GENERAL INFORMATION:

 

 

How to make your reservations and payment?

When you make the reservation for your hike or climbing  trip, we will send you a complete reservation package with documents to complete, including a reservation formulary (para q si es que ya hicieron su reserva?), a document for your personal data and an emergency contact formulary. We also ask you to pay an advance of 50% to confirm your reservation, and will include the needed information to make the deposit.

 

Do I need a Tourist Visa?

Most travellers can obtain a tourist visa at the border control when arriving in Peru by plane or ground. Citizens of a few countries however have to request a tourist visa well in advance at the Peruvian embassy of their country of residence. Please check the website of Peruvian immigration services for up to date information, or check the travellers’ information of your own government.

 

 

 

Website with weather forecast of Huaraz:

 

 

 

 

Website of the airport of Huaraz:

 

 

 

 

 

What vaccinations do I need?

Huaraz is located at a high altitude and is not affected by malaria, yellow fever or other tropical diseases. There is no occurrence of Rabies in our hiking circuits in the mountain chain of the Andes or in Huaraz. Tropical diseases and Rabies do occur in the Amazon regions of Peru. It is your responsibility to make sure your physical health is sufficient before joining in on an adventure with Pacha Andean Walkers. You are also advised to have a complete medical and dental check up before embarking on your holiday. You may need specific vaccinations to visit different places on your journey. For the area of Huaraz we recommend to get a vaccination against tetanus, poliomyelitis and hepatitis. To know the recommended and obligated vaccines for each country, we recommend you contact your doctor, your local embassy or the travellers’ information of your government.

 

How can I get to Huaraz coming from Lima or Cuzco?

Cruz del Sur, Oltrusa and Movil Tours are tourist transport companies that have bus lines between Lima and Huaraz. The journey takes about 8 hours on the asphalted roads and there are day and night busses available. There is a daily flight in the morning between Lima and Huaraz operated by the ‘Aerolinea LC de Peru’. You can also catch a flight from Cuzco to Lima and then take a bus or flight to Huaraz. Currently no direct flights or buses lines exist between Cuzco and Huaraz. For your comfort, we can reserve your national flights and bus tickets to your different destinations in Peru if you wish so. We work with reliable airlines such as LAN Airlines and LC Peru for regional flights between Lima and Huaraz and Lima and Cuzco.

 

What is the Peruvian currency?

The currency is the ‘Nuevo Sol’. Always carry small coins (1 sol, 2 soles y 5 soles), since little shops, taxi’s and even bigger stores often don’t have change. Dollars are sometimes accepted as payment in big cities and hotels but you need Soles for smaller hotels, hostels, shops and in the villages. The exchange rate changes daily, currently is it around 1USD = 2.8 Nuevo Soles. 

 

What about travellers’ cheques?

In Huaraz the most trustworthy bank to change your traveller cheques is the ‘Banco Continental’. Pacha Andean Walkers can send someone of the staff to the bank to assist you if needed. The American express cheques are the accepted traveller cheques.

Can I change money at Lima airport?

You can change Dollars and Euro’s at the airport without commission. The exchange office is located in the area of baggage reception.

 

Where can I exchange US Dollars for Soles?

American Dollars can be exchanged to Soles in the exchange offices (‘Casa de cambio’), hotels and banks in Lima and Huaraz. Check the money you receive on ruptures and damage, since shops do not accept deteriorated money.

 

Where can I exchange Euros for Soles?

Euros can also easily be changed in Lima and Huaraz. Euros can generally only be exchanged at an exchange office (‘Casa de cambio’) and at the bank.

 

Can I recharge digital and other batteries?

You can charge your batteries in the city if you have an adaptor. During hiking circuits there is no electricity available and you will have no opportunity to recharge. We recommend you bring spare batteries and switch off cameras after use.

 

Where can I leave valuable objects and other things while enjoying the mountains?

Hotels and hostels mostly have a safe storeroom where they guard the belongings of their guests, and a safe deposit for passports, documents and money. You can also leave your belongings safely in our office.

 

What does Pacha Andean Walkers do to limit environmental impact?

We use biodegradable soap and transport all garbage back to Huaraz. We also bring portable bathrooms that respect nature so that we can leave residues outside  It is recommendable that travellers bring a large refillable flask for water to use on the way, to limit garbage of empty plastic bottles.

 

How to wash during the hike?

We provide a personal wash-basin with warm water to cleanse in the morning and in the afternoon when arriving at the encampment. There is additional warm water offered if a client would wish so. We have a shower tent available (supplement to be paid for the tent and the gas to heath the water).

 

What is the equipment provided by Pacha Andean Walkers?

The equipment provided is the following; eating tent, tables, chairs, toilet tent, cooking materials, water purification devices, sleeping pills (ehm, no sea mejor de mentionar eso en el first aid kit, me parece un poco raro aqui?), and other camping devices. We buy equipment of the highest quality in Peru and we evaluate and replace the older gear regularly.

 

What do I need to bring for a trekking of multiple days?

Travellers only need to bring their own necessities and a sleeping bag. A Canvas bag will be provided for your belongings, so you do not need to bring a large backpack if you wish so. We recommend you bring comfortable hiking clothes, mosquito repellent, walking boots, a flashlight, a camera, 1-2 refillable bottles of water, sunscreen and sun block. It is also advisable to bring rain clothes during the raining season (December-March) and adequate gear against the cold in the cold season (particularly in June and August); outdoor coat, thermal clothes, a warm hat and gloves.

 

Can I rent equipment in Huaraz?

We have some sleeping bags and mountain equipment available for rent and we work with a store in Huaraz that rents almost any type of trekking and mountain gear, including a number of hiking clothes.

 

What do I need to bring on a hike?

We recommend that the hikers carry with them the objects they’ll need during the day on the excursion, for example water, snacks, a camera (and sunscreen?!). The baggage bearers will carry all other equipment, including camping materials, clothes, sleeping bags etc. We ask travellers to only bring the material they need on the hike and to leave objects they don’t require in their hotel, hostel or at the agency. To avoid overload, we ask all travellers to limit the amount of equipment they bring for the trek.

 

Information session about the trekking and baggage check

The afternoon before departure on your hike or climbing trip there will be a complete information session and a check of the equipment and luggage. You can ask all your questions there and we will arrange all equipment necessities.

 

How are the guides?

Our guides are of the best and most experienced guides of the area. They are from the region of Huaraz and talk English fluently, besides Spanish and Quechua, the native language. Our guides have 5 to 10 years of experience, are dedicated explorers of the Andes mountains and are well educated on the history, spirituality, culture and ecology of the region. Our hiking and climbing staff are local professionals that are members of the la UIAGM (Unión Internacional de Asociaciones de Guía de Montaña – Internacional Union of Associations of Mountains Guides) and CEAM (Centro de Estudios de Alta Montaña – Center of Study on Mountaineering). You can be assured that they will comply with the high standards you expect of us and that they will perform their tasks in a safe way, contributing to your complete enjoyment of the trip.

 

How can I be sure the carriers are well looked after?

Pacha Andean Walkers makes sure there is an adequate amount of personnel, we have limits of the individual luggage weight and pay fair wages. Most of our carriers come from a village in the surroundings of Huaraz. We have a long and fruitful relation with the people of the local communities and we regularly contribute to necessities of the communities by direct donations and by organizing community service. We also organize volunteer opportunities for some of our travellers; they may build houses, paint the school and/or help out on the fields. Our carriers have ample experience in mountaineering and in different grades of climbing. They accompany and assist the mountain guides and clients during their trekking.

 

What is used as camping places?

The encampments vary depending on the season. In general, we try to camp in the least visited areas, to make sure travellers can enjoy in tranquillity the beauty of the Andes. That way we also minimalize the ecological impact of our encampments.

 

What do I bring in my personal first aid kit?

Although on every trip Pacha Andean Walkers brings along a first aid kit, we advise that you yourself bring some first aid items for personal use. Please find below a basic list, alongside any special medication you may need. Note this is a basic list that may not be adequate and complete for far remote and high level trails.

• Insect repellent

• Antiseptic

• Sunscreen and complete sunblock

• Throat pastilles or hard sweets

• Painkiller; aspirin, paracetamol etc.

• diarrhoea stopper

• Band-Aids and ‘second skin’ for blisters

• Antibiotics of a general spectrum for a variety of infections, please consult your doctor

• Rehydration salt (ORS)

• Dextrose Glucose tablets

• Multivitamin pills

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How worried do I need to be about the altitude of the walk?

The height affects each traveller differently. For that reason all our excursions include at least 3 days of mild/light activity on high altitude before embarking on hiking tours. That way your body can start acclimatizing and travellers will get a good idea of how they will feel in the Andean mountains (since the symptoms of altitude are generally the worst in the first day or two of elevation). In general, our travellers experience symptoms of altitude such as tiredness, headaches or dizziness during the first days on high height. Severe altitude sickness is rare. In such cases, the best treatment is to go to a lower region as quickly as possible. We’ve never had to evacuate a traveller to lower height until now.  Many severe or acute cases of altitude are the result of a pre-existing underlying condition that is aggravated by the height. It is important to ask your doctor if traveling to great altitude is advisable for you, especially if you suffer from a heart condition or long disease such as high blood pressure, asthma, long infections etc. You can also consult your doctor for a prescription of Diamox, a sparing diuretic some travellers swear on to help them adapt to altitude more easily.

 

How will the altitude affect me?

Our guides and staff have a lot of experience with managing altitude sickness and related problems. During hikes, we always walk slowly to help maintain respiration under control and ensure enough time for breaks to take a rest. It is very important to drink enough liquids when you are on great altitude and one needs to drink more liquids than the usual. With a good acclimatization in the city of Huaraz, most of our clients don’t experience any troubles when on trekking.

 

And what if I have a medical emergency during an excursion?

Our guides and carriers are educated in first aid and illnesses related to altitude. We always have a horse that carries equipment along with the other pack-animals and for large groups we provide an emergency horse. If anyone should get sick or hurt, we evacuate the patient using the horse to get to the nearest road or village from where evacuation to Huaraz can be organized. We always have sufficient staff on our tours, so that one of them can accompany a sick or injured person whilst the rest of the group can continue their hike or climbing trip if they wish to. Our organization has an evacuation policy that guides always carry with them, that details out the needed actions if evacuation to the nearest road or village is needed, and includes the phone numbers of emergency contacts. It is important to realize that our hikes take place in remote areas with limited possibilities to contact the outside. In some remote regions it can take two or tree days before reaching a village from which one can be evacuated to Huaraz, while in other trails we can get you safely to Huaraz in one day. In most of the regions we hike in there is no radio or cell phone signal. For large groups in remote areas and for climbing trips where there is no signal, we carry an emergency satellite phone.

 

Do I need to be in good physical condition to climb or hike in Peru?

For walking it is not necessary to be in ‘great shape’, but you need to be in a good general condition and to be accustomed to walk regularly. One needs to be able to walk continuously uphill (sometimes very steep) for 2 or 2½ hours in a row with breaks, to reach the summit of a mountain pass. The duration of walks varies between 3 to 4 hours with a maximum of 7 hours in moderate circuits, and in difficult hikes it may be 8 hours of walking a day. For climbing trips one needs to be in good health to be sufficiently strong, and it is important to be well acclimatized. In most of the climbing journeys one needs to carry equipment such as a sleeping bag, sleeping mat, clothes and climbing equipment to the altitude camp and you should be sufficiently strong to be able to manage that.

 

What is the food like during trekking?

During hikes and climbing trips we offer fresh food and wrap it up with care. We bring conserved meat, vegetables and fruit to accommodate the wishes of our clients. Apart from the meals with meat and vegetables we are happy to prepare special dishes for our vegetarian travellers. A cook accompanies every group that goes for a hike in the mountains. We are proud to be often complimented on the delicious menu’s wee serve. Breakfast, lunch, dinner and abundant snacks are provided during your walk. The meals are a mix of local specialities and international classics. Please do not hesitate to mail us if you would like a few examples of our menu’s Vegetarian meals are available and other special diets generally can be accommodated if requested with sufficient anticipation. All members of our team of professional cooks are qualified with a broad knowledge and experience in their field and prepare excellent food, providing a personalized service during your hiking and climbing trips. You will be surprised at the delicious meals the cooks conjure for you during your expedition in the Andes.