Travel Tip 30
How to find experts when traveling?
Local guides are great, but local experts take your experience to a whole new level.
Archeologist Óscar Montúfar Latorre leads professional development for a group of guides and me in Ollantaytambo, Peru.
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.
I’d already visited Ollantaytambo over a dozen times but what Óscar taught us blew my mind.
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 than with a guide.
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.
If you want to see a little of everything, check out the top rated tours on websites like Viator. You don’t have to seek out experts to enjoy your trip, but if you want something specific, it’s worth the time to look for an expert.
Article
Waqra Pukará, Peru’s Mysterious Horned Fortress
For this BBC Travel article, I interviewed archeologist Óscar Montúfar, the same person who recently gave me a tour of Ollantaytambo. Click on the link above to read about the site’s former name, and why what Óscar told me completely changed how I see the place.
I’ve been to Waqra Pukará three times now and plan to camp there on my fourth trip.
Blog
This blog post explains the three trails to get to Waqra Pukará and how to visit the site, with or without a tour agency.