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Valentine's Day & Darwin Day
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Inspired by the dual worth-celebrating special days of Valentine's Day, February 14th, and Darwin Day, February 12th, we launched our first "Galapagos Love" photo contest. The contest was open to former guests and for just one week, yet entries were numerous, enticing and amusing. Photos were judged by Weston Walker, our video editor and grandson of Wes Walker. Based on submissions, we decided on two categories: True love (and species continuation), Galápagos Style, and Check out all winners and entries: Valentine's Day & Darwin Day Galápagos Photo Contest |
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Machu Picchu Update: Open April 1
Mudslide closes train route from Cuzco, alternate routes will be available
If you are scheduled to travel to Machu Picchu with INCA in March or April, you will be contacted directly to discuss options for your adventure.
Latest News: To arrive to Machupicchu, tourists will use a double system: they will travel by bus to Ollantaytambo and then they will walk along a small stretch to the area of Piscacucho, at the 82 kilometer, to then board a train towards the sanctuary. April 1 remains the re-opening date for the railway from the 82 kilometer to Machupicchu, however not from Cusco.
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Machu Picchu is currently closed, as the train line from Cuzco was seriously damaged in 8-10 places from flooding and mudslides that occured at the end of January.
The Peruvian Minister of Tourism has informed that access to Machu Picchu will be opened the 1st of April for national and international tourists.
Access by train to Machu Picchu Pueblo is to be ready from early April. The recovery work of the sections destroyed by the Urubamba River in mid January should be completed by the last week of March.
Our Peruvian associate, Roger Valencia, has been keeping a close watch on all developments. He said that they are working very hard to replace the damaged train tracks and roads. Repairs on the rail line are going smoothly. An alternate route will bring guests to Machu Picchu. It will not be the most direct route up, but travelers should be able to get to the ruins without too much hassle.
Some Notes and Facts:
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The archaeological site of Machu Picchu remains intact and suffered no damages during the heavy rains. However, the site is closed until transportation can be re-established. |
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The Zig Zag road to Machu Picchu ruins remains slippery and damaged, and no tourist’s buses are running from the town of Aguas Calientes to the citadel. However, there is bus service between the train station of Puente Ruinas and the Machu Picchu ruins. |
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The railway from Cuzco to Aguas Calientes will be restored by April 1, according to the Ministry of Tourism. |
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There is no tourist helicopter service. The helicopter flights of January were exclusively for the emergency evacuation. UNESCO doesn't allow helicopter flights into Machu Picchu in order to protect the archaeological sites. |
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The National Institute for Culture of Cuzco forbids tourists to follow the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu at this time. |
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The Urubamba Valley and all its attractions are fully operative. Pisac town and market, the ruins of Ollantaytambo, Chinchero, Maras, Moray, Tipon, etc., are all OK for visits. |
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The Peruvian government declared a State of Emergency in Cuzco, but please be aware this is basically a legal and administrative process to provide support and funds for restoration of the area. It has nothing to do with the normal operation of tourism activities and safety. |
Peru Evacuates Last Tourists From Machu Picchu
By ANDREW WHALEN and MARTIN MEJIA, Associated Press Writers Andrew Whalen And Martin Mejia, Associated Press Writers – Mon Feb 1, 1:30 pm ET
MACHU PICCHU PUEBLO, Peru – Helicopters ferried out the last tourists stranded near Machu Picchu on Friday, leaving the country to contemplate a prolonged shutdown of its top tourist site. A total of 3,900 tourists and local people were flown out of the tiny mountain village of Machu Picchu Pueblo this week after mudslides and torrential rains on Sunday destroyed sections of the railway that is the only form of transit in and out of the village below the Machu Picchu citadel. The remaining 1,277 travelers were evacuated Friday as authorities raced to complete the job against darkening skies, police Col. Santiago Vizcarra told The Associated Press. Although the evacuation operation ended, rail operator Perurail said it will take months for workers to repair the railway that leads to the fabled Inca citadel. Authorities said Machu Picchu will remain closed for weeks until the government can repair roads and railroad tracks washed out by mudslides and the raging Urubamba River. Tourists mostly in their 20s and 30s were the ones still waiting for a helicopter ride Friday from this village outside the famous ruins that are perched on an Andean mountain ridge at 8,000 feet (2,400 meters). Flights began as the sun rose to a clear sky over the shaggy, green Andean peaks. The hordes of outsiders caught in Machu Picchu Pueblo, a town of 4,000 people, strained food and water supplies. Hotels overflowed, and travelers grew frustrated over chaotic relief efforts, price-gouging and scarce food. Many were left to eat from communal pots and bed down in train cars, outdoors and wherever they could find space. Sofie Mag, a 19-year-old from Frederiksberg, Denmark, said a manager at the Sanctuary Lodge, right next to the ruins and a 45-minute bus ride from Machu Picchu Pueblo, let her and other tourists sleep on the floor of the building's restaurant. "It was free and we got food also," Mag said. "We were very lucky to be up there. ... The first day was chaos." Authorities closed the Inca trail, a popular four-day trek that ends in Machu Picchu, after a mudslide killed two people Tuesday. The trail also is likely to remain closed for weeks, although it has seldom been used at the height of the area's rainy season in February. Rescue efforts were complicated by bad weather and terrain — the village is wedged between a sheer, verdant mountainside and the Urubamba River. Rain prevented helicopters from landing in the town until after midday both Tuesday and Wednesday, but the skies stayed clear Thursday and much of Friday. Evacuations were conducted by age — oldest and youngest first. The last middle-aged tourists left Thursday from a makeshift helicopter clearing, while younger backpackers played football with locals and lent a hand stacking sandbags and clearing train tracks. When mudslides Sunday destroyed the railway, many hotels and restaurants raised prices exorbitantly. Tourists who could afford to do so paid the higher rates, while others spent days sleeping in train cars and waiting for delayed food shipments. Dina Sofamontanez, who runs Hostal El Inka, said she dropped prices when tourists ran out of money, while some hotels on the main avenue raised theirs fivefold up to $50 a night. "It's all about money," she said. When ATMs ran dry, many backpackers slept in the central plaza. "We had to eat what the locals gave us, out of communal pots," 34-year-old Argentine tourist Sandra Marcheiani said. Some 400 Americans were said to be among those stranded when train service initially stopped. Karel Schultz, 46, of Niagara Falls, New York, said before being flown out Thursday that most Americans paid for beds and bought their own food, while those who slept in the streets were mostly backpackers from Argentina and other South American countries. ___ Associated Press writer Martin Mejia reported this story from Machu Picchu Pueblo and Andrew Whalen from Lima. |
A view of the village of Aguas Calientes with the flooded Urubamba/Vilcanota river, Jan. 28, 2010 (AP/Martin Mejia)
A man walks near the damaged train tracks right next to the Urubamba/Vilcanota river, Jan. 28, 2010. (AP/Martin Mejia)
Foreign tourist help to fill sand bags to try to contain floodwaters next to the Urubamba/Vilcanota river, Jan. 28, 2010. (AP/Martin Mejia)
Damage to the road to Machu Picchu Town, Jan. 28, 2010. (Reuters/Marina Bazo).
Damage to the road to Machu Picchu Town, Jan. 28, 2010. (Reuters/Marina Bazo)
Workers repair the railroad access to Machu Picchu town, flooded by the Urubamba/Vilcanota river, Jan. 28, 2010. (Reuters/Marina Bazo)
Foreign tourists walk on the train tracks to the helicopter landing area for evacuation, Jan. 29, 2010. (AP/Martin Mejia)
Peruvian Army soldiers evacuating foreign tourists from Machu Picchu, Jan. 29, 2010. (AP/Martin Mejia)
An aerial view of the Machu Picchu ruins is seen during a flight over the flooded Urubamba/Vilcanota river areas, Jan. 29, 2010. (Reuters/Oscar Farje) |
Remembering Wes
Adventurer, photographer, friend
Wes Walker has been a friend of INCA for decades, first as a guest, then as a photographer, always as a source of delightful sanity.
After a 22-month battle with melanoma, Wes passed away October 28. We all miss him terribly.
Many of the images in our new Image Gallery and in our brochures were provided by Wes.
Wes was a Justice of the Court of Appeal in San Francisco, and served for twelve years as a Superior Court Judge for Napa County. During his professional career, Wes often escaped with his camera and traveled extensively throughout the world, including trips to the Galapagos Islands, Peru, Turkey, Patagonia, and Alaska with INCA. He backpacked in the Sierras and trekked in Nepal and Ladakh. His photographs were first published in the 1970's by the Sierra Club and have appeared since in various publications including Sierra, Defenders of Wildlife, Outdoor and Travel Photography, The New Yorker, National Geographic Adventure and the INCA brochure and website. A grape-grower himself, Wes was also the author of Hidden Sonoma and Hidden Napa Valley as well as the wineries of Chianti in Tuscan Country.
Wes' grandson Weston Walker is carying on the family tradition of visual arts with INCA. He is the video editor of our new Galápagos with INCA DVD.
Wes shooting around the world |
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Totem Park, Sitka, Alaska |
Cappadocia, Turkey |
Patagonia, Chile |
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Above Cuzco, Peru |
Urubamba Valley, Peru |
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International Nature & Cultural Adventures |
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