It was during a walking tour of the neighborhood of Los Olivos in Lima that I encountered my first huaca. I stood behind a row of houses on a patch of dusty land that had a few hills and a sign that said “No Trespassing”, which failed to deter any of…
Marisol, Founder & CEO of Aracari, and the Aracari team are just back from an in-depth research trip to Kuelap and the Chachapoyas region. We’ve been hard at work (and play!) testing out accommodation, hikes, and other excursions to ensure that we’re experts on, and offer the very best of, the…
The Chachapoyas people buried their important dead in high, difficult to access locations, facing the rising sun or a village, and always close to water. The sarcophagi of Karajía stand proudly on a ledge above a river gorge in the Chachapoyas region – a stunning site in a quiet, unassuming location…
Standing at the top of ancient walls overlooking the cloud forest below, you really get a sense of the mysticism of Chachapoyas, and why the ancient pre-Inca people who built this incredible feat of engineering were known as the ‘people of the clouds’. Kuelap Peru is simply a spectacular archaeological site in…
The Moche culture, which prospered from around AD 1 to 700, dominated several valleys on Peru’s northern coast long before the famous Inca empire appeared in the country. The Moche left an especially vivid artistic legacy, particularly in their pottery and metallurgy. A series of Moche centers dating from about AD…
Moche Route Highlights: Royal Tombs of Sipan and Huaca Rajada On a recent trip to Peru’s north, I visited some of the most significant historical sites. None capture the imagination more than the Royal Tombs of Sipan Museum, near Chiclayo (a one-hour flight north of Lima). This well-designed, modern museum…