
Might be too late to help, but was just in Peru. In Lima, we ate at Maido and Central, did extensive tasting menus at both and had a blast. If I had to pick one - Central.
In Aquas Caliente, the best place we ate was a place callled Totos down by the railroad tracks. Decent wine list, and good steaks and alpaca. We also had Cuy there - like gamier rabbit.
We hiked Hyuana Picchu early. Worth it if you’re seriously fit (I kind of was…), but if I had to do it all over again, we would have done the mountain hike the first day and come back for the ruins another day.
Thank you Jim: Not too late! We are about to start booking the Lima restaurants and those two are almost definite!
Thanks!
Marshall
Just got my flights nailed down so I can begin to make some reservations!
Cheers!
Marshall