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Pre-Departure Information Choquequirao

WEATHER.
The Andean weather can be unpredictable, despite the sharp divide between dry and wet seasons. The dry season runs from May to October or November; the rainy season goes from December through April. Nevertheless, Choquequirao lies in the forested fringes of the Amazon basin, where showers can occur at any time of year. Therefore, even in the "dry" season, your daypack should always include full rain gear (both jacket AND trousers).

Daytime temperatures can vary greatly, with daytime highs ranging from 10ºC/50ºF to 32ºC/90ºF and nightime lows ranging from 10ºC/50ºF to a cold 4ºC/40ºF, though seldom much lower. The floor of the Apurimac Canyon gets very hot during the day. Bring your swimsuit for a delicious dip in the river.

SERVICES INCLUDE:
Transportation to and from the city of departure, a predeparture information meeting and valuable Choquequirao map, overnight in new Northface tents including comfortable sleeping pads, a duffle bag to store your luggage during the trek (please return upon your arrival in Cusco). Entrance fee, meals according to the itinerary. Bottled water to refill your canteen.

The accompanying staff includes bilingual guide on the trek and in Choquequirao equipped with a first aid kit, an oxygen tank, and excellent cartographie,
porters, kitchen crew and commissary gear.

NOT INCLUDED:
Meals in the cities, alcoholic beverages, extras, tips, taxes, laundry service, additional tours, insurance and airline tickets (where applicable), sleeping bags, hiking boots and other personal gear or items.

GENERAL CONDITIONS

In each booking please indicate the following information:

• Complete name of the passengers and age.
• Passport number and Nationality.
• Occupation.
• Any special food requirements (Vegetarian, low salt, low fat, diabetic or other)
• Any special medical requirements.
• Any special interest (birds, plants, stars,etc)

PRE-DEPARTURE BRIEFING.
One day before departure our representative in Cusco will contact the clients to provide information and answer any questions they might have about their Inca trail. We must be informed in which hotels the clients are staying and the date of their arrival. If you have a tour operator in Lima or Cusco please inform us.

If you do not have an operator in Cusco our office CAN take care of the reconfirmation of any domestic flights to Lima or other cities. Please ask for further information when you make your reservation.

WHAT TO BRING
We recommend:

SLEEPING BAGS
InkaNatura travel rents high quality The North Face sleeping bags. The costs are : USD 28 per person for the 4 days trek program and USD 35 per person for the 5 days trek program. Our service includes a clean sleeping bag liner for the trek program. Please inform us on time to reserve one of them for you.

GENERAL INFORMATION

• We strongly suggest spending at least two nights before the start of the trek to totally adjust to the altitude.
• The maximum kilogram per person: 20 pounds/10 kilograms which you have to store in the provided duffle bag.
• We recommend combining Choquequirao trail program with Machu Picchu and an Amazon adventure in the species rich rainforests of Tambopata or Manu.
• No refund will be possible for any unused part of the tour.
• All trash produced during the trek will return to Cusco.
• If you get a new passport after you have reserved a permit for one of our Inca trail programs, please inform us before arrival to make the necessary arrangements with the UGM. Please help us to avoid any inconvenient for your Inca trail experience.

INKANATURA TRAVEL contacts:
Our office contacts are :

Cusco
Calle J-1 Urbanizacion Santa Monica
Phone: (51 84) 243408

Lima
Manuel Banon 461 San Isidro, Lima
Phone: (51 1) 440-2022

In addition our staff can be contacted 24 hours a day at the following cellular numbers

Lima:
Giannina Rojas / Cecilia Caballero (51 1) 986-72557
Rodrigo Custodio (51 1) 990-90996

Cusco:
Angie Bezold (5184) 962-3666

If you are in Lima and have any problem, please do not hesitate to contact us to help you.

PORTERS
For InkaNatura Travel, every person plays an important role during the trek. The porters, who live in the nearby communities of Willoq, Patacancha and Ocongate, are not an exception. As a responsible and ethical tour operator our staff is well paid and a balanced, protein rich diet is provided for each staff member. The result is that they are happy to go that extra step to keep clients feeling their best.

Our guide will introduce you the porters formally, please tell them a little bit about yourselves. If a porter gets sick our guide will take care of him

Tips for porters should be handed out during the last night all the trekkers and porters are together in a celebratory goodbye dinner. Tips for guides and other crew members are normally treated separately.

Here we would like to include some suggestions for your interaction with the porters:

• Spend time with your porters. They have some amazing stories to tell. Try and learn a few words of Quechua – see glossary below.
• Offer them your coca leaves and snacks. If you’re finding day two of the Inca Trail hard, think how tough they’re finding it with up to 25kg on their backs.
• Don’t overload your porter. Do not give your pack to a porter who already has a load. If he carries more than 25kg, not only is it bad for his health but he and the agency will receive a substantial fine.
• Tip your porter. Most groups collect at dinner on the last night of the trail and then give it to the porters. Remember to take adequate small change in order to tip porters individually. Please let your group know that 30 soles per porter is a recommended minimum and it's best to deal separately with porters that carry individuals' bags. Tip porters directly. Some tourists feel that this "ceremony" is degrading for the porters but they themselves feel that it shows appreciation of their work.

IT’S GOOD TO TALK!

Amaze your porter with your knowledge of Quechua! Here’s the Inka Porter Project’s beginner’s guide to greetings and goodbyes as well as basic courtesies.

SUGGESTED READINGS

If you are interested to know more about the Inca Trail, Cusco and Machu Picchu InkaNatura travel recommends the following readings :

Lost City of the Incas, The Story of Machu Picchu and its Builders
by Hiram Bingham EXPLORATION • 2001

This classic account is a gripping story of exploration, archaeology and natural history -- and still an outstanding overview of the site itself. With original expedition photographs. Originally published in 1952, the book is still an excellent account, not only of the expedition but also of the site itself.

The Incas, People of the Sun
by Carmen Bernard EXPLORATION • 1994
This jewel of a book features hundreds of archival drawings and photographs, a chronology and long excerpts from the journals of early explorers. It's a guide to the ancient monuments, daily life of the Incas, and history of exploration.

The Incas and their Ancestors, The Archaeology of Peru
By Michael Moseley ARCHAEOLOGY • 2001
An outstanding survey of the archaeology of the Inca, Moche and Nasca civilizations. With hundreds of color illustrations and line drawings, it's an in-depth look at the ancient cultures and history of Peru, the best general introduction to the subject.

Machu Picchu Historical Sanctuary,
by Peter Frost & Jim Bartle. Nuevas Imagenes, Lima, 1998. Color photos and text about Machu Picchu and the Inca Trail.

Exploring Cusco,
by Peter Frost. Nuevas Imagenes, Lima, 1999.
A guide to the Cusco region with detailed chapters on Machu Picchu and the Inca trail.

A Field Guide to the Birds of Machu Picchu,
by Barry Walker, illustrations by Jon Fjeldså. Profonanpe, Lima 2,001.
All the birds you will see (375 species!), and everything about them, fully illustrated in color.

Machu Picchu, the Sacred Center,
by Johan Reinhard. Instituto Machu Picchu, Lima 2002.
A scholarly look at Machu Picchu by the famous high altitude archaeologist, through the lens of Inca religion and mountain worship

A Field Guide to the Birds of Peru
By James Clements • Noam Shany • Dana Gardner (Illustrator) • Eustace Barnes (Illustrator) FIELD GUIDE • 2001
A comprehensive field guide to the birds of Peru with color plates illustrating almost 1,800 species. Long-anticipated, it covers the diversity of birds and habitats from the Amazon to Andes and Pacific coast. Admirably compact, short descriptions of each species focus on identification, habitat and distribution. With a gazetteer of localities and both English and Spanish names.

CONDITIONS AND RESPONSABILITY
InkaNatura Travel and/or their employees act only as agents for the passenger in regard to travel, whether by car, boat, or airplane and assume no liability for injury, damage, loss, accident, delay, or irregularity that may be caused either by reasons of defect in the vehicle or for any reasons engaged in conveying the client or carrying out the arrangements of the tour. They can accept no responsibility for losses or additional expenses due to delay or changes in air or other services, sickness, weather, strike, war, quarantine, or other causes. All such expenses will have to be borne by the passenger.

InkaNatura Travel HAS THE RIGHT :

1. to make any change in the itinerary when deemed necessary or caused by changes in air schedules.
2. to accept or decline any persons as members of a tour.

If you would like additional information, please send an email to:
postmaster@inkanatura.com.pe

or visit

http://www.inkanatura.com

More information:

Choquequirao  More about Choquequirao  Choquequirao Map