We are planning a 15 days trip to Peru at the end of Nov (during Thanksgiving). Our itinerary will be Lima - Puno / Lake Titicaca - Cuzco - Ollantaytambo - Inca Trail - Amazon Jungle. We heard Nov. will be raining season in Peru. Will rain be a big trouble? We are first-timers, so any advices are welcome. Thanks!

I haven't been to Peru in November, so maybe someone who lives there or has traveled at that time of year can help you. Check out Weatherbase.Com for some averages: http://www.weatherbase.com/weather/c...=PE&refer=

One note, you most likely will find that the mornings and evenings are cold and the days are hot. This is an effect of the high altitude.

My specific weather experiences in Peru are from June 1999, so I can't offer much else in the way of practical advise.

Sounds like you have a tremendous trip planned!

- Sharon

Cheerful -- where in the Amazon are you headed in November? We are going there at the same time as well, staying at the Tahuayo Lodge.

ttt
since we're also looking at a trip to Peru (or possibly Ecuador) at the end of Nov.
Cheerful and Chris - out of curiousity may I ask if you're using a specific tour operator? And if so, which one? I'm having trouble finding the perfect itinerary and am tempted to just do the scheduling myself.

hlphillips2 -

You might check out http://rutahsa.com/. My family has done two tours with Rutahsa. We travelled to Peru (1999) Guatemala & Honduras (2001). Ray and I will travel to Bolivia (2005) with Ric and are working out the details for an extension in Cusco and Lima. His trips are agressive because of all the places you see and the amount of ground you cover... and, when he say's "up early" in the itinerary, it's very early!!! They are small in number (limited to 16), he allowes plenty of time for independent exploration and he takes you to some very special places that are well-off the beaten path.

You can do a tour with him. Or, if you'd prefer to do the independent travel route, I'd recommend any of his contacts or better yet, have Ric do the leg work for you. If you contact him, he will take very good care of you.

Good luck!

- Sharon

We are considering the GAP operator. Not decided yet, but it seems they offer a pretty good itinerary with a reasonable price. Please let us know if you have some idea good tour operator.

Our trip is a combination from two operators: International Expeditions (www.ietravel.com) and Amazonia Expeditions (www.perujungle.com). Both came very highly recommended and both have been great to work with so far. Obviously, we haven't taken our trip yet, but we'll post a report when we get back after Thanksgiving.

Thanks for the advice! I haven't seen some of those operators and will do some more research. I've looked into Amazon Adventures (recommended by Frommer's), World Class Travel (by way of PeruPeru.com) and explorandes.com which all seem to have reasonable prices and itineraries close to what we'd like to do. But like Chris I haven't used any of these folks yet and have no idea if their service is up to par.

Explorandes is fantastic!!! Their guides are all locals (which gives good insight into the thinking and way of life for Peruvians). They speak good English. It is a very professional organization.

- Sharon