LATEST NEWS

Alpaca: Peru's banner product
Peru has officially declared the alpaca a banner product. Peru is home to three million alpaca, making up 86% of the world total, making the country the world's top producer of alpaca fiber. To protect the species, the government has created the Multi-sector Commission to Fight Contraband of South American Camelids.

Alternative tourism benefiting Amazon communities
Five communities, inhabited by over 2,000 natives in the Amazonas region are benefiting from the Promartuc alternative tourism project, which promotes co-existence in natural environments and archaeological sites in the Peruvian jungle.
The project, run by Caritas and financed by the Italian-Peruvian Fund, promotes the concept of 'solidarity tourism', which enables the inhabitants of Chachapoyas, the capital of Amazonas, to handle tourist demand and at the same time raise their living standards. The first part of the project set about training the local inhabitants to get them to guide tourists and provide food and lodging.
The program also trained them to increase production and hone the quality of their pottery, textiles and dairy products, without losing the originality of their products and the time-honored techniques used to make them.

New regulation for Inca Trail
The INC (Peruvian Institute for Cultural Affairs) has ordered that effective July 2004 the Inca Trail should be booked at least 50 days prior to departure. A list containing the numbers of passengers' passports has to be enclosed to reservation request. This measure takes aim at preservation of Machu Picchu as national heritage. Therefore, unlike in the past, the number of passengers allowed to enter the trail is limited yet. Every operator has a determined passenger quota and has to inform the INC, 50 days before departure date, to which extent the assigned contingent has been used. Thus, passengers willing to make the trek but in waiting list can be informed about final status. As operator we are obliged to pay the entrance fee to INC for confirmed passengers 40 days prior to trail's start. After payment no changes in departure date, names or number of passengers are allowed.

New pre-Columbian Art Museum in Cusco
The elegant Casa Cabrera -once a 17th century convent- was converted into a museum that opened its doors recently. It takes a different aproach from traditional display, selecting artifacts based not just on historical, but aesthetic merit.
The exhibition rooms boasts quotations of different modern artists discuss the aesthetic legacy of the primitive world, proving that these pieces had an influence that extended far beyond their own time.
This museum make up one of the most tasteful and beautiful visiting experiences to be found in Cusco.