Travel Tip 117
How to enrich your trip with experts
When I visited churches in Chiclayo, I met priests and others who knew Robert Prevost.
Local guides are great, but local experts take your experience to a whole new level.
This week I visited Kuélap, in northern Peru and it is amazing. It’s a massive city built by the Chachapoya, a pre-Inca culture that lived in the mountainous cloud forests of northern Peru. I was lucky to get to visit with two archeologists and the experience blew my mind.
Whatever you’re into, see if you can connect with experts before you travel. It’s such an amazing experience to learn about a place from people who really know it best.
Biologists like Alejandro Lopera Toro make a visit to the rainforest a much more enriching experience.
Look for experts in what you’re most interested in.
Love birds? Look for local ornithologists to take you birding.
Social media is a great place to start. Look for clubs like COAP, a birding club with chapters throughout Peru. Many places have even more specialized groups, like Women Birders in Peru. You can also stay at places like the Ensifera Ensifera hummingbird gardens and research stations like Manu BioLodge.
Into history or archeology? Look for cultural centers.
The best place in Cusco to find historians and archeologists is Inkari Cultural Center. Last weekend, I went on an outing they organized with archeologist Óscar Montúfar Latorre. I joined a group of about 20 tour guides for a day of professional development with Óscar in Ollantaytambo. As an archeologist, Óscar has worked on excavations and studies at several sites in Ollantaytambo, sites that I’ve visited a dozen times or more. Still, what he taught us blew my mind. Visiting an archeological site with an archeologist is so much more interesting that with a guide.
In Chinchero, expert weavers like Erlinda show how they make and dye yard, then weave it into beautiful garments.
Into fashion or textile art? There are experts for that too!
You can learn about traditional weaving and even how to dye and spin alpaca yarn. My favorite places for this near Cusco are Awana Kancha (on the road between Cusco & Pisac) and the Traditional Textile Center of Cusco, with locations in Cusco and in Chinchero.
When Pope Leo XIV was Bishop Robert Prevost, he preached here at the Chiclayo cathedral.
Article
How to Visit Pope Leo’s Hometown in Peru
Frommer’s just published my article about visiting Chiclayo, where the current Pope Leo XIV was Bishop Robert Prevost. Here’s everything you need to know, whether you’re planning a trip to Peru or just curious about the Pope’s life in Chiclayo and why he loved it so much.
Blog
Chiclayo: Good food, friendly people & the Pope
Everything that’s not in the article above, I fit in the blog!
