Trekking does not necessarily demand mountain ranges or steep slopes. Some sites along the Peruvian Pacific seaboard combine the immensity and deceiving emptiness of the desert with a ragged coastline to create scenery of unsurpassed beauty and attractiveness.
One such site is undoubtedly the Paracas desert, located some 250 kilometers south of Lima, where yellowish saltpeter plains, fine sand dunes, wind-eroded cliffs, and an extraordinarily rich sea provide fishing grounds for huge colonies of sea birds and seals in a unique environment on Peru’s coast. Many roads, some of which double as top-notch trekking circuits, can be found in the Paracas Bay and Peninsula.
On Peru’s northern tip, Bayóvar and its virgin beaches are a natural
jewel in the Piura department. Deep gorges carved by now-dry rivers that flow only once
every 50 years, have molded a fierce landscape. Forests of twisted carob trees, flocks of
migratory birds, and a wind-swept desert are some of its most singular attractions.
On the other side of the Andes mountains, down the abrupt slopes that overlook the east of Peru and drenched by rain originating in the steamy Amazon plain, lies the high jungle.
A land of impenetrable forests, it is considered the last haven of a unique plant wildlife (including orchids, bromeliae and ferns) and rare endangered animals like the spectacled bear, the dwarf deer and the yellow-tailed wooly monkey
One
route in this area leads to the wonderous Kuelap fortress, the Amazon jungle enclave of
the Sachapuya people, renowned for the spectacular clay rock fortified walls they built
around this citadel, built at 3,000 masl on top of an imposing rocky ridge.
To reach Kuelap, travelers must head for Chachapoyas, after a 50-minute flight from Lima or a full day’s car drive from Chiclayo on the coast (750 km north of Lima). From Chachapoyas, they head by road to Tinco, in the Utcubamba valley and then up a 7-kilometer gravel road to the fortress.
Other interesting routes in the Eastern Andes include the splendid eastbound roads from Cuzco and Puno which are still largely unknown to trekking aficionados.