Jennaration Travel

I just got back from Peru and it was such an amazing experience! Here is how to make the most out of Peru in under ONE WEEK!

Jessica and I went to Lima for 3 days, and Cusco for 3 days. I have to thank her for being so awesome (and my soul mate, sister, and bff) because we almost had to cancel this trip, and we made it work. The rules are– we go no matter what. (shirts from Shop Hopes).

Here is what to pack:

• Lima and Cusco’s temperature ranges between 71°F to 34°F, so it is important to pack layers and other warm clothes. I brought a lightweight cardigan for the day, and jean jacket for at night. When you are at Machu Picchu it is HOT – so bring something you can easily throw in a backpack but wont weigh you down.
• Sunscreen – I use Rodan and Fields sunscreen on the regular, and also their mineral peptides make-up that is so lightweight and also contains UV protection. I swear by it. I was a bare minerals gal but this is LIFE CHANGING (not to mention, cheaper!)—bye bye cake face. I’LL ADMIT IT!
  • The first 5 people to share my post after this will get a free R+F sunscreen. Email me your home address at Jennarationtravel@gmail.com when you post.
• Bug spray or lotion with deet – They sell it everywhere in Lima and Cusco, but if you can bring mini packets before you get there to just use and dispose daily, it’s a good idea. The shops will try and take advantage since they know you need it. Good old supply and demand.
• Backpack – light weight and expandable. I have a backpack from Target that I take everywhere.
• Shoes: While I got SO many compliments on my rose gold glitter sneakers (I got these from an instagram retailer @style.and.sass) , I also packed Merrell Hiking shoes. They were quick drying, so I wore them to our canopy excursion, white water rafting, and they were dry by the time we went to Machu Picchu.
• Medicines: I brought ibuprofen and took it every 4 hours – trust me on this one. Stay ahead of the altitude sickness when arriving in Cusco. I brought Altitude RX, Diamox (need to get from a doctor), and Ginkgo Biloba Vitamins. Take as instructed. The ONLY thing I wish I could have prevented were the nose bleeds, so if you can do research on how to control that before, I highly recommend it.

WHAT TO SEE AND DO IN LIMA AND CUSCO IN UNDER A WEEK

Here was my Itinerary-  

Wednesday:

We took a 6pm flight from Fort Lauderdale to Lima on Wednesday and landed around 11pm, getting to our room around midnight. We stayed at the Hilton in Miraflores. It was beautiful! We booked a room on the executive level which was SO worth it, you got access to a lounge with an open bar, breakfast, lunch, and dinner. DO IT!

It was good to just relax the first day, so we were totally fine with getting acclimated, checking out our rooftop pool, and we bought some duty free liquor at the airport so had a cocktail and planned out our next adventures. We had a big day on Thursday.

Thursday:

I mentioned we had a full day of adventures, and we did just that. We got picked up by Jessica (same names!!) and Miguel from Vista Adventures  (booked this on Tripadvisor/Viator) and headed to Lunahuana for white water Rafting, Canopy and a Winery Tour Experience from Lima. The drive was 3 hours, but it flew by, or maybe I slept on Jess, WOOPS! The total cost for the whole private tour was $460. Not bad for two people. It also included lunch, snacks on the drive in, Round-trip private transfer as well as Wine and Pisco tastings.

When we arrived, we got suited up for zip lining. Jessica and I have done this in every country we have been to, we try to stick to traditions but add in new adventures. They were so relaxed over there and let me bring my phone on the zip line. Check out my Instagram page for the video @JennarationTravel. It was SO cool! We did two lines over the water that we then realized we’d be rafting down later.

After the zip lining, we went rafting! Since we booked the private tour, we got to do it with just the two of us and two guides. This was NOTHING like our white water rafting in Costa Rica. This was an easy pace and was really fun. Not that Costa Rica wasn’t, but when I fell out of the raft in Costa Rica and came back with bruises all down one side of my body, I told myself I would never do it again… BUT, I did it again! Life is too short to say no to adventures.

Here was the lunch that was provided. We were given the option of chicken or shrimp, so we got both and shared. PS everywhere we went in Peru, they called this Shrimp, but we know it’s totally craw-fish.  Still….. Delicious!

Next stop was a winery. We got to taste some wines and see how they make Pisco! Did you know Pisco has 42% alcohol content?! I was feelin jusssst fine on the way home in our 3 hour trip back.

Friday:

We went Paragliding! As I mentioned before, we like to add new adventures in. This was by far one of the scariest but most cool thing I have ever done in my life. The company we used was CondorXtreme. The cost was only about $50 per person and included a GoPro video on a memory stick at the end. I am SO afraid of heights but I couldn’t pass up the views. You could see the entire city of Lima.

After our near death experience, (OK, it wasn’t THAT bad) we went to explore what Lima has to offer. We were about a 5 minute walk from a bunch of shops and restaurants called “Larcomar”. We stopped for lunch at Mangos and it was AMAZING. Our favorite drink on the whole trip was their passion fruit Pisco cocktail. And we shared this baked scallop appetizer. Not to mention, the views were soo pretty! and the restaurant was built into the cliffs.

I don’t know what it is about me wanting a VW van so bad, but I want one. Apparently Peru is known for having a TON of them, but this is the only one I could convince Jessica to snap a pic of me by without more near death experiences crossing streets.

We took a cab (because I couldn’t steal the VW Van) to the city center, walked around, got overcharged by a taxi driver who convinced us that he needed to be our private tour guide, and showed us around town. At least we got a free photographer to follow us around 🙂 The buildings in Lima are stunning.

That evening we went to dinner at a restaurant just steps from our hotel called Ache. It was a sushi restaurant. My FAVORITE thing about it, was that my drink was called “Liquid Gold” and SPARKLED!! If anyone knows me, they know I love glitter. Drinking it? Yes please! We shared a sushi roll, I got some boring chicken and veggie dish because I couldn’t understand the menu (it was still good!) and Jessica’s meal came out on fire… on purpose.

Saturday:

On Saturday we got up bright and early to head to Cusco. We took a plane around 8am and got to our hotel (JW Marriott Cusco) around noon. We have to give a special thank you to Jessica’s parents for this hotel. They let us use their points and the hotel was FABULOUS. One night, the entire city of Cusco lost power and the Marriott was the only building entirely lit up. #Royalty. We were actually rushing around to make it to our 3:30 cooking class, and the altitude sickness smacked us right in the face. Refer to above where I tell you you MUST stay ahead of it.

We didn’t let the altitude get in our way. Nothing a power nap and all of our meds and vitamins couldn’t fix. We attended our Peruvian Cooking Class where we got to go to the local market and pick out the goods we needed on the menu we chose. Our Chef was Javier. We made Pisco Sour (yes, we just kept a good buzz the whole trip), Quinoa Soup, Aji de Gallina which is a Peruvian well known dish that basically means chicken in yellow chili pepper sauce, and Chocotejas which is one of the best treats of Peruvians, created in Ica – Peru. Made with chocolate, dulce de leche and pecans. We met some other girls traveling from London and Chicago!

The Market and Javier:

The class, and our dish!

The JW Marriott had a live band, a s’more set-up, and free Pisco Sours (LOL yep, again!) so we took it easy, got acclimated and relaxed that night.

Sunday:

MACHU PICCHU BOUND. I really wanted to do the whole week long trek, but personal reasons in the past few weeks limited our timing on this trip, so we did a one day tour to the Inca Trail and Machu Picchu. Again, see above and remember to wear light clothes that you can throw a jacket on, wear bug spray, and apply a ton of sunscreen.

The company we used was called Machu Travel Peru. I can only say good things about this company, between the live chat assistance with our Travel Advisor, Deslie to book it, the immediate email responses, help from Travel Coordinator, Sol the day before, and our amazing guide, Esmerelda.

In the morning, we had private car that met us at the JW Marriott Cusco and took us to the train station. We took a Vistadome train to Machu Picchu for a spectacular and scenic journey to Aguas Calientes. The train ride was three hours, included snacks, and you could purchase beer, wine, and beverages.

Our guide took us through Machu Picchu Citadel,The Lost City of the Incas. At this spectacular sacred Incan site, we learned about the history and saw truly remarkable temples of the Sun and the Condor. We saw the aqueducts and houses, while learning some interesting facts about the Incan Sacred Terraces.

After the guided tour in Machu Picchu, we got to do some exploring of our own, and took some amazing photos!

I also took some pictures of FROPRO— one of my favorite snacks . I love the product, but slightly love the couple behind it as well. Read about Matt and Chelsea here, and you will fall in love too.

More photos… because, it’s so beautiful at Machu Picchu.

After an 18 hour day of frolicking around Machu Picchu and the Inca Trail, we got back to our hotel (this was the night the whole town lost power) and took that as a sign to go to bed.

Monday:

On Monday, we got up and went to the spa. After a long day of hiking, we deserved it! We walked around the Cusco city center, and ate an amazing lunch at Barrio Ceviche.

Our flight was rough. We left for the airport at 3pm, left Cusco at 5pm with a 4 hour layover in Lima. We got home Tuesday morning. I don’t know about Jessica, but I slept ALL DAY.

Please email me at JennarationTravel@gmail.com for any of your questions about Lima or Cusco! I had a BLAST and know you will too!!