Aspiring Adventures

I knew nothing about Peru before I went, but Lupe, Natty, Yuri, and everyone on the Aspiring Adventures team that kimkim connected us to were great. We learned a ton about Peru's culture, cuisine and wildlife and I'd absolutely recommend Peru, Aspiring Adventures, and kimkim for anyone who buys a cheap flight to Peru knowing nothing and wants to come out with an amazing experience and a new appreciation for every kind of potato and pisco.

Overall we found the trip to be a very positive experience, both of our guides Justino & Ale were excellent and provided us with a unique experience of the countries we toured. The planned excursion trips met all of our desired goals and were both very interesting and interactive. The accommodations for the most part were okay some locations were not particularly well kept and lacked internet access. That said the trip was well planned and put together, we had a very good time and can say with confidence that it was a memorable experience for the both of us.

Cole & Ray

Hotel Reviews

Llipimpac Guesthouse

Cusco

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Unuwasi Hotel & Villa

Calca

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Terrazas del Inca

Aguas Calientes

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Eureka lodge ( former Kuychipunku)

Ollantaytambo

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Bird Garden Guest House

Quito

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Posada J

Baños

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hacienda La Cienega

Cotopaxi

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Villa Laguna

Puerto Ayora

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Cally Galapagos

Puerto Villamil

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Arrival and explore Cusco

Cusco

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Explore Pisac and try Cuy in Lamay Village

Galapagos Islands

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Bike into the Lares Valley

Galapagos Islands

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Coffee and cacao

Galapagos Islands

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Having traveled quite a bit, this was one of the best trips I’ve had so far. Lupe put our trip together within two weeks! We got to do everything we had hoped for and each transition could not have been any smoother. Our guides Yuri and Natalia took exceptional care of us and felt like family by the time we left. It was a mother daughter trip and I have never felt more safe and cared for. Thank you Peru and thank you Aspiring Adventures!!!

Amazing Andean Vacation

Hotel Reviews

Inkarri

Cusco

The only negative of the entire trip was Inkarri Hotel. The location was great and the staff were excellent and friendly but the hotel itself was not well kept. The sleeping quarters were okay although the room stayed cold despite the heaters. The bathroom was very small, the showers were cold to lukewarm and unfortunately periodically the bathroom smelled like sewage.

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Cold rooms and the bathroom left much to be desired

La Casona de Yucay

Cusco

Fantastic hotel, great bar and food. Idyllic location. The best hotel in our trip

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hatun Inti Classic Machupicchu

Machu Picchu

Very good hotel in a busy location and easy access to the train and bus.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Crowne Plaza

Lima

Good hotel in Milaflores, Lima. Conveniently located and good amenities

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Welcome to Cusco!

Cusco

Was great. Justino was fantastic and took great care of us. Very professional, yet with a charm and friendliness that was very endearing.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Friendly

Transport

Stunning scenery in the Sacred Valley, wildlife rescue center and more!

Peru

Was great with Paul driving and Justino riding shotgun and being our personal guide. We learned so much about Peruvian and Andean culture. Was exhilarating. Kids loved the anomal experiences tremendously.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Lamay village life!

Sacred Valley

Truly enjoyed it. A short immersion into the village life in Peru.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

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Machu Picchu!

Peru

What can I say? Breathtaking! Otherworldly !! Justino was a kind guide as well, paced it well taking into account our kids pace.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

So Justino is just awesome!!!

Transport

The South Valley!

Cusco

Was a slower day as we were fairly exhausted from the previous days. The morning we relaxed and walked around in Cusco and the afternoon was spent visiting couple of locations and we visited a Shaman who "read" our fortunes using Coca leaves.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Bye Cusco!

Cusco

Flew to Lima. Plane was delayed so our evening in Lima was rather short. We did walk around Milaflores.

Quality of Experience

Food

Transport

Lima sightseeing

Peru

Arturo was great. Went to the local markets and indulged in the wares. Saw central Lima and ate at a local restaurant. Amazing experience compresses in 6-7 hrs. Arturo dropped us off at the beach front and we walked back to the hotel for some Pisco sours and the dinner. Sad to be leaving this amazing and friendly country.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Good-Bye Peru!

Peru

Dropped us off at the airport in time and off we head back home and to reality.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

We had a amazing trip to Peru! Aspiring Adventures took the stress out of the trip. It was so reassuring to have our driver and guide waiting for us every day. Justino was the best guide - he anticipated our needs and adjusted as we needed to to ensure we had the best trip possible! Trip of a lifetime!!

Justino was fantastic. He was funny and knowledgeable, made us feel welcome and called us family which by the time we said goodbye is exactly what we felt like.
Each of our hotel's were perfectly chosen, small thing's like hot water in Pisac or face clothes in Cusco could have made them better though to North America travelers. We did find all of our host's lovely and gracious though and enjoyed their accommodations.
Perhaps adding a down day in the middle of a 10 day tour for relaxation is something you might suggest to other groups, ours found that we were quite tired by the time we finishing but they may be our fault for not thinking we'd need one.
Ruben was a great driver, at all times I felt safe in his van.
In the end this was an amazing trip and I thank you for your time and planning.

We just finished an amazing trip to Peru. Justino was an excellent guide who provided us with an authentic Peruvian experience. We were able to engage with locals, stay at family run hotels and learn about the history of the area. Our driver Reuben was also amazing, caring, and fantastic driver who safely drove us each day. I would highly recommend Aspiring Adventures to anyone looking for a uniquely personalized Peruvian adventure!

Great adventures from the Amazon to the mountains. We visited the Tambopata for the first 4 days of our trip. There is something magical about macaws flying over head while you fish for piranha as a family of river otters play in the water a short distance away. Once we left the Amazon, we met up with our guide, Orlando and driver, Paul. We especially enjoyed our time with Orlando and Paul. They were always looking out for our family to have an amazing time. We can't believe everything we experienced in the two weeks in Peru. The food was amazing, Orlando knows all the good places! One of the highlights of the trip was our home stay in Raqch'i. The family was welcoming and happy for us to experience their community. We were so honored to be a part of their family for the night. We all had a great time dancing by the fire. Our hike on Rainbow mountain was the most challenging part of our trip. Orlando had us take it slow, with lots of breaks.

We had an amazing trip to Peru! We worked with the Peru specialists on our itinerary and they kept changing it until it was just what we wanted.
Pepe was our guide in the Amazon and he made everything super fun and was very knowledgeable.
Justino was our guide in Cusco, Machu Picchu, and Puno. He was fantastic! Took us to great restaurants and was a great guide on our hikes. We packed al lot into our time there but all the transportation and accommodations were good. Felt very well taken care of and in good hands. So many great memories made. Thanks for a wonderful trip.

This was an absolute once-in-a-lifetime experience! Everything that Aspiring Adventures did for us was fantastic - all of our needs were either anticipated (in style!) or someone bent over backwards to meet them at the drop of the hat. I don't think we could have possibly been in better hands.

Our guide for the main part of the trip, Orlando, is one of my new favorite people. He was super knowledgeable about everything on the trip from astronomy to archaeology to Andean spiritual beliefs to geology and everything in between.

If you want a challenging (and we aren't a group that shies from a physically demanding hike in Colorado) and rewarding trek, the one we did is a tall (but awesome) order.

If you're wondering if you should book a trip with Aspiring Adventures, I say you should for sure. They only thing at all (and I really mean the only thing) I would have changed about the trip was our little jaunt at the end to fly over the Nazca lines - it ended up being a ton of driving for not a ton of Nazca line time. This was more of a function of COVID-19 than Aspiring Adventures though since the Ica airport was closed. Our guide for this portion out of Lima, Arturo, was great and did his best to make it fun even though some of us mostly just slept in his car.