The Llama Travel Blog

The vast Peruvian Amazon covers over half of Peru and offers spectacular biodiversity, with incredible vegetation, birdlife and wildlife. Puerto Maldonado is a small jungle town in Southern Peru, close to the Brazilian and Bolivian borders. Located on the Madre de Dios and Tambopata Rivers, the nearby jungle lodges we work with offer excellent opportunities to explore the surrounding scenery. Staying in a jungle lodge allows you to experience the Amazon in relative comfort, while guides take you on excursions to explore during the day.

Visiting the Galapagos Islands is an item on the bucket list for many people – and for good reason. Consisting of 19 islands and located 926km off the coast of Ecuador, this magical archipelago is home to an abundance of endemic species and the human footprint has been kept to a minimum. While a Galapagos adventure can be rather costly, this unique destination makes for a trip of a lifetime and is well worth the cost. Take a Galapagos cruise, or stay in a Galapagos hotel – which option is best for you?

Taking the train to Machu Picchu but you’re keen to take a crack at hiking whilst at the ruins? Walking the Inca Trail but you’re up for one final trek? Huayna Picchu and Machu Picchu Mountain offer unparalleled birds-eye views of the ruins, as well as panoramic vistas of the surrounding peaks and valley. While both hikes are difficult, arguably making the decision of which mountain to climb is the biggest difficulty of all.

Planning a holiday to Latin America is an exciting time, and the continent offers endless opportunities for all ages, from backpackers in their early 20s to couples and solo travellers in their 80s who want to tick Machu Picchu off their list. For many reasons, travelling in your older years is the prime time. However, the thought of travelling may raise a few concerns – will I be fit enough? Is it safe? Will I be lonely? In this blog we go through some common queries that people have when travelling in their mature years.

I was lucky enough to do the Colonial Quito excursion twice during my six months living in the Ecuadorian capital – once on my first day and then a few months later when my family came to visit. Having spent a lot of my weekends wandering around and getting to know the ins and outs of the historic centre, I can safely say that this excursion encompasses all the best bits and is a great starting point for a first visit to Quito.

Feeling slightly jetlagged and somewhat apprehensive about what the next six months in this strange new city would bring, I was more than happy to spend my first day in the safe hands of a tour guide. I was picked up promptly at 8:30am, ready to begin the tour at 9am. Here are a few of the highlights... 

Peru is synonymous with the Andes mountains. Dividing the country from north to south, this vast chain of snow-capped peaks and diverse landscapes moulds the country’s geography, culture, history and people. It is the highest mountain range outside Asia and the longest continental mountain range in the world. Keep reading to find out what makes the Andes such a special place to visit on a holiday to Peru.

Here at Llama Travel we pride ourselves on being experts in Latin America, having all travelled extensively throughout the continent. It's hard to choose a favourite from such a diverse range of locations, but here are a few of our personal highlights. 

While the Uyuni Salt Flat is a beautiful and extraordinarily extensive destination (and perhaps my favourite place to have visited), the journey I took from San Pedro de Atacama in Chile through to Uyuni was what made the experience that much more memorable. While growing up in New Zealand has provided me with a plethora of beautiful landscapes, visiting the Eduardo Avaroa Andean Fauna National Reserve in southwestern Bolivia exposed me to otherworldly and picturesque settings that were the highlights of my trip to Latin America.

Machu Picchu is one of the most famous archaeological sites in the world, combining fascinating ruins with the incredible scenery of the Andes. You’ll want to make sure you are getting the most out of your trip by choosing the right option for you, whether it’s the classic Inca Trail, a daytrip to Machu Picchu or one of the many other ways. With this in mind, we have put together a guide to what options you have for a Llama Travel visit to Machu Picchu including logistics and possible excursions.

In light of Charles Darwin being born 210 years ago today, you might be interested to find out a little bit more about how the Galapagos Islands contributed to the theory of evolution. Here you can find a simple guide to the science behind this theory, as well as what to expect on a holiday to the Galapagos.