Latest News from the Properties - December 2018
Here is a roundup of the latest news and happenings from each of the properties, from faster boats and room improvements at Titilaka to the opening of a new spa at Hacienda Urubamba. In addition to updates from our existing properties, we also welcome UNESCO recognized El Otro Lado Private Retreat in Panama to the portfolio this year!
Latest News from the Properties
PERU
After a decade of innovation and setting the bar for exclusive & immersive luxury experiences on Lake Titicaca, Titilaka is in the midst of several renovation & expansion projects. These are being conducted in such a way as to not affect guests staying at the lodge and are set to conclude by mid 2019.
Chief among the improvements are:
Titilaka Corner Rooms
Outdoor hot tub and new-state-of-art motors for faster boats will be available (completed in November 2018)
All rooms, common and social areas as well as terraces are being redecorated while corner rooms are revamped with additional amenities
New services are being implemented including complimentary access to airport VIP lounge for all guest, Wi-Fi in all the hotel's vehicles and boats and enhanced culinary experiences are being put in place.
Titilaka is also adjusting their rates next year, the first increase since 2014. For clients desiring the utmost in privacy and flexibility, this is a great thing as the Titilaka Experience can now be booked on an all-inclusive, private basis. The traditional Titilaka Experience will also remain available for guests who want to participate in set excursions on a shared basis.
Lastly, the team behind Titilaka has announced plans to expand, with new lodges planned for Arequipa (2019) and Cusco (TBD). You can view a full presentation on Titilaka’s upgrades & changes here.
Inkaterra’s Hacienda Urubamba, a Virtuoso Property, recently celebrated the opening of Mayu Spa (“River” in Quechua) in August. With a rustic chic design inspired by traditional Andean architecture, Mayu Spa is located on a low hill between I Hacienda Urubamba’s organic orchard and an enchanting pepper tree forest. Treatments are based in 100% natural products derived from native medicinal herbs; the new wellness center has a plunge pool, four private therapy rooms and a dry sauna and offers a variety of massages, therapies, reflexology and facials. For more details, check out their blog post on Mayu Spa.
Some say that you hear the best stories while sitting at the bar. Axel Romero at Hotel B, the cocktail wizard who was recently awarded the Best Peruvian Bartender 2018 at the Summum 2018 Awards, knows the value of a good bar yarn and uses these as inspiration behind his cocktails. For this experienced bartender, each drink is a chance to write an exquisite and stimulating story in which spirits, juices and spices are cast in the leading roles. He is passionate about his career: after previously working at Astrid & Gastón for several years, he is now at Hotel B where he is committed to making each one of his drinks an experience. Read more about Axel and other winners of the Summum Awards (like the James Beard awards for Peru) here.
COLOMBIA
The team at Hacienda Bambusa has been busy in 2018, creating new activities & excursions and elevating the details of the 8 en suite bedrooms within the Hacienda. New photos are available via dropbox in the Hacienda Bambusa image library and the Activities Book can be easily shared with guests to help them select their desired excursions in advance. Choose the Best of Bambusa option for an all-inclusive experience and a great value for your guests.
COSTA RICA
To cope with increasing tourism in Manuel Antonio, Arenas Del Mar continues to pioneer new experiences for their guests to enjoy in the area. Coming soon are early morning visits to a private nature reserve with great wildlife viewing and mountain biking in the hills above Quepos.
Latitude 10 Resort in Santa Teresa closed for part of October & November to undergo renovations and has reopened looking better than ever! New king-size canopy beds in each suite, soft upgrades & in-room amenities, a completely revamped menu and on-site experiences (like complimentary on-site cooking classes and beachfront yoga) have completely elevated the Latitude 10 experience.
Kurà recently welcomed a new Spa Director (formerly of Hacienda Alta Gracia) and has completely revamped the menu at Spa Shà in addition to creating new breakfast, lunch and dinner menus. Ask about full board options for guests, available for booking on request.
Lapa Rios Lodge has added themed dinner nights to their menus - including BBQ, Dock to Dish Night (make your own ceviche) and “Comida Tipica” to showcase local foods enjoyed in Costa Rica. This gives guests staying 3 or 4 nights an excellent variety in meal choice and is also fun & interactive for families.
Lastly, the Cayuga Collection team has been hard at work opening Senda Monteverde, a new boutique lodge just a short walk from town and adjacent to a private Cloud Forest Nature Reserve. Senda officially opens on December 15 and to celebrate, is offering 10% when booked in conjunction with another Cayuga property. Details and restrictions are found via the link.
ECUADOR & GALAPAGOS
If you have any clients looking for a last minute "festive season" option, we just had some unforeseen prime date cancellations at Hacienda Zuleta in Ecuador. Couldn't think of a more welcoming place to be than with the Galo-Plaza family over the holidays - hiking and horseback riding during the day and feasting on farm fresh cheese and wine by the fireplace in the evening. You can either contact your DMC or email mariafernanda@haciendazuleta.com for updated availability over Christmas, New Years and into January.
If you are unfamiliar with Hacienda Zuleta, check out the video below for an overview on this gem of a property. If you would like a copy branded with your own logo as an intro, please send Clark your logo and he can provide it to you.
Mashpi Lodge has always maintained a great blog, but recent posts are particularly helpful for travel advisors from a sales perspective.
Seasonal Weather, Birds & Animals at Mashpi
What’s the Ride to Mashpi Lodge Like? (Good hour by hour breakdown of the journey from Quito to Mashpi)
Family Friendly Activities at Mashpi Lodge (Divided into younger children, older children and teens)
Galapagos Safari Camp owner Stephanie Bonham-Carter recently wrote a great blog post about “Appropriate Luxury”, a concept we applaud and support across all of our properties that operate in remote and fragile environments. Creating a luxury guest experience that is equally respectful of the natural world is a balancing act, and there’s a good reason you won’t find imported fish or out of season produce on the menu or air conditioning in your tented suites.
Check out the full post here: Appropriate Luxury in the Galapagos - The Safari Camp Approach and share this with your clients.
Galapagos Safari Camp also recently become of the Traveller Made consortia in November.
Do you have travelers staying at Casa Gangotena who like to get out and explore on their own?
Share these “Three Recommended Walks Through Quito’s Old Town” for suggestions on great self-guided walking tours to local markets, churches, down interesting side streets and to beautiful vista points. Quito’s Historic Center is best explored on foot and the staff at Casa Gangotena are always happy to suggest activities tailored to your client’s interests.
CHILE & ARGENTINA
Due to last minute cancellations, Awasi Atacama has space in January, which was previously 100% full. Here are the available dates for Awasi Atacama in January 2019.
6-10 January
10-15 January
14-17 January
18-23 January
25-28 January
28-31 January
Contact your DMC or info@awasi.cl to book. Additionally, Awasi Atacama welcomed new General Manager, Nicolás García to the lodge this month.
Need a moment of calm during the always busy month of December? Transport yourself into nature with this video from Awasi Iguazu.
Juan Pablo Culasso was born blind. He taught himself how to identify birds by listening to their song. He has become one of the world’s most respected bird experts; using just his ears, not his eyes. Listen to some of his recordings in Awasi Iguazú:
NICARAGUA
It was a hard year for Nicaragua & for Jicaro Island Lodge. After enjoying a hugely successful year in 2017, tourism in Nicaragua came to a standstill following political protests & violence that began in April of 2018. Jicaro Island was forced to suspend guest operations for a few months, though as many staff as possible remained employed throughout the temporary closure. Laying people off in a time of crisis only contributes to a desperate spiral and owner Karen Emmanuel used her personal resources to keep staff on the payroll through six months of closure.
With a quiet but emotional celebration on November 15, Jicaro Island Lodge officially reopened their doors to guests and Karen was there to share in the experience. In the video below, Karen shares her love for Nicaragua, especially the people who make Jicaro Lodge and the country so enchanting. Special reopening rates are available - contact your local DMC or reservations@jicarolodge.com.
PANAMA
We’re thrilled to welcome El Otro Lado Private Retreat into our portfolio. Located across the bay from Portobelo (which just received UNESCO recognition for the significance of the local Congo Culture), this colorful hideaway is an ideal base for exploring the Caribbean reefs, beaches and rainforests of Portobelo National Park, learning the fascinating legends of the likes of Sir Francis Drake and the pirate Henry Morgan, and immersing oneself in the colors, rhythms and flavors of the Congo Culture. Cozy details in the rooms and public spaces and a new wellness program also make it a perfect retreat to relax & recharge.
New in 2019, El Otro Lado will offer all-inclusive rates (full board, excursions, on-site activities & wellness experiences) and we’ll be hosting an extensive webinar on all of the changes and updates soon. In the meantime, enjoy this short video highlighting the best of Portobelo & El Otro Lado.
Panama is hot right now and Isla Palenque has been enjoying a fair amount of press. Check out the latest Town & Country issue for their guide on Where to Travel in 2019, featuring Panama and Isla Palenque.
Isla Palenque also recently announced their Dock to Dish program, making it the first hotel to Panama offer certifiably sustainable, community-sourced seafood through the award-winning program out of Montauk, NY. Learn more about the mission of Dock to Dish via the link to their website.
Private Excursions at Titilaka
Titilaka offers guests the most immersive and authentic cultural experience possible at Lake Titicaca through their exceptional guides and partnerships with the local communities surrounding the lodge. But for guests desiring even more exclusivity and flexibility on their visit to Lake Titicaca, consider the Titilaka Private Experience.
Private Excursions at Titilaka
When Titilaka first opened in 2008, it immediately provided visitors to Lake Titicaca with a more authentic and immersive way to experience the second most visited site in Peru. Rather than joining the masses in Puno on contrived and cheaply operated boat trips to the Uros Islands, Titilaka's location gives guests direct exposure to the surrounding local communities and by proxy, keener insight into their culture and traditions which date back thousands of years.
Titilaka Boathouse with all of the toys. Instructors are on hand to help guests learn the ropes of various craft.
But Ignacio Masias, owner of Titilaka, and his team don't like to rest on their laurels. They are constantly inventing experiences that are unique, tasteful, have a positive impact on the local community and allow guests a high degree of personalization and flexibility. A few years ago they debuted the Titilaka Boathouse, home to a fleet of kayaks, canoes, paddle boards and sunfish sailboats that guests can use to explore the lake at their leisure. More recently they worked with a few families on Taquile Island to develop an elevated lunch experience on the popular "Islands of Lake Titicaca" day tour that was a better complement to the dining guests experience at Titilaka. And in 2018, Titilaka debuted "private excursions", giving guests the ultimate ability to design their Lake Titicaca experience with their own private guide.
Biking, lunch and views - just for two with the Titilaka Private Excursions option
The private Titilaka Experience includes a designated guide, vehicle or boat for a group of up to 6 travelers. For questions or more information, please contact reservations@titilaka.pe or Enrique Petit at enrique@aeco.pe .
Private weaving demonstration on Amantani Island. In contrast to nearby Taquile, where men do the weaving, women are head of the communities and handle to weaving on Amantani.
Trains, Planes & Automobiles: How to Access Lake Titicaca
Lake Titicaca is now more accessible than ever thanks to new train routes linking Cusco, Puno and Arequipa. To help guests navigate the multitude of transportation choices, Titilaka has compiled a helpful pdf outlining all access options for travelers arriving from Bolivia or within Peru.
Lake Titicaca is now more accessible than ever thanks to new train routes linking Cusco, Puno and Arequipa. To help guests navigate the multitude of transportation choices, Titilaka has compiled a helpful pdf outlining all access options for travelers arriving from Bolivia or within Peru. The pdf, featured in their latest newsletter, is geared towards travel-industry insiders but does not mention rates and therefore can be sent directly to clients who are considering Lake Titicaca and Titilaka. Download a copy of the PDF here.
Trains:
On May 31st, 2017, PeruRail relaunched the Titicaca Train which links Puno to Cusco on a 10 hour and 33 minute luxury rail trip. Passengers travel through spectacular high altiplano scenery in Pullman-style train cars with a capacity for 132 persons. The train travels from Cusco-Puno on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays and from Puno to Cusco on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays. No stops are made, though travelers can take in the scenery from the Observatory/Bar car while enjoying traditional live music and dancing, three gourmet meals, assorted beverages and afternoon tea. This is an excellent option for train buffs looking for a more relaxing day after the excitement of already touring the Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu but due to the length of travel and lack of stops, is not recommended for children. More information on the journey and services can be found on the PeruRail website.
Andean Explorer Train Route in Detail
The Belmond Andean Explorer began service this year, offering the first ultra-luxury Sleeper Train experience in South America. The train runs between Cusco, Lake Titicaca (Puno) and Arequipa with regularly scheduled weekly departures for every month except February and unlike the Titicaca Train, passengers disembark on short, guided explorations along the route. Currently, travel options include either a 3-day/2-night journey connecting Cusco to Arequipa (with just a day-long stop at Lake Titicaca) or as a 1-night/2-day journey between Cusco and Puno. While PeruRail manages the bookings for the Belmond Andean Explorer, in-depth descriptions of the routes and sleeper cars can be found on the Belmond website.
Planes:
Flying continues to be the quickest and most convenient way to reach Lake Titicaca. From Lima, LATAM and Avianca offer a total of four nonstop daily flights to Juliaca, the closest airport to Puno and Lake Titicaca. Nonstop flight time is just under two hours. Many more flights connect via Cusco and the Cusco-Juliaca leg of the flight takes just 40 minutes. While codesharing makes it possible to book onward travel to Juliaca after an international arrival into Lima, this really isn't recommended due to the high altitude of the lake of 12,508' asl. Better to first acclimate in Cusco, the Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu and then proceed up to Lake Titicaca.
Titilaka offers complimentary pick-up for all guests arriving at the Juliaca Airport. The cultural experience begins right away as a brief stop is often made at Sillustani, a large complex of Pre-Hispanic tombs located about halfway between Titilaka and the airport.
Automobiles:
Private car transfers can be arranged to Lake Titicaca from Arequipa, the Colca Canyon, Cusco and the Bolivian Border and travel times range from 2-7 hours without stops. There are also a number of 'tourist bus' companies that offer First Class service between Arequipa and Puno or Cusco and Puno. Timing ranges from 7 hours with direct travel to a full 12 hours if the bus makes stops along the way. While there generally isn't much overlap between guests who stay at Titilaka and travelers who opt to go overland by bus, its still a viable transportation option to be aware of.
Titilaka includes complimentary guest pick-up at either the Puno rail station, Puno bus station or Juliaca Airport and can arrange overland transportation from Bolivia or Arequipa upon request. Private touring en route can be arranged as well if requested in advance.
Titicaca..much more than a funny named lake.
Standing on the shoreline of Lake Titicaca in the brilliant morning sun, it’s the scale that overtakes your senses. Nestled amongst snowcapped 20,000-foot Andean peaks, the lake itself is a vast expanse of impossibly blue water. It measures a staggering 118 miles by 50 miles. With an average depth of 351 feet it is South America’s largest lake by volume, while also being one of its highest at 12,507 feet.
Titicaca...much more than a funny named lake.
Standing on the shoreline of Lake Titicaca in the brilliant morning sun, it’s the scale that overtakes your senses. Nestled amongst snowcapped, 20,000 foot Andean peaks, the lake itself is a vast expanse of impossibly blue water. It measures a staggering 118 miles by 50 miles—larger than the combined landmasses of Rhode Island and Connecticut. With an average depth of 351 feet it is South America’s largest lake by volume, while also being one of its highest at 12,507 feet.
A man from Isla Taquile, in traditional dress, looks across at the sister island of Amantani.
I’ve been traveling to the Peruvian side of Lake Titicaca for the better part of two decades and it is precisely the incomprehensibility of the place that keeps me coming back. The ever-unfolding visual feast is just the beginning; the lake’s remarkable dimensions are rivaled only by the depth and breadth of its cultural significance in the expansive history of the Andean peoples.
Pre-Incan/Pan Andean
Justifiably, when most people think of Peru, they immediately think “Machu Picchu.” I get it; it’s a breathtaking, bucket list-worthy destination, but it’s also the tip of the iceberg. That’s because, in the grand scheme of pre-Columbian history, the Incan Empire was itself a brief but brilliant flash in the pan. Built just a few years after the beginning of the culture’s scant, 100-year reign, Machu Picchu was a Hamptons-esque estate built for the ruling elite just outside the capital city, Cuzco.
Titicaca, by contrast, is where it all began for the Incas. It’s the setting for their origin myth; the creator god Viracocha emerged from the lake’s depths, commanded the sun, moon and stars to rise and then wrought the first human man and woman from stone. The Incans also believed their souls would return to the lake’s sapphire depths to rest for all eternity.
The human history of the area began eons and eons before the reign of the Incas, though. Archeologist estimate that it was first settled sometime between 10,000 and 8,000 B.C.E., making it quite literally a cradle of civilization on the South American continent.
The cultural landscape we see at the lake today is incredibly complex precisely because it has been slowly unfolding for millennia. As with all human stories, the plot hits the big beats (enough conquest, subjugation, alliances and upheaval in quantities to make Game of Thrones look like a children’s book). However, what’s really remarkable about Titicaca is the way in which extreme diversity manifests in such close proximity.
Islands Apart
Ask anyone who has visited Titicaca for highlights and inevitably the Uros are at the top of the list—and for good reason. The otherworldly network of roughly 40 floating islands are made entirely of the native totora reeds, which grow in abundance on the shores of the lake.
The more than 2,000 members of the Uru ethnic group who live on the islands are culturally distinct but speak Aymara, the language of the predominant mainland people. Both cultures preceded the Incas, and despite having been conquered by the empire, retained elements of their (somewhat) shared identities.
By contrast, the inhabitants of nearby Taquile Island still live by the traditional Incan moral code: ama sua, ama llulla, ama qhilla ("do not steal, do not lie, do not be lazy") and to this day speak Quechua, the official language of the Incan empire.
Linguistically, Quechua and Aymara are not even in the same family. This means that people who are essentially neighbors literally cannot understand each other—and haven’t been able to for thousands of years. As a result, occasions for interaction, local markets for example such as the one in Acora, are rarely dull affairs. In an explosion of colorful, dramatically different traditional dress, vendors hawking colorful, dramatically different goods pantomime their way through transactions with patrons. It’s exciting, entertaining and wildly inefficient, but everybody’s just kind of OK with that.
Opposites Interact
In a place where so many cultures have intersected, embracing difference rather than subsuming it is key to keeping the peace. In fact, you could say that duality is the rule, not the exception here. This is a fundamental concept in Andean cosmology—Ayni—which relates to the need for a balance of opposites in the universe.
In order to experience the living embodiment of Ayni, it’s necessary only to travel a short distance from Taquile to Amantani. The boat ride, less than a mile, can feel like a passage through a portal into an inverse universe where everything is suddenly the opposite.
The islanders share a common language and Incan heritage, but Taquile is a patriarchy, Amantani a matriarchy. On the former, men govern the community and head families. They also knit clothing and textiles recognized by UNESCO for their quality and cultural importance, leaving virtually all other work on the island to the women. On Amantani, that dynamic is flipped: women make the decisions and manage the day-to-day governance of the island while men labor in the fields. The inconsistencies, it seems, are necessary in the grand scheme of the Andean universe. Without one, there could be no other.
When someone asks me for my favorite destinations around the world, Peru will always be at the top of the list. If they want details and recommendations, my stock answer is “Don’t skip Titicaca!” Machu Picchu is a given—as it should be—but to travel so far and not have the magical experience of standing at the edge of the lake on a crystal clear morning, would be to truly miss out. And if they ask, “Either/or?” I can only honestly reply, “Both.”
To experience Lake Titicaca in the most immersive way, consider staying at Titilaka, a luxury lodge on a private peninsula that provides guests with daily excursions to the local communities. www.titilaka.pe