Tawantinsuyo Tour: calamity tours on double decker buses

Tawantinsuyo Tour Not a good option in Arequipa

By Shawn Matson

The fever of the double deckers has arrived to Arequipa few years ago. Now we have several companies that offer the same service which I am going to speak about. Let´s speak about Tawantinsuyo Tour.

Tawantinsuyo is one of the travel agencies that offers this kind of service. The only difference with other companies is just the color of the buses: there are yellow,orange,green and the blue ones of Tawantinsuyo Tour.

Tawantinsuyo is the cheapest and its publicity can be found in all the travel agencies of Arequipa.When you ask for a city or countryside tour the one in charge of the travel agency will show you one of the pamphlets of the different companies available and there you will find the pamphlet of Tawantinsuyo Tour. (See picture above).

Why the travel agencies sell its product? Because it is very cheap and it offers good commissions to the street vendors and travel agents.

The quality of the service is terrible! The tours offered are more shopping oriented and the information provided during the tour is very poor compared with a guidebook! Lots of stops in very touristic places and no good information about Arequipa. I took other tour with another company and it is the same so I don´t reccomend you my friends to take these kind of tours done with double decker buses.

When we departed from Arequipa I was eager to see the countryside of Arequipa and we were taken to a place called “Carmen Alto” a place where you can see Arequipa´s valley. The info provided as I told you before was very basic and when we descended from the bus we were just invited to get inside the place to take pictures and they showed us the store in case we wanted to buy something. That was all. There was no interest of the guide in providing information.Not at all.

I thought I was the only one upset about the disasterous tour I took but not. There were other people who agreed with me that we were guilty of having bought the same tour. There was a family who bought it in Colonial Tours other people bought the tour in other places but we ended traveling together with the same company.

The city tour can be donde by ourselves with a very guidebook and in case you want to visit the countryside of Arequipa I recommend you to go to Sogay (this place is called Little Colca) or to Yarabamba or Chiguata where you are going to see the real countryside of Arequipa and not a touristic shopping center. Don´t forget that your holidays are important and don´t be fooled like us with these poor quality tours of TAWANTINSUYO TOUR.

Tourism in Colca Canyon affected by heavy rains

WHERE DOES THE MONEY FROM TOURISTIC TICKETS GO TO?

70 soles for nothing!

By The Colca Specialist

Last week several incidents happend in Colca Canyon. The heavy rains Arequipa had in the last week are causing much trouble not only in Arequipa but also in several parts of Peru.

In the Colca Canyon there were many car accidents provoked by the heavy rains and the fog.Even the president of the Regional Goverment Dr. Juan Manuel Guillén Benavides suffered a terrible car accident when he was traveling to Caylloma province,a province of Arequipa where the Colca Canyon is located. The reason of his trip was to check the damage suffered by a water channel that takes the water of Colca River to Majes irrigation area which is located after the Colca Canyon.

The landslide that destroy the channel happened in the surroundings of Achoma, a settlement located in the Colca Valley.The channel and the road were destroyed and many tour vans had to take an alternative road to reach the condor cross area but at the end they couldn´t because of the mud that didn´t allow the tour vans to reach the place.

The Colca Specialist was in the area and the the trip was a five star trip thanks to the van provided by Naturaleza Activa which was a 4x4 jeep which allow us to visit the whole place without any kind of problems. The other tour vans stayed on the way because they couldn ´t arrive to the canyon because they got stuck on the muddy roads.

The Colca Specialist recommends you that in order to have a successful trip to the Colca Canyon it is better to travel in a 4x4 van in order to avoid surprises on the way specially in this rainy season.

It is not recommended to travel in big buses to Colca Canyon because the unpaved roads that take you to the canyon have no pavement and with the heavy rains they are very muddy and slippery so it is better to travel with the adequate transportation.

Safety first and don´t forget that your holidays are important so the decision you take is up to you! Here I am sharing with you some of the pictures I took of my trip to the Colca Canyon last week!

The Colca Specialist

This is a picture of the road between Arequipa and Colca Canyon.The fog doesn´t allow you to have a good visibility of the way!

This picture was taken on Patapampa which is the highest point on the road to Colca Canyon (4,800 meters).The caterpillar machine id trying to rescue the van that has fallen outside the road!This was the first accident on the way!

The muddy roads in Colca Canyon touristic circuit! How it is possible that the authorities are charging tourists with a touristic ticket that costs 70 soles? What do they do with the money obtained from the touristic tickets? Autocolca SUCKS!

Many tour vans got stuck on the way. Colonial Tours and other travel agencies couldn´t arrive to the condor cross with their vans which are not adequated for this trip and this weather!

The Colca Specialist having fun inside the 4x4 wheel-car provided by Naturaleza Activa!

Yahooooooooooo!

A Coca -Cola truck which crashed against a wall in the area of Cabanaconde!

Dr. Juan Manuel Guillén Benavides,the president of the Regional Goverment of Arequipa during a conference before the accident he had in Pampa Cañahuas area on the way towards Colca Canyon!

The van that was taking the president of the Regional Goverment,Dr Juan Manuel Guillén Benavides ended like this on the way to Colca Canyon.The accident was provoked by a truck which has invaded its way!

Acuarius Travel una de las peores agencias de viajes y turismo de Arequipa

por the Colca Specialist

Surfeando en la red me encontré con la queja de no de uno sino de varios turistas que han sido víctimas de los maravillosos servicios turísticos de una agencia de viajes de Arequipa llamada ACUARIUS TRAVEL SRL la misma que viene siendo administrada por la Sra Lourdes Peña de Torres conocida en el medio turístico como "LA REINA DE LA CHATARRA" y su esposo José Torres Valdivia quienes son a la fecha los propietarios de esta agencia de tours tipo "chicha"al Cañón del Colca y a otros destinos turísticos de Arequipa.

Investigando más a los propietarios de esta improvisada empresa me di con la sorpresa que el Sr José Torres Valdivia estaba dedicado anteriormente al servicio de transporte urbano siendo la característica principal de estos sres transportistas el "no dar mantenimiento a sus vehículos hasta verlos convertidos en chatarras rodantes" siendo esa una de las razones porque en Arequipa todavía tenemos el peor servicio de transportes a nivel nacional esto debido a que las leyes no se cumplen en este país y las autoridades corruptas que no hacen nada por dar solución a estos problemas.

Acuarius Travel no sólo explota a su personal pagandoles sueldos miserables y en cómodas cuotas llamadas "adelantos", sino que también es una agencia operadora cuyos vehículos son chatarras ambulantes y gracias a Dios que no tienen aviones porque sino Arequipa tendría una lluvia de aviones viejos que desaparecerían nuestra querida Arequipa.víctima de los ataques terroristas de estos talibanes arequipeños del turismo.

No sólo es "terrorista" el que pone una bomba sino también aquellos que trabajan con movilidades y vehículos a punto de colapsar como es el caso de Acuarius Travel especializada en el terrorismo turístico masivo global sin discriminación de raza, sexo ni edad.

Acuarius Travel es miembro activo de una de las instituciones más pestilentes y nauseabundas de Arequipa, una asociación de agencias de viajes y turismo de Arequipa en la que se cobijan bajo su manto protector una serie de agencias chicha de Arequipa como es el caso de Acuarius Travel. Colonial Tours es otra de las agencias famosa por su pésimo servicio turístico y por sus accidentes de tránsito.

El denominado AVIT aparenta tener a los más selectos operadores turísticos en Arequipa pero como sabemos y existen pruebas al respecto el AVIT congrega no a "la crema y nata" de los operadores turísticos de Arequipa sino a la "créme y a la mérde"(excremento en francés) del turismo en Arequipa.

El AVIT intenta presentarse como la asociación representante del sector turismo en Arequipa pero para que esto se haga realidad, el AVIT tendría que expulsar de su cártel a todos los mafiosos y sinvergüenzas empezando por el recientemente declarado NO GRATO en la provincia de Caylloma Eddy del Carpio y de ahi continuar con la purga de las agencias como Acuarius Travel y Colonial Tours que han dejado la imagen del turismo por los suelos en Arequipa.

Eddy del Carpio denuncia constantemente la presencia de agencias de turismo informales pero este pobre diablo parece no darse cuenta de que primero tiene que limpiar la mugre de su pestilente asociación llamada AVIT y luego puede dedicarse a la cacería de agencias de viajes y turismo informales.Sería bueno que se preste los carros basureros de la Municipalidad de Arequipa para retirar a las pésimas agencias de viajes y turismo de su asociación como Acuarius Travel y a su flota de chatarras del sector turismo.

Otra pregunta es: ¿Qué hace AUTOCOLCA para poner freno a estas pésimas agencias de viajes y turismo de Arequipa y a sus malos servicios turísticos? ¿Qué hace él gerente de la Cámara de Comercio Exterior y Turismo para dar solución a estos problemas que aquejan el sector turismo en Arequipa? Sería mejor que saque a sus "practicantes" y se ponga a hacer el trabajo que le corresponde como debe ser.

Culpables de esta problemática son también los turistas que por querer servicios turísticos de alta calidad a costos de remate están completamente equivocados. La calidad cuesta.Los servicios de buenos guías turísticos cuestan. Los demás son cuentos chinos.

A continuación transcribo el artículo encontrado en el internet junto con la lista de links que le siguen a continuación. Esperamos que este artículo les sirva para asi evitar más víctimas de los servicios turísticos de esta agencia inca-paz de Arequipa.

ACUARIUS TRAVEL AREQUIPA MAL SERVICIO -

Buenos días, la presente es para prsentar una queja contra la Agencia Acuarius Travel de Arequipa, por su mal trato a los Clientes , pesimos servicios turístico, malos guías y atrevidos, pesimas movilidades que se malogran, esto lo sufrimos 20 personas turistas entre peruanos y extranjeros el dia 11 de Julio del 2011 hasta el dia que terminanos el tours 14 Jul 2011. Ellos on nos reconocieron nada ni nos compenzaron por el mal servicio realizado. Tours fuera d hora, traslados con buses malogrados que hicieron trasbordos, guias atrevidos ante reclamos. Esta empresa se supone tiene años trabajando en Arequipa como Operador. Las autoridades deben tomar medidas drasticas para que no sigan mALOGRANDO el turismo en AREQUIPA

Mas detalles:

http://laverdaddelturismoenelperu.blogspot.com/2009/06/guias-borrachos-del-colca.html

http://www.acuariustravel.com/
http://www.acuariustravel.com/nosotros.php
http://www.acuariustravel.com/ubicacion.php
http://www.paginasamarillas.com.pe/b/acuarius-travel-tour-operator-eirl-309672
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Acuarius-Travel/114846591925063
http://www.universidadperu.com/empresas/acuarius-travel-tour-operator.php
http://www.tuugo.pe/Companies/acuarius-travel-tour-operator/13000012079
http://www.infoarequipa.com/directorio/web/acuarius-travel-tour-operator-748.html
http://labs.oceanperu.com/cit/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=164%3Aacuarius-travel&catid=101%3Aminorista&Itemid=137
http://www.paginasamarillas.com.pe/b/acuarius-travel-tour-operator-eirl-309672/ica
http://www.acuariustravel.com/fr/circuits-touristiques/
http://www.cylex.com.pe/arequipa/acuarius+travel+tour+operator+e.i.r.l..-11156326.html
http://acuariustravel.blogspot.com/
http://businessperu.pe/acuarius-travel-tour-operador
http://pe.wowcity.com/sabandia/locbus2/15577444201635905923/acuarius-travel-tour-operator-.htm
http://acuariutravel.blogspot.com/
http://www.avit-aqp.org/partners.htm
http://www.grippo.com/empresas-de-viaje/?c=125487
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Acuarius-Travel/114846591925063?v=info
http://www.guiahoteleraon-line.com/empresa-detalle.php?id=55389
http://www.acuariustravel.com/en/program/huaruro-falls.php
http://www.oocities.org/thetropics/Bay/6245/
http://www.infoarequipa.com/directorio/turismo/agencia-viajes-peru-turismo/
http://www.congreso.gob.pe/comisiones/2006/discapacidad/tematico/Accesibilidad_Turismo_PCD/agencias_de_turismo_%20servicios_personas_discapacidad.pdf
http://www.google.com.pe/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=73&ved=0CCEQFjACOEY&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.promarequipa.com%2Fimagenes%2Favitrelacion.xls&ei=wMFCTp3rEuG_0AGtrOD1CQ&usg=AFQjCNF2jFSKjp30Dou8zZWMI0WY_I2Mtw
http://peru-empresas.com/agencias-viaje/
http://acuariustravel.blogspot.com/2009/05/acuarius-travel-la-peor-agencia-de.html
http://acuariutravel.blogspot.com/2010/07/computacion-e-informatica-iii.html?showComment=1312998174984#c2021386756477270288
http://www.youtube.com/watch?gl=US&v=I9uuJ4ojUeg
http://www.cylex.com.pe/arequipa/ca%C3%B1on+del+colca.html
http://travelagencies.infoarequipa.com/

The best way to visit Arequipa

By the Colca Specialist

Arequipa,”the white city” is the second city in Perú.

In the past it was famous because of its countryside but since agriculture is not anymore a good business, huge extensions of land were sold for housing projects and Arequipa´s countryside is becoming each time smaller.

Travel agencies offer different tours to visit Arequipa. The most popular ones are the mixed tours (city and countryside tours) which are offered by some bus companies whose double-deckers visit part of Arequipa´s countryside. Most of these tours are around the downtown area of Arequipa whose pollution is each time more notorious.

Since these tours are mass oriented, they are not recommended for the tourists who are looking for quality services.

If you are looking for visiting the real arequipenian countryside, the best way is to take a private tour to Sogay which is well.known as little Colca because of its ancient terraces. Other option is to visit Yura district which is 30 kms away from Arequipa.

There you can find a nice valley in the area called “Yura Viejo” (old yura) and other attractions such as Capua Waterfall, Quiscos ,among others.It is possible to hike in the desertic area of Yura which is very interesting and at the end of your hike you can swim in the hot springs of Yura.Great!

If you are a little more adventurous you can take a river rafting tour with Cusipata or you can take a downhill mountain biking tour and go downhill one of main volcanoes of Arequipa.

All these options are full day private tours. You may pay a little bit more but you will get more too.

Think it carefully before buying a tour. Be different. Tours with big groups are nothing special.

Don´t forget my friends that your holidays are special and as the old saying says: Quality is better than Quantity! Good luck in Arequipa.

The Colca Specialist.

The best way to visit Arequipa

By the Colca Specialist

Arequipa,”the white city” is the second city in Perú.

In the past it was famous because of its countryside but since agriculture is not anymore a good business, huge extensions of land were sold for housing projects and Arequipa´s countryside is becoming each time smaller.

Travel agencies offer different tours to visit Arequipa. The most popular ones are the mixed tours (city and countryside tours) which are offered by some bus companies whose double-deckers visit part of Arequipa´s countryside. Most of these tours are around the downtown area of Arequipa whose pollution is each time more notorious.

Since these tours are mass oriented, they are not recommended for the tourists who are looking for quality services.

If you are looking for visiting the real arequipenian countryside, the best way is to take a private tour to Sogay which is well.known as little Colca because of its ancient terraces. Other option is to visit Yura district which is 30 kms away from Arequipa.

There you can find a nice valley in the area called “Yura Viejo” (old yura) and other attractions such as Capua Waterfall, Quiscos ,among others.It is possible to hike in the desertic area of Yura which is very interesting and at the end of your hike you can swim in the hot springs of Yura.Great!

If you are a little more adventurous you can take a river rafting tour with Cusipata or you can take a downhill mountain biking tour and go downhill one of main volcanoes of Arequipa.

All these options are full day private tours. You may pay a little bit more but you will get more too.

Think it carefully before buying a tour. Be different. Tours with big groups are nothing special.

Don´t forget my friends that your holidays are special and as the old saying says: Quality is better than Quantity! Good luck in Arequipa.

The Colca Specialist.

Commissions and more commissions in Colca Canyon tours

by the Colca Specialist

Who is who in this business of tourism in Arequipa

With lots of travel agencies in Arequipa is confusing to know which one has a real good service and which not.
Another situation that provokes more confusion to the foreign visitors is the abysmal difference of prices. Some agencies offers tours that cost 600 soles and others offer the same tour at 50 soles. Why?

First of all it is important to know that there is INFORMALITY in Arequipa. Some travel agencies are legal others not. This situation was provoked by Alberto Fujimori, the Japanese Peruvian president involved in a terrible scandal of corruption. In order to decrease the unemployment rate in Peru, Fujimori change the requirements for opening travel agencies.

In the past travel agencies had to have a guarantee deposit in a bank (40,000 soles). The deposit was a guarantee in case of accidents or any kind of problem that could happen to the clients of that travel agency.
If the client was nor provided the service promised,the client was refunded with the guarantee deposit.

There were less travel agencies and the service was better. When the laws were changed,anybody could open a travel agency in Arequipa . The guarantee deposit was cancelled and now we can see the results: clients less satisfied with the services provided and lots of complaints in I Peru,an organization that receives all the complaints done by the clients, organization that until the moment is unable to solve the problems of the clients.The problem is that if you want to be refunded by the travel agency because of a bad service it takes several days because the authorities have to investigate the situation.Because nobody stays in Arequipa more than two days,the complaint won´t be effective.

The other problem tourism in Arequipa has is the INTERMEDIARIES. If you are looking for a mountainbiking tour you will find that all the travel agencies in Arequipa offer you tour to Chachani volcano. Why?

It is because the little travel agencies specially those located inside handicrafts shops pool their clients and they are sent to one tour operator.You buy the tour in one place and you end traveling with other company with a big group and the quality of the service is POOR!

Nothing is more sad than traveling with a guide who is not specialized .
Let´suposse you pay 30 dollars for the mountainbiking tour in Chachani volcano.The owner of the travel agency will endorse the client to a tour operator and it is going to pay 15 Dollars for your tour. The travel agency obtains without doing much a 15 dollar commission.Now it is clear.

If you want a mountainbiking tour,it is better to buy the tour in Naturaleza Activa which is recommended by Lonely Planet among other guidebooks. The tours they offer are private with UNIQUE circuits. If you are looking for mountainclimbing tours you can book it with Carlos Zarate,Arcadio Mamani Viza or with Naturaleza Activa.

If you are looking for a river rafting tour you can book it with Cusipata which is the only rafting operator in Arequipa and in that way you will avoid the commissions problem.

If you buy a mountainclimbing tour in Colonial tours for example you will end traveling with Ivan Jimenez which is the tour operator of mountainclimbing in Arequipa. Ivan Jimenez pays a commission of 100 soles per passenger to all the travel agencies that endorse clients to his company.Ivan receives only half part of the price you payed. It is incredible.

Many travel agencies are awarded by different international guidebooks,but not even one of them was awarded by the local authorities. Why? It is because they are not good enough.Most of them don´t practice what we call sustainable tourism.In other words,their presence doesn´t give any kind of benefits to the locals of the area visited.

The other problem Arequipa has are the FOREIGN TOUR OPERATORS. There are lots of them from different countries: French,dutch.german,from new Zeland,etc.
They offer tours through internet . The reputation of many travel agencies in Peru is not so good and this situation is the key of success of many foreign operators who take advantage of this situation in order to make money betraying the trust of their country fellows.

These guys are even worst than the others. If a mountainclimbing tour to Chachani volcano costs let´suppose 200 US, the foreign operator will charge 400 US. Besides these guys don´t pay any kind of taxes,etc.Now you understand how is the situation here in Arequipa.Some of them have web sites that function like Spanish schools and they offer tours too.

In order to survive in this jungle of commissionists it is good to be SMART. First is it important to decide what kind of tour you would like to have. If you are in a foreign country you can check through the different blogs,forums and guidebooks about the travel agencies that are recommended.Don´t trust much on web pages because ALL OF THEM SAY THEY ARE GOOD AND THAT THEY ARE THE BEST. NOBODY IS PERFECT! Keep that in mind.

If the tour is too cheap there is problem. All hotels have beds,but not all of them are in the same condition.All the travel agencies have tour guides but not all of them speak English fluently and not all of them are professional.All the travel agencies in Arequipa go to Colca Canyon but just a few of them do different circuits. Travel with those that do different circuits the others are just pooling clients.

If you would like to spend your holidays in Arequipa, don´t be a sheep following others. Your holidays are important and in order to enjoy a visit it is better not to take conventional tours where you spend much time inside a bus with a guide that doesn’t care about you because you are inside a big group.

Check the circuits in detail with your tour operator and find out about the places you will visit during the tour.

Adventure tour operators have their equipment inside the travel agency.Read the references of the tour guide you are traveling with.The tour guide is the key of the tour. If several travel agencies give you the same name it is simple. They are not the tour operators.

Thank you very much for your reading and good luck.

The Colca Specialist.

Commissions and more commissions in Colca Canyon tours

by the Colca Specialist

Who is who in this business of tourism in Arequipa

With lots of travel agencies in Arequipa is confusing to know which one has a real good service and which not.
Another situation that provokes more confusion to the foreign visitors is the abysmal difference of prices. Some agencies offers tours that cost 600 soles and others offer the same tour at 50 soles. Why?

First of all it is important to know that there is INFORMALITY in Arequipa. Some travel agencies are legal others not. This situation was provoked by Alberto Fujimori, the Japanese Peruvian president involved in a terrible scandal of corruption. In order to decrease the unemployment rate in Peru, Fujimori change the requirements for opening travel agencies.

In the past travel agencies had to have a guarantee deposit in a bank (40,000 soles). The deposit was a guarantee in case of accidents or any kind of problem that could happen to the clients of that travel agency.
If the client was nor provided the service promised,the client was refunded with the guarantee deposit.

There were less travel agencies and the service was better. When the laws were changed,anybody could open a travel agency in Arequipa . The guarantee deposit was cancelled and now we can see the results: clients less satisfied with the services provided and lots of complaints in I Peru,an organization that receives all the complaints done by the clients, organization that until the moment is unable to solve the problems of the clients.The problem is that if you want to be refunded by the travel agency because of a bad service it takes several days because the authorities have to investigate the situation.Because nobody stays in Arequipa more than two days,the complaint won´t be effective.

The other problem tourism in Arequipa has is the INTERMEDIARIES. If you are looking for a mountainbiking tour you will find that all the travel agencies in Arequipa offer you tour to Chachani volcano. Why?

It is because the little travel agencies specially those located inside handicrafts shops pool their clients and they are sent to one tour operator.You buy the tour in one place and you end traveling with other company with a big group and the quality of the service is POOR!

Nothing is more sad than traveling with a guide who is not specialized .
Let´suposse you pay 30 dollars for the mountainbiking tour in Chachani volcano.The owner of the travel agency will endorse the client to a tour operator and it is going to pay 15 Dollars for your tour. The travel agency obtains without doing much a 15 dollar commission.Now it is clear.

If you want a mountainbiking tour,it is better to buy the tour in Naturaleza Activa which is recommended by Lonely Planet among other guidebooks. The tours they offer are private with UNIQUE circuits. If you are looking for mountainclimbing tours you can book it with Carlos Zarate,Arcadio Mamani Viza or with Naturaleza Activa.

If you are looking for a river rafting tour you can book it with Cusipata which is the only rafting operator in Arequipa and in that way you will avoid the commissions problem.

If you buy a mountainclimbing tour in Colonial tours for example you will end traveling with Ivan Jimenez which is the tour operator of mountainclimbing in Arequipa. Ivan Jimenez pays a commission of 100 soles per passenger to all the travel agencies that endorse clients to his company.Ivan receives only half part of the price you payed. It is incredible.

Many travel agencies are awarded by different international guidebooks,but not even one of them was awarded by the local authorities. Why? It is because they are not good enough.Most of them don´t practice what we call sustainable tourism.In other words,their presence doesn´t give any kind of benefits to the locals of the area visited.

The other problem Arequipa has are the FOREIGN TOUR OPERATORS. There are lots of them from different countries: French,dutch.german,from new Zeland,etc.
They offer tours through internet . The reputation of many travel agencies in Peru is not so good and this situation is the key of success of many foreign operators who take advantage of this situation in order to make money betraying the trust of their country fellows.

These guys are even worst than the others. If a mountainclimbing tour to Chachani volcano costs let´suppose 200 US, the foreign operator will charge 400 US. Besides these guys don´t pay any kind of taxes,etc.Now you understand how is the situation here in Arequipa.Some of them have web sites that function like Spanish schools and they offer tours too.

In order to survive in this jungle of commissionists it is good to be SMART. First is it important to decide what kind of tour you would like to have. If you are in a foreign country you can check through the different blogs,forums and guidebooks about the travel agencies that are recommended.Don´t trust much on web pages because ALL OF THEM SAY THEY ARE GOOD AND THAT THEY ARE THE BEST. NOBODY IS PERFECT! Keep that in mind.

If the tour is too cheap there is problem. All hotels have beds,but not all of them are in the same condition.All the travel agencies have tour guides but not all of them speak English fluently and not all of them are professional.All the travel agencies in Arequipa go to Colca Canyon but just a few of them do different circuits. Travel with those that do different circuits the others are just pooling clients.

If you would like to spend your holidays in Arequipa, don´t be a sheep following others. Your holidays are important and in order to enjoy a visit it is better not to take conventional tours where you spend much time inside a bus with a guide that doesn’t care about you because you are inside a big group.

Check the circuits in detail with your tour operator and find out about the places you will visit during the tour.

Adventure tour operators have their equipment inside the travel agency.Read the references of the tour guide you are traveling with.The tour guide is the key of the tour. If several travel agencies give you the same name it is simple. They are not the tour operators.

Thank you very much for your reading and good luck.

The Colca Specialist.

The worst one day tour to Colca Canyon

by Lisa Cooper

Finland

COLONIAL TOURS AREQUIPA

The other day I had the opportunity of taking a one-day tour with Colonial Tours wich is much recommended by Trip Advisor . We were picked up at 03:00 am in the morning for a one day tour to the Colca Canyon. The van was OK and the driver too. But the tour guide is the reason of this article.

The tour guide we had was a complete disaster and the English he spoke was really bad and we didn´t understand anything of the things he said.

How can be Colonial Tours be recommended by Trip Advisor? Colonial Tours service is terrible. The guide was not a professional guide because a professional guide introduces himself at the beginning of the tour. After that he should give a briefing of the tour and that never happened.
Hopefully we didn´t took the two day tour to the Colca Canyon. Two days with the same guide would have been terrible.

When we arrive to Chivay we were taken to a restaurant to have breakfast and then we continued with the tour.

He started to talk about the terraces in Colca Valley and he said that terraces “were carved” on the walls of the Colca Valley! Carved? Oh my God! Where did he study to be a tour guide? Then he continue talking about the wonderful terraces in Cusco area and how they were built. I don´t know if he realized that we were in Colca Valley and we wanted to know more about the place. His way of speaking English made me thought in some moments that he was drunk!

Then he stopped explaining and he started saying that he was a shaman and that he was not married. Those were the most dumb comments we ever heard during the tour.Another tour guide playing the inca game to call attention of the gringos.

We met other tour guides who were explaining their groups about the people, about their culture and traditions,etc and the one we had just spoke about the terraces of Cusco area and lots of nonsense about the condors. Does a condor live 80 years?

I don´t plan to recommend Colonial Tours in Arequipa because the service given was very low quality. I came to Peru because my main interest was to know more about the inca and preinca Peruvian cultures. Colca Valley and Colca Canyon are very interesting, but because of that terrible tour guide I feel that my holidays in Colca Canyon were just a waste of time.

I would like to thank the Colca Specialist for the wonderful free information published about Colca Valley and Colca Canyon and the next time if I come back to Colca Canyon I am planning to print the information in order to have a good cultural background of Colca Canyon.

Lisa Cooper
Finland.

Colonial Tours: is it good as the Trip Advisor says?

by the Colca Specialist

Colonial Tours is a travel agency that it is recommended in several travel guidebooks and be sure that if the Colca Specialist pays 500 US to the representatives of these travel guidebooks I would appear in them.

If the Colca Specialist appears one day in one guidebook it would be thanks to the work well done with each one of our clients and not because I payed 500 US to appear in the guidebook.

Well, there are many travel agencies in Arequipa and just a few ones are responsible enough with their clients.

Colonial Tours is a travel agency which has enough experience in these kind of tours in Colca Canyon but it is not the best. There are many complaints against this travel agency which became famous because of car accidents, because of being late all time and because of having poorly paid tour guides who have no insurance, nothing.

What kind of responsible tourism is this that the tour guides are poorly paid and have no insurance?

Now we understand why the tour guides are eager to take their clients to the touristic restaurants in order to get commissions.
There are many tour guides whose English is chaotic and whose knowledge is very poor. It is because the travel agency he or she works with is not responsible enough with their workers. If they are not responsible with their workers you can easily realize that they don´t care about their clients.

If these guys would be properly paid they would have money to improve their languages and update their knowledge. If they would be paid properly they wouldn´t have to travel everyday in order to cover basic needs ,neither to show their bored faces to the clients.

In order to make it in tourism you should have a vocation of service. If you don´t have it is simple: you won´t be successful in this business.

Travel agencies should be responsible with their workers and with the people and the environment of the places you visit. That is called sustainable tourism.

As tourists we should have to be responsible too and we should avoid buying tours to companies that don´t practice sustainable tourism. In that way we would collaborate with the development of the areas we visit.

Another funny thing is to see web page of the different travel agencies in Arequipa. 90 percent of them say that the do social work and that they are involved in volunteering programs. Volunteering programs have to be checked carefully. Lots of lies.

Don´t believe those travel agencies that tell you that tips are included in the tour price because they will never arrive to your guides hands. If you want to tip your tour guide because of the good service provided, do it, but you don´t have to tip in advance.

As part of the propaganda many travel agencies from Arequipa put pictures of children of Colca Canyon who supposedly are being helped with the money from donations ,but when you find out you discover that nothing was done with your donations. The same situation happens in Puno.

Many travel agencies from Puno use donations for their own purposes and the donations never arrive to their destiny. Careful with those mystic associations or travel agencies who are sending fake Incas to United States in order to perform condor sacred dances that are fake,dances that nobody knows, not even the most famous peruvian historians or anthropologists. None of these groups are guaranteed by INC (National Cultural Institute of Peru).

The sacred music they play is the music we hear in restaurants everyday, music that most of Peruvians hate, because the same songs are played in all the touristic restaurants you visit. The fake Incas collect money in order to keep the last inca survivors alive and when you ask their names and surnames both are Spanish! Funny right?

Only an innocent could believe those stories. The donations for the children never arrive to their destiny and with the money obtained they buy cars or motorcycles. The fake Incas are musicians who have a deal with esoteric travel agencies from Puno. Next time I will write more about that with more details. The Colca Specialist became a Mythbuster!

Well, travel guidebooks have to be serious with their job and have to inform their clients properly.

If the clients are complaining against the bad service of a specific company, write to that company you are recommending in your travel guidebook and suggest them to improve their service. By the contrary, the clients will realize that the info provided in the guidebook was wrong and they won´t advice their friends to buy your travel guidebooks.

There are many travel agencies in Arequipa that need to improve their services. In the internet you can find all the information about them and there are a lot of complaints against Colonial Tours in web pages and blogs done in english and Spanish languages. Colonial Tours needs to improve its service quality and to solve its problems with its workers in order to be a good responsible travel agency from Arequipa.

If a worker has a problem,the company has a problem too. If the workers don´t work properly the clients satisfaction will be affected and your business can go bankrupt the less expected moment.

Is Trip Advisor reliable enough? I don´t think so.

The Colca Specialist.

Symbolism of the Chakana or Inca Cross

by the Colca Specialist

Symbolism of the Chakana or Inca Cross

Worldwide, the circle is a recognized symbol of completeness. Autochthonous populations used the circle in an attempt to organized and relate to the Earth and to Nature. The circle is a means of creating a framework to access and assess the fundamental attributes of Earth and Nature, to which our physical bodies are inextricably bound.

We, in the latter days of linguistic adaptations, call this organized relationship The Medicine Wheel. The circle is a four fold path to discovery. An initiate travels the circle in a carefully choreographed dance of discard and uptake.

The dance begins and ends in the center. The south is the first destination and its represented by the serpent. The serpent is the quintessence of the south.
In an act of discard and renewal, the initiate sheds their skin, their mind set, their judgements and mis-judgements.

It is not possible to dance beyond the south if any pre-conceived ideas regarding the order of the world are retained. Shedding a past that no longer serves us, or that inhibits us with distress or trauma, cannot be done piecemeal. It needs to be done all at once, as an act of power.

In the west lives the cougar. Here, the initiate rides upon the back of the cougar to the barrier between realities. Through the act of altering perception, the initiate dances into non-ordinary reality and meets death and physical knowledge.

Rebirthed, into the ordinary world, the initiate claims life, physical and spiritual. The cougar is the embodiment of the warrior, living without fear, without the need of enemies. The warrior, living in full awareness of the moment and with purposeful intent.

Reaching the north, the ancient ones have left teachings for the initiate to utilize. hummingbird’s power is encountered here. The north is a place of mysteries, a place of knowing and of the unknowable, of the doable and that which cannot be done, but is by the hummingbird.

By aero dynamical measure, the hummingbird should not be able to fly, but they migrate long distances and can change directions in impossibly sharp angles. Hummingbird is the source of unknowable and undoable. It is said that for those who listen with more than their ears, hummingbird can impart great knowledge through its sweet song.

In the east, the initiate learns to soar on the wings of the condor. The east is vision, magic, translation, and emergence. In the east, the visionary translates visions into actions, bringing gifts to the world.

The energy is the power of the condor. The condor who soars above the clouds, whose visions extends above and below the horizon, who sees beyond linear time and space. The condor carries the initiate’s dreams to places of magical powers to be brought into everyday existence.

Center, without center, there are no directions, no above or below, front, back, left or right. You, the center and your resultant six directions create space. It is how each of us creates space. The agreement, that we all hold, allows for the negotiation of space between us, so that we can maintain the appearance of sharing the same physical universe.

The physical universe is composed of space, matter, motion, and time. We have agreements on each of these components. We agree that matter is solid, and that it can move from one point to another. When this movement occurs we say that time has passed.

Furthermore, we subdivide time into present, future and past. We assume that there is but one Universe. In the process of dancing the circle, we discover that the physical universe is paralleled by alternative realities.

Stand in the center of the circle. Above you is an imaginary point that represents your mind, an accurate record of all your experiences in the three universes. You take your mind with you from lifetime to lifetime.

You acquire a new body each lifetime. To the north is your shield, your front. To the right is the east, the rising sun, your weapon. Behind you, the south is your bag of tricks, the knapsack that contains all that is behind, to the rear. To your left, in the west, is the counsellor, the one who whispers truth to you, your ally. Standing in the center, visualize lines connecting your six directions. You will have created an octahedron, an enclosed space of spiritual completeness.

When the circle has been traversed in its entirety, and the lessons understood, the initiate has become a person of knowledge. The journey, to becoming a person of knowledge has touched all 22 locations in the circle, your dance has been successful. I am an immortal spiritual being, living lifetime after lifetime, in the physical universe. Dancing and laughing around the circle gives definition and degree to these lifetimes, being in the ever-present moment.

About Misti volcano

About Misti volcano