Peru awaits return of travellers after the rains

This is a guest post from Ariana Svenson, a mate of mine from university back in Australia. Originally from Western Australia, Ari travelled extensively over five continents before ending up in Peru.

She is a director of sustainable travel agency Apus Peru Adventure Travel Specialists and also a director of Peruvian NGO Threads of Peru. Ari reports on the situation in Peru after the floods and landslides and encourages tourists to return.

Peru suffers from a lot of high-impact tourism especially at Machu Picchu so if you want to go, I believe it’s worth booking with a sustainable agency like Apus Peru.

Floods and landslides in Peru

I always think that the rains in Cusco take on biblical proportions – it just rains and rains for days and nights. All you hear is the rain on the roof and you accept that whenever you go out your feet are going to end up drenched. This year it was worse, if that could be possible.

December through February are usually extremely wet in the Andes region around Cusco, but this season the rains started heavily in November and continued without ceasing into January, when the rains were said to be the heaviest in 20 years! By the end of January swollen river banks burst and landslides cut a lot of roads.

This caused death and displacement, with an estimated 80,000 homeless. The railway line to Machu Picchu was also cut in four places, making access to the famous monument impossible.

The international media focused on some 1500 international tourists stranded in Machu Picchu´s service village of Aguas Calientes. After five days of being trapped, they were helicoptered out by the Peruvian government. After everyone left the longer term impact of the situation hit home.

Cusco, a city that receives thousands of tourists daily, became a ghost town. Restaurants, hotels, and souvenir shops closed their doors, and travel agencies sent their staff on holidays.

Many travelers, concerned that they wouldn´t be able to see Machu Picchu, postponed their trip to Peru for 2010 and instead chose another destination. This uncertainty and the subsequent cancellations will mean that the broader economic impact of the flooding is going to be much greater than at first thought.

Recovery in Peru

The sun has been shining here for the past few weeks and the news that Machu Picchu will reopen at the end of this month has boosted spirits. On my last visit to the Sacred Valley I was struck by the resilience of people post-disaster. There is evidence of the flooding and there are still tents here and there, but largely life has returned to normal.

Rather than a flood-devastated land, I noticed how beautiful Peru is – and always is – in whatever season you visit. At the moment, the mountains are green, the fields are filled with abundant crops of wheat, and the purple lupin and white potato flowers are bright and joyous.

Yet the people are hurting. At Apus Peru we try to work wherever possible with the indigenous people who have limited opportunities and are often discriminated against.

Our first foray after the rains was an experiment to see how far we could get into the mountains. Apart from a bit of slip and sliding on the road, there was no drama.

When we were leaving one village, one of our muleteers emerged from the hills. His head bowed, from beneath his handwoven poncho he pulled a container of food, rice and trout, caught from the lake near where he lives. It was an offering of the best he has. His eyes were desperate and sad, as he asked: “Please can give you me some work?”

When people talk about pulling your heart strings, this is what they mean. All I could do was say: “I can´t give you work, no one is booking to go to Peru. Let’s hope that Machu Picchu reopens soon and people start booking.”

Information for the traveller

I hope for resurgence of confidence in visiting Peru after the combined announcements from Peru Rail and the Peruvian government that the Inca Trail and Machu Picchu are set to reopen on 29 March 2010.

• If you are travelling from April onwards then it currently seems very likely (but not guaranteed) you will be able to visit Machu Picchu.

• If you are participating in one of the “alternative treks” like Salkantay then you will have normal access via Santa Theresa. Unfortunately, you will no longer be able to visit the Colcamayu Hot Springs as they were completely destroyed.

• Access to/from Machu Picchu via train will be as follows: Cusco to Ollantaytambo via road transport. From Ollantaytambo to KM 82 where the train tracks have been repaired to, will either provided by Peru Rail or the individual travel agency. In Km 82 (Piscacucho) you will board your train (whether it be the Backpacker or Vistadome service) and travel to Aguas Calientes. Returning from Aguas Calientes will be this process in reverse. Under normal conditions, travel time from Aguas Calientes-Ollantaytambo-Cusco was four to four and half hours.

• When you trek with Apus Peru, 5% of your trek price is donated to Threads of Peru, Peruvian NGO that provides a link between indigenous weavers creating handcrafted textiles and the outside world.

• Outside Peru, you can follow the Threads of Peru blog or buy textiles from the Threads of Peru eBay store. Your purchase goes directly to helping women in flood-affected areas – it means the organisation can buy more from the women plus a percentage of proceeds go to the projects.

Photo Credits: Flood photos Michael Marquand, reprinted with permission. Other photos courtesy Ariana Svenson.

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