Add new testimonial 

Karikuy Tours Peru

Alonso del Rincon
Lima Lima , 01
Peru
1-888-802-4622
booking@karikuy.com
www.karikuy.com

Amazing

Amazing people, great food, a lot of fun.

They provide professional services

I would recommend Karikuy Tours to anyone wanting to do the 4 day inca trail hike. They provide professional services, tours are well organized. The porters they provide are just super special carried out duffel bags without any hassles. the chef cooked some amazing Peruvian food. Leo our guide was amazing. Ensured that we were all taken care of , checking on us constantly. Adolfo was also amazing.
Julio owner of Karikuy Tours was in constant touch with us. Answered all our questions before our trip was easily available to help us with good guidance and advice.

Love their guides

Enjoyed Inca Trail hike and Rainbow mountain hike . Karikuy Travels had made most of the arrangements during our stay at Cusco and during the hike. Love their guides, Willie at Cusco , Leo and Adolpho at Inca trail hike. The food served during our hike was delicious. We had amazing porters.

But there are few concerns also: 1)Some of the communications were not clear ( for ex: we were told one porter can carry 23kg) but never mentioned that our rented sleeping bags were also included in that )
2) The guide Emmanuel ( during rainbow mountain hike, he rarely checked on us and was asking the horse riders to jack up the price.( when we asked for a ride after hiking almost half way to the mountain)

3)The working conditions of the porters need to improve . Saw many porters carrying heavy luggage’s and had no hiking shoes. They were wearing some slippers.

Bucket list

We had wonderful time there. We had zip lining, rafting, hiking and…that all were great

Super knowledgeable, friendly and responsible

The Inca trail is in the top three hikes I’ve ever done and that’s saying a lot as I’m a very avid hiker. Our guide (Filipe) was super knowledgeable, friendly and responsible. He took care of us very well and managed a rather diverse group of hikers with very little to a lot of experience. The porters were amazing and went above and beyond, carrying massive loads and preparing amazing meals each day. The only recommendation I can make is that the camping gear is not the best so bring a sleeping mat and warm sleeping bag as it gets very cold at night.

If you are wanting to see Manchu Pichhu then this is the best way as the journey is more than the destination.

Gracias!

Karikuy Tours hizo que nuestra experiencia sea “stress-free”. Cada guía fue muy amable y pudimos disfrutar de Cusco y Machu Picchu sin preocupaciones! Además, crearon un tour personalizado para acomodar los pocos días que estábamos allí! Gracias!

Great guide, super fun tour.

Did the 5 day salkantay trek with them in 2022. Great guide, super fun tour. They provided everything needed and were really responsive to any questions we had before leaving.

Would definitely recommend this agency!

We planned the Salkantay trail for 4 days from 14-17 july, only 3 weeks in advance. Although the permission tickets for Machu Picchu were limited by then, they gave us very good advice on how to best plan the trek. Very fast responses, kind people. The Salkantay trek itself was amazing!! The guide Alex Samanez was great, had good energy and took good care of the whole group. The camps we stayed were good and on very beautiful spots, the food was very good. The vegetarian food also. Would definitely recommend this agency!

Best trip I ever took in my life.

I used this tour group 3 years ago. They were very efficient for what I needed. I travelled alone and my Spanish speaking is mediocre at best. They communicated well with me and the arrangements were perfect. Best trip I ever took in my life.

I know they can be counted on

I brought a group of students to Cusco for study abroad and Karikuy provided all our tour services. Oscar does a beautiful job of coordinating each outing, providing prompt and accurate information. Guides and buses are punctual. When a misunderstanding occurred regarding our tickets to Machu Picchu, Oscar stayed up late, securing a satisfactory last-minute change so that we were able to see the site as we had originally planned. He takes his job seriously and wants everything to be right. As for the guides, we had two different styles. For Sacred Valley and our City Tour, Guillermo went beyond what was required to gives us a full experience. We never felt rushed for time. He answered all our questions with the greatest enthusiasm, and his passion for the sites was infectious and endearing. Julio Cesar, our Machu Picchu guide, was as knowledgeable and eloquent as any university professor. His deep study of the history and architecture of Machu Picchu provided the best tour I'd been given in my eight separate visits to the Inca city. He is unusual in the breadth and analysis he offers, bringing alive the ruins with his account. Our Inti Raymi guide was more offhand, a bit less invested. But the trip to Sacsayhuaman was nonetheless marvelous and the food and bus provided both excellent. I plan to return to Peru next year to do another long hike and without a doubt, I will contract the services of Karikuy, because I know they can be counted on.

Johnny Payne

Went above and beyond

Karikuy organized a perfect tour from Cusco through the Sacred Valley to Machu Picchu and back, was extremely available and clear in communication both on their website chat and in WhatsApp, and staff and tour guides were friendly and went above and beyond to personally escort me to each check in point or give clear instructions to get there. I felt like I was being taken care of by family.

Excellent Company and Staff!

We booked a 4 day trekking and camping on the Inca Trail through Karikuy Tours. Karikuy Tours was excellent from the very beginning to the very end. Julio, who organized the trip for us, was very responsive to all our needs and was able to answer every question and concern we had. He provided us with all the information and details for our trek. He even organized a driver to pick and drop us off to and from the airport. The driver was very polite and professional.

The Inca trail was an incredible experience with stunning views. We were fortunate to have the best tour guide, Hector. Hector has expansive and in-depth knowledge of the Inca's, Peruvian culture and plants. I learned so much from him in those 4 days. He's very excited to share his culture and on top of that he was so much fun! I highly recommend everyone to request Hector as a guide, you will NOT be disappointed! Our porters were very polite and cooked delicious food for us. It was such a treat getting to know them.

Thank you Karikuy Tours, Julio and Hector for an experience of a lifetime!

One of the BEST trips I have encountered

I have been on adventure guided trips/hunts from the Arctic Circle to Argentina for the past forty+ years. Trips too numerous to count. Trips that promise the moon but eventually fall way short. My most recent trip with Karikuy Tours, Lima, Peru was the most efficient, well organized and pleasant trips I have ever experienced from an outfitter. From the moment I inquired about the Inca Trail, they were constantly in contact with me. Once, I pulled the trigger and paid for the trip, the communication remained constant and accessible. The simplest of questions were answered just as swiftly as the major concerns. Questions that concerned my traveling from the US to Peru, really not Karikuy’s problem, they helped me every step of the way including Covid-19 testing. Julio Tello was literally accessible 24 hours a day and I never felt I was a burden. A trip of this nature involved several different types of transportation; and the transition between each was seamless. All Hotel accommodations in two different Peru cities were accommodated without the slightest hitch. Believe me, when in a foreign country with limited language ability, this is huge. One of our party’s luggage was lost on the airlines and Julio jumped right in to resolve the situation.

My trip, the Four Day Inca Trail hike, was led by a most capable and knowledgeable guide, Hector Cconochuillca (not sure of spelling), accompanied by a team of porters who treated us as royalty. The food was exceptional. Never did I want for anything. Hector balanced everything between obtaining our objective, but not making us uncomfortable. It was a perfect combination to experience this beautiful part of the world. His knowledge and passion were amazing. I highly recommend him.

As an experienced adventure tour person, one who has led and outfitted my own in the US, I, without reservation, highly recommend Karikuy Tours.

A very pleasant trip

A very pleasant trip, all very well organized, enjoy beautiful landscapes and excellent gastronomy.
I was always accompanied by a guide. The guides showed a wide knowledge of the places, the best was Betty very professional.

SO GLAD WE RESCHEDULED

Our trek was planned for last year, but due to covid it was delayed. The office was closed for a while but once they finally opened they were very helpful in allowing us to decide to rebook or get a refund (either partial or full). We decided to rebook and went a year after the original date and it was amazing! Our guide was very knowledgeable and was able to encourage each and every one of us to finish the hike and ended with a beautiful coca leaf ceremony outside the entrance of Machu Picchu. It was frustrating the few months we went without answers on this trip, but we understood that they were operating under unprecedented circumstances. Would 100% book a tour with them again.

Lares Trek

We had a fabulous time on our 5 day Lares Trek. Our guide, Hector, was extremely knowledgeable and helpful throughout, the wonderful food by Picasso was fresh and delicious. The campsites were well done, hike challenging but beautiful, the visit to Ollantaytambo perfect and the hotel at Aguas Calientes was excellent. Since it was off season Karikuy Tours allowed us to adjust the trek to our personal desires at a reasonable cost. They arranged all train connections, bus shuttles, and vans to and from Cuzco. We are fit seniors (69-73) so we upgraded hostels to hotels, added another horse for our gear and a second day without guide at Machu Picchu to allow us to climb Machu Picchu Mountain at our leisure. This was an extraordinary trip, I highly recommend Karikuy Tours to all.

Simply amazing. Beautiful views, beautiful trails, beautiful people.

It was awesome. The people I met. The things I never thought I would see. The animals. The only part I didn't like was the food. My mom was born and raised in Cusco. So I was used to really delicious Peruvian food. The food on the treck was really bland and borning. The aji wasn't even yummy. Im almost positive they reused greace for the popcorn. So please just be aware of that. Other than that it was amazing.  Link

Rescheduled tour due to Coronavirus

Thank you so much for your speedy and brilliant service!

You have been wonderful to deal with right from my initial inquiry and I can’t thank you enough for your help with this. If only all of the other companies I am trying to deal with had been as great as you!

We will be in touch as soon as we have an idea of when we will be traveling and I will be recommending you to anyone that wants to travel where you operate!

Thanks again and best wishes for you during this awful time.

Trip to Machu Picchu

Thanks for organizing that trip for me, it was a long day 15.25hrs but worth the effort.

Ciprian Conza, my chauffeur was punctual, reliable and capable and even stopped twice on the way to Ollantaytambo station for me to take picture of a “hotel” made of tubular pods attached to the mountainside 500m high with a cable car for access. And when we arrived back on the bus to Cusco at 8pm there was his smiling face to greet me and take me back to the hotel.

I managed to get lucky and score Seat No.1 which was right up the front of the train beside the driver’s cab so had fantastic views of the locals going about they daily activities, the towering mountains, the boiling and pounding river racing along beside us and Inka terraces. Nola was my guide at the Inka ruins and I had him all to myself. He is a walking encyclopedia of knowledge on everything Inka. He gave me a 2.5 hour guided tour by which time my brain could absorb no more. He is so passionate about Inka history and their relationship to nature and their gods and their ingenuity.

It was a memorable visit.
Regards
Greg Welsby
Brisbane
Australia

High Service Level

I run a company in Canada that is all service to customers so I know what I like when it comes to other companies providing customer service to me .
Whenever I wrote Karikuy Tours by email on any subject or questions I had an answer in 15 minutes .
Ana is incredible !
They were easy to pay on line .
They showed up to pick us up at the hotel exactly on time .
The guide we had on the 5 day Salkantay Trek Videl was the best we have ever had and we are seasoned travelers . He had passion for his country and really wanted us to learn. The lodging and food was excellent.
We also did Rainbow Mountain and the Moras and Moray day trips . Same great service .
This is a company high on customer service and looking after its customers . They work hard to perform at that level .
I have given out their name to others and if I get back to Peru would use them only .
They are the best !

Amazing trip to Peru

My wife and I have been planning to go to Peru for some time now. As a first step we were looking for a good travel company that will organize our trip for us that fits our budget and be able to customize our trip in Peru. We reached out to many companies in and outside of Peru. Finally, we found Karikuy Tours!
From the beginning when we started to correspond with Karikuy Tours (to develop a customized itinerary) to the point of completion of our Peru trip they were outstanding. Their customer service is impeccable! We had to modify the trip many times to fit our and our friends needs. Karikuy team was able to do that without any problems. They respond to emails quickly and if there are any issue they point out. But all in all they were able to come up with a wonderful itinerary that met our needs and budget.
After we started our trip we had established communication with Karikuy via WhatsApp! That is a very convenient way of communicating in a foreign country. If there were any questions, we would send a WhatsApp message and Karikuy team would respond immediately. All the tourist attractions and trips were organized perfectly. If the itinerary said someone would pick up from the hotel or airport they would show up on time. The hotels were very clean and comfortable located at great locations at all the places we visited. The Inca trail hike was a great experience! Ofcourse Machu Picchu and Waynapicchu experience was outstanding!
Another highlight of our trip was staying with the local tribes in Amantani (an island in lake Titicaca). It was a great experience to see the life on the island, the costumes they wore and what it meant! We even dressed in the local costume and whet for a dance! The family we stayed with were very courteous and catered to our diet needs.
The ten day trip went by very fast. I guess you don’t keep track of the time when you’re having so much fun!! I like to thank Karikuy Tours for making our trip a memorable one! I’m sure the whole Karikuy team was involved in organizing our trip and did a great job. Our special thanks Ana Pinco who communicated with us via phone calls, emails for organizing the trip and during the trip to make sure everything was going okay.
Anyone reading this post, I strongly recommend Karikuy Tours! You will have a great trip to Peru!!

Magical Nature of Peru

Karikuy is a fantastic choice for your travels. They are efficient in organizing the entire trip from the airport pickup to the drop off and all minor details in between. They are flexible in planning and changing on the go as you request. Always on top of things to keep the plan going. Excellent in communication and always accessible. I worked with Ana and she is very knowledgeable and professional. She helped me plan my entire trip the way I really wanted it and it was amazing. Since I was alone on this 3 day trip and my Spanish is not good I had a tour guide the entire time for each of the tours. Oscar was my guide in Cusco. He was fantastic, very professional and punctual with great knowledge and communication. My guide for Machu Picchu was Alfredo, and he was great. Very professional and accommodating. My guide for Humantay Lake was Freddy, also professional and punctual, very knowledgeable and accommodating. This was an amazing trip. I was worried because I was alone but it was very pleasant and I felt safe the whole time. There is a lot to see in Peru. 3 days was a short time but I was able to make the best of it thanks to Karikuy. I’ll certainly use them again when I return for another trip. I highly recommend their services and highly recommend visiting the beauties of Peru. It is breathtaking and phenomenal. Be weary that altitudes get you really hard and if you are sensitive you will need altitude and headache medicin and lots of water. The food is absolutely delicious and gourmet. Ceviche is my new favorite for sure. All the fish dishes and even the fish soups are great. People all around are friendly and very helpful. Lima and Cusco and Aguas Calientes are very pretty and clean cities. Cusco has a European feel and Lima is in a way like LA. Beautiful country with lots of culture and natural treasures. Thank you Karikuy for making this happen. You are the best!!! My regards to all my guides!

An Amazing Trip! Planned by Karikuy

We were 8 people (close friends) in our group that were made of three sub groups. All of us had different arrival and departure dates and had planned to do parts of the trip together. A total of maybe 5 days. I don't need to explain the chaos that then ensues with planning, I have to say Ana Pinco is a saint!. She was okay with myriad of questions, concerns and several phone calls. The itineraries were eventually finalized and bills paid :) we were ready for our trip. I was pleasantly surprised at the efficiency with which we were picked up from airports, bus and train stations. Our Driver Pedro Holland was fearless in navigating traffic and kept us entertained with 80's music (which all of us knew). I loved the whatsapp messages we got everyday asking how our tour was progressing and basically making sure we had somebody if needed in a distant land. The planning was exceptional, I also know that individual tours were not under karikuy's direct control. Some of the Tours were "great" and some "okay". I would definitely recommend the Karikuy Tours to my friends that want to visit Peru.

Jungle Inca Trail

We had such an amazing time with Jungle Inca trail. It was the perfect amount of hiking, adventure and fun. We had a small group which was nice for our days of walking since we all stayed together. This was definitely well worth the money as everything was planned and the hostels we stayed in were amazing. Only thing that got messed up for us was the train tickets back that ended up being a much earlier time than we had planned for. But overall amazing trip! Would highly recommend.

4 day Inca

We had 6 people in our group for the trek. We were well informed as to meeting points and briefing before the trek. Our guide Saul and our Chef were both fantastic. The chef was even able to accommodate my husband's vegetarian diet. I would definitely recommend Karikuy Tours!

Amazing!!

There are so many tour companies out there for a short Inca Trail trek and it took a lot of research before I decided to go with Karikuy. And I'm so so happy I did. This tour company was so informed and kept me in the loop on every step of the process. Our guide Gilber was so fun and had amazing stories.

Salkantay 4 days trek

Bonjour, je reviens tout juste d’un séjour en montagne avec ma copine. Nous avons participer au trek de Salkantay pour 4 jours et 3 nuits. Ce fût mémorable. Notre guide "Big Willy" nous as très bien encadré dans un groupe d’une dizaine. Il s’est montré serviable, aidant, très clair dans ses paroles, qu’il prenait soins de répéter parfois ;) Willy répond à toutes nos questions avec soins. Il nous guide de façon professionnel dans des terrains parfois pas faciles mais challengeant. Il nous enseigne les légendes, les mythes, les réalités de ces lieux mystiques, éloignés, élevé en altitude, colorés et teintés et décorés de couleurs et paysages superbes. Big Willy a été présent avec nous jusqu’au bout, au Machu Picchu et malgré la pluie ce jour là, il est demeuré très captivant et intéressant et ce, avec son professionnalisme de guide.

Merci à tous, et merci Big Will pour ces beaux moments de partage.

4-day Inca Trail

I signed up for the four day Inca trail trek via Karikuy tours and had an amazing experience. I was nervous before my trip because of the multiple negative reviews. This company helped connect us with an excellent guide, porters, and cook. The day before the trek, the guide met us at our hotel to explain everything. Our guide was very friendly and spoke English well enough to do his job. Know that you will be staying in tents that are provided by the guide company. The tents were standard, and my girlfriend and I brought our own sleeping pads and bags (although these can be provided).The food was good and suitable for westerners, considering we were backpacking. I am an experienced hiker and was well prepared for this trip. You must bring your own backpack, I use 60L granite gear. I had a great time, but manage your limitations because you are backpacking, not staying at hotels or luxury accommodations. Know that the toilets are standard porcelain holes in the ground, and you will be doing a pretty strenuous hike. Mild exercise prior to the trip should be done to prepare you physically. I arrived just one day prior to acclimate to the elevation, but two days is recommended. Bring Diamox (for altitude), anti-malaria, and anti-diarrheal medications.

Machu Picchu Adventure - Inca Trail

It was outstanding. From meeting our guide to leaving us of at the train station, this was well organized and had 0 issues. My tour guide was a known legend. He is Saul aka the cocoa man.

He knew every flower, every bird and every bit of history. He provided us with such rich history knowledge that it really enhanced our overall experience from Inca site to site along the 4 days of trekking. We as a group of 5 bonded so well because of how rich the experience. Inca trail is a must do. It was a life changing event for me. Thank you for everything. Keep up the great work in inspiring, challenging and rejuvenating souls.

A Picchu of Us

My wife and I booked a Full day Tour to Machu Picchu with Karikuy Tours Peru. The evening before our tour we were met at our hotel by Oscar from Karikuy who explained exactly what our tour would consist of and provided us with a printout listing in chronological order each stage and time of our tour. Our tour the following day went exactly to plan, from when we were collected by a private driver early the following morning at our hotel in Cusco, right up to returning to our hotel in the evening. The expedition train ride, shuttle bus up Machu Picchu and our Tour Guide ‘Rosemary‘ were all exceptional. In short we could not have had a better experience. Thank you all at Karikuy Tours for making our a Tour so special.

First trip to Peru

I had emailed a lot of tours before settling down to Karikuy. The itinerary was completely custom made for me. I wanted to hike and i hiked a lot. I did the 2 day inca trail with machu pichhu, Laguna humantay , Sacred Valley and cusco tour. All their guides (Briner, Dennis and Irvin) were extremely knowledgeable and professional. They were friendly and were very excited to show their country to us. Briner was my guide to Inca trail and i couldnt have asked for a better guide. He told us a lot about the local flora and fauna on the inca trek which made the trek less cumbersome. Dennis was my tour guide for Laguna Humantay, I was put with a group of spanish speaking tourist and obsiously the tour was catered to them in spanish, However Dennis, explained the same thing in English for me and extremely mindful of a non english speaker in the group. My incoming flying to Lima had been cancelled so i came to Cusco a day later, which made adjusting to the altitude a little difficult. Ana from Karikuy gave me tips on shopping for art and helping me finding a hotel close to plaza de armas. Since this was my first solos trip, I extremely enjoyed being pampered by their services. Peru has to be explored on foot and you have to do it with Karikuy. I will be back again and i will chose karikuy to see rainbow mountain, nazca and lake titicaca.

Inca Trail

We had an amazing trip! The staff was professional, very accommodating, knowledgeable! Clema was an incredible guide! He made sure everyone in the group was taken care of!! The food was AMAZING!

First trip to Peru

We had an Amazing time doing our 4 day jungle trek to Machu Picchu! We seen so many beautiful places in 4 days and our guide Everyth was so amazing to me helping deal with a some stomach issues the 2nd day of the hike! The hike was beautiful but the second day was very challenging with all the uphill and steps! So proud of myself for accomplishing this for my 30th birthday present! Thanks again for an amazing time!

Machu Picchu

This was our first visit to Peru and Karikuy made it easy and enjoyable. There are a lot of tour groups and wasn’t sure which to choose. I must say our experience with Karikuy was excellence. They met us at our hotel a day prior to the beginning of our tour to review all the details. All the arrangements were well coordinated and all our guides and drivers were prompt and courteous. The guides were knowledgeable and there English was good to very good. I would definitely recommend Karikuy if you plan on traveling to Peru

Jungle Inca Trail

This was an epic trip one we would never forget... from the moment our van picked us up from our hotel in cusco to our last hike going to machu pichu, everything was well planned and we didn't even have to do anything. Our guide Ebert exceeded all our expectations... he even called for a taxi in the middle of the jungle bec one of our friends was having a hard time. We were like. Ohh that’s possible. And yes Ebert made it possible. Let me just say We all love Ebert!!!! Lol... We were all very impressed on how well executed this travel company is. Very easy to talk to and very responsive on all inquiries. We even planned a last minute rainbow mountain hike with them and they executed and planned it real well. The people the guides and everything else is above and beyond.

A stone of ruins, a stone to ruin!

Our salkatay trek was run short when my partner had to be taken back to Cusco with kidney stones. But our day with the tour was incredible, even after, staff were attentive and considerate through and through. It’s these little things that put karikuy above the rest. We managed to get up to Machu Picchu which was also incredible but it would have been nice to have joined the tour.

A deeply connected trek

When we got to Machu Picchu, having spent a brilliant 4 days with Jesus and Willy, our two Karikuy trek guides we were greeted by a guide from another another trekking company exclaiming we had one of the best guides of them all. This, we believe was truly the case. Right from the Salkantay briefing with Vidal through to our final farewell meeting with Willy in Plaza de Almas we couldn't fault the care and connection we felt. We both hadn't acclimatized to the altitude as much as we'd have liked due to a cancelled flight into Cusco. Our fears were allayed as the guides led from behind and explained exactly how we were going to approach this magnificent trek taking into account everyone's ability and 'state' (we were the oldest couple in our group!). The knowledge of the land, ecology, culture and history was obviously deeply held by the guides. Their way of explaining properties of plants, the symbolism of the animals, the geology of this part of the Andes and importantly the ways the Quechuan and Inkas population lived were explained in an accessible and personal way. All abilities in the group were cared for and by the end of the second day, after climbing up and over the salkantay pass, at 4,600 metres, we really started to feel like a family. The food, and various accommodations kept us going (although I wished i had paid for a warm shower on the second evening!). It was reassuring to see how the tour put money back into some of the communities we were trekking through, where we were greeted with smiling welcoming faces. Finally, if you are willing to get up at 4 oclock it is well worth the slow trek up to Machu Picchu in order to get there before the bus crowds appear...we were treated to a dawn of clearing clouds...it did literally take the breath away. We can't thank the karikuy staff enough, especially our guides, Jesus and Willy, enough for the care and attention, and most importantly, the love for this land that they shared. This trek was truly the best value for money.

Salkantay trek

The Salkantay trip was amazing. It exceeded both of our expectations by a huge margin.

The amount of work, effort, knowledge, organisation and passion put in by everyone involved, as well as generosity of the local people was amazing. Words actually aren’t enough.

Our guide Julio was particularly outstanding in every way, he was informative, encouraging and made the whole trip fun.

I will be recommending the tour and the company to as many people as possible.

Machu Picchu Day Tour

The day tour was extremely well organised and planned . Hotel briefing took place the night before to prepare us. The local driver was amazing and friendly. Tour tickets were all sorted and prepared . If you want a hassle and stress free day don’t hesitate to book these tours . Can be quite overwhelming knowing what to book and who to trust if you leave it until the day you get to Cusco.

Great experience

My brother and I booked a trip for 8 days in Peru and it was the best! Oscar met us at the airport on our first day there and he was very kind and informative. All of the excursions were taken care of which really took ther stress out of the trip. We only had one issue when we got to Aguas Calientes but it was taken care of very quickly. Everyone we talked to was very helpful. Great company!

Great tour options

Found Karikuy tours through a Google search. Wanted to do a 2 day/1-night tour to Machu Picchu including some of the Inca trail up to Machu Picchu. Nice tour. Met Oscar in Cusco. Had a misunderstanding of PeruHop bus drop-off time and when Oscar would pick us up and where we were to go. The problem was that if we were going to have to pay an extra $15 per person to have a hostel hold our stuff, breakfast and shower, we should have been told this in advance. Booo.
But we ended up meeting Oscar in the Plaza des Arms at 8:45am to start our tour. That was very nice. Plaza des Arms is really chill and nice. There is even a starbucks and KFC in the plaza. Our initial tour guide for the bus/mini-van was really nice. He explained a lot about the Sacred Valley and dropped us off in Ollanyatambo to catch the Peru Rail train to Machu Picchu city. He said someone would be waiting for us at the train station. Great tour guide in Machu Picchu named Piercy. The guy who ran the hotel front desk was waiting for us when we got off of the train from Ollyantambo to Machu Picchu. And he took us to the hotel. The Hotel Humantay was just enough. They watched the bags for free and had free breakfast. Hot water was spotty to non-existent. But walking down the Inca Trail from Machu Picchu was spectacular. I recommend taking the bus up to Machu Picchu and then walking down the trail. Unless you want to take the 2 hour walk up. Best to start at 4 am. So you don't melt from the sun.

Best trip ever!!

Several years ago I read an article about the Salkantay Trek and really wanted to do it. It was a last minute decision, but everything worked out really well. Our guide, Wellington, Cameron our hotel the night before to explain the trip to us. The entire trip was great. The guides were great, the cooks prepared excellent meals, the accommodations along the trek were sufficient. Our group was great, and we had a lot of fun. We will definitely return to Peru.

Thank You

Hi Claudia and Ana

I just wanted to write to let you know how much my husband and I enjoyed our 4 day hike to Machu Picchu with Karikuy tours.

In particular I would like to recognise and acknowledge the professionalism of Mario our tour guide. He truly is a lovely man. Very knowledgeable, able to answer all our questions. He helped me along the way of the hike, was always ready to take photos of us and is an absolute asset to your company.

I would also like to thank you for always answering my questions before the tour and for the smooth ease of booking. The whole trip from beginning to end was excellent and ran very smoothly.

I would definitely recommend Karikuy tours to anyone booking a trip to Peru.

Thank you so much and please pass on our thanks again to Mario. He will forever be remembered by us, as will all the porters who worked so hard and always had a smile for us.

Best wishes
Julie Schurmann

Best tour ever. Oscar is the man

Super impressed with how professional everything was. Honestly best pricing and i would forsure do it again. My wife was extremely happy with everything.

All i would say is when finding the tour after the train ride. She was a short cute women and it was a little hard to find the blue sign :) she was amazing though so just keep your eyes open for the sign :)

Highly recommend Karikuy Tours

We were extremely happy with our tour. Firstly the communication with you before we set off was excellent. Every time I had a question you replied immediately and explained everything clearly. During our Lares trek everything ran to clockwork - always transfers awaiting with our names. Our guide was amazing- he was very enthusiastic, informative and encouraged everyone. It was nice that we were a small group of four. The porters and cook were friendly and when we arrived at the camp sites the meals were ready, we’d bowls of hot water by our tents, we were awoken with cups of tea! The chef’s cooking was incredible- delicious and copious! The trek in itself was stunning. Breathtakingly beautiful scenery and no other trekkers. We did not want it to end! It was also good value for the amount we paid. We highly recommend Karikuy Tours Peru.

Amazing 4 day Jungle trek to Machu Picchu

An amazing trek started with a 70km bike ride down the mountain, “excellent” great for the thrill seekers followed by rafting which i was not sure of at first but once in the water was great we even fell out of the boat which only made our team more of a unit and more enthusiastic to continue. The next few days was trekking through the mountains and jungle eating fresh fruit from the trees and vine eg. Red banana, lima, orange and papaya also seeing pineapple coffee and cacao and coca growing wild.
Once at the top of the mountain we visited monkey house seeing and tasting fresh cacao, honey, stevia, coffee etc. And having the chance to see capiso or coaty (the coffee was lovely) any a parrot. The 3rd day we zip lined ,rock climbing and bridge walk it was awesome. Last day we walked to aguas caliente via the train track brilliant lots to see on the way. My guide Paulo was amazing very helpful and accommodating i would recommend him to everyone, what a great guy He found some great places to stay and we had some lovely food where he took us .... Machu Picchu was amazing i was there for 7 hours. Tip : take your time there is no rush, if you get there early you may have the chance to see the clouds clearing this amazing wonder of the world.

Adventure in the Rainforest

What an amazing tour with Karikuy Tours. Our guide was knowledgeable and fun. Our accommodations were very comfortable in beautiful surroundings. Our meals were delicious. We saw more animals than expected in the forest on the hikes and boat trips. We're in our mid 60's and were able to do everything on the tour. We would recommend the 5 day tour to Corto Maltes Amazonia Lodge to anyone interested in a jungle tour.

Amazing Experience

I did the 4 day Salkantay Trek to Machu Picchu and had the most amazing experience ever. Everything from lodging to meals was covered which is unbeatable for the cost, especially because I’m a fairly novice hiker/camper. Our guide, Julio, was helpful and informative the entire time and always kept the group informed. Make sure you prep for every possible weather condition as it can make or break your experience. Overall highly recommend to anyone

Satisfying Tour

There were awkward moments (touring Ollantaytambo ruins with luggage in tow and waiting hours for the train) but the accommodations in Machu Picchu and the private guide in the ruins more than made up for it. Don’t bother with the VisaDome option, unless you would like food and entertainment on the train, as the ride is mostly in dark.

Time of my life

I did the Inca trail and it was the most amazing trek of my life and I live in Alaska! I lost my phone the day before my trek, and all the guides and fellow travels were so helpful and amazing. Then sent me tons of pictures. I was the only female traveling alone and everyone took me under there wing. It was such an educational and motivating trek. The guides were very helpful. I already have plans to take my sister and brother in law in 2020!!

Great trek!

I did the 4 day Salkantay Trek and it was awesome. Willy, our guide, was great and made us all become friends along the way. He spoke Spanish, English, and Quechua. The accommodations and food got better every day.

I went July 18-21. It was cold the first night and second day and then the weather got better. Great time of year to go and great company to go with!

It's a tough trek, but so so worth it. 10/10 would recommend.

Machu Picchu (Full Day Tour)

My sister and I found Karikuy Tours through a random google search while trying to plan our long journey to Machu Picchu. I am so glad we did because they made the entire process easy and manageable. Additionally, if we had any questions or needed to make changes to our plans, they were available to answer our questions. We did the full day tour and had guides at every point. From being picked up at 3:30AM to taking the 2 hour tour through the Inca ruins. This was an experience like no other. I don't think we would have been able to get this all done if it were not for Karikuy Tours. Thank you for making this experience amazing!

Fantastic Salkantay trek!

Had a wonderful time on this trek, greatly appreciated all of the hard work done by our guides and chefs. Highly recommend!

Simply Wonderful!

It was such a great decision for me to choose Karikuy Tours for our Peru Trip! You guys rocks! You made our trip less stressful which gave us more opportunity to enjoy our trip – and we did thanks to you!

I am very impressed Karikuy tours organizing our trip. Unlike past experiences from a tour operator which job apparently is completed after the payment was done – Karikuy was so different. They stayed with us along the way and made sure we received the services we were promised by them. Karikuy team was very thorough in planning. The very detailed itineraries, the trip snapshot from the time we get to Peru to the time we leave Peru. Overall, the trip was incredible and Karikuy Tours was simply wonderful! On behalf of my friends, thank you so much for making our first Peru trip so memorable, fun, exciting and definitely one for the books!

To Karikuy Tours, Claudia and your fantastic team – thank you for making this possible! Yes, would love to see more of Peru!

Tour of Southern Peru including 5 Day Salkantay Trek

We originally enquired with Karikuy to arrange the Salkantay trek for us but ended up asking them to organise a trip which would take in all the places that we wanted to see in Southern Peru in the limited time we had available. They did an excellent job in putting the whole thing together and ensuring that we were met and picked up from a variety of places as needed. The quality and locations of the hotels they booked us in was excellent and on all aspects of the trip the guides were passionate and had excellent knowledge of the history, geography and flora and fauna. Our trip included Paracas, Balletas Islands, Huacachina, Cusco, Rainbow Mountain, Sacred Valley, Salkantay Trek, Arequipa, Colca Canyon and Lima

EcoMagic Amazon Forest

We booked with Karikuy tours a 3days/2 nights ecoMagic lodge in the Amazon Forest and it was one of the best part of our trip. The transport, the food, the accommodation, everything was of a great quality when you thing that you are in a middle of nowhere. The guide and the personnel were kind and helpful. The discovery of the fauna and the flora was incredible and well organized. We were a small group (10) so it was easy to interact with the guide and see everything. We highly recommend to go to the Amazon forest during your stay in Peru, this is an incredible unique experience! Thank you again Karikuy tours for the organization!

Rainbow mountain

The rainbow mountain view is breathtaking. We were a little bit worried of the elevation (5036m over the sea level) but our guide was great and help everyone going to the top. There is also horses available from local people to help tired climbers. Everything was well organized and breakfast/lunch were included. I recommend Karikuy tours for the rainbow mountain visit.

Sacred Valley/Machu Picchu

The two days tours Sacred Valley/Machu Picchu was great. Everything was organized for us and well explained. Furthermore it is all included (Bus to Sacred Valley/ bus Aguas Calientes-Machu Picchu/train/entrance). All of our guides were great and speak a good english. It was really easy and quick to contact Karikuy for any questions we had. Overall we had a great time visiting the Sacred Valley and the Machu Picchu organized by Karikuy Tours

Fantastic 4 day/3 night trek

Our tour guide, Elias, was professional, educational and had a wonderful sense of humor. The trek was organized, the views were incredible and the food that was provided was better than the restaurants and/or street food at both Machu Picchu City and Cusco. This was the highlight of my trip. My partner loved it so much with this company, he has now gone twice on the trek. I recommend this to anyone!

Trek of a Lifetime

Our amazing guide Mario led 5 of us on an incredible Inca Trail adventure. The scenery, flora & birds were simply stunning & Mario answered our endless questions with patience & knowledge. The food, equipment & porters all exceeded our expectations, & I would thoroughly recommend Karikuy Tours. Thank you for a fabulous memorable trek.

Machu Picchu

Muchas gracias por su servicio Karikuy también la persona que nos tocó como guía muy buena persona recuerdo que se llama Oscar el llegaba a tiempo y se sentía una persona confiable, gracias a Dios todo salió como nosotros lo esperábamos

Inkaterra amazing amazon

Amazing 5star experience. The amazon was interesting and beautiful. The food was delicious the accommodation was lovely and the people were amazing! It was really well planned from beginner by to end would recommend inkaterra to anyone considering a trip to Peru!

4 Day Inca Trail Trek

My fiance and I completed the 4 day Inca Trail trek to Machu Picchu and was it great!!!! I'm so glad we decided to hike this instead of the easy route of taking the bus. The trek was a little challenging, but so rewarding and worth it. Mario who was our trail guide was very informative and if we had any questions about anything he answered them. I asked questions about some of the Flora along the trail and he would tell me the local name of it and if it was used for something. The Porter's were friendly and the food hit the spot after hours of hiking. Would recommend.

A 'must' for the bucket list

Last week I done the 5 day Salkantay trek, one of the most challenging but incredible experiences I have had. There is a nice variety of mountain, lakes, jungle landscapes and the views are unbelievable.
After taking part in many other tours with other tour companies whilst travelling Peru I can honestly say that what made this trek better than all of the others is the tour guide and the team. Thank you to Damien the cook and the porters who fed us delicious food and took care of us. But the biggest thank you goes to our amazing tour guide Elias, with his knowledge and passion for his work and the great outdoors, he made every moment interesting and fun. Being thrown out of my comfort zone can always be scary especially in another country but I always felt safe and supported when Elias was there. Thank you for making this trip so special.

2D/1N Inca Trail

Could you please share this with our guide Gilber who excellent at what he does. We really enjoyed our tour with Gilber who is very knowledge of the history which allowed to leave with a better understanding of the culture and definitely some very interesting facts on Machu Picchu. Gilber loves his job and it showed. He is highly professional and was also very kind to us during the entire tour. Thanks again!

Amazing!

We did the 5 day Salkantay Trek and loved it. The views were spectacular and the company did a great job with accommodations. The food was filling and delicious. Our guide Elias was fantastic and made every effort to make the trek enjoyable even adding additional information about the Incan and Peruvian history along the way. I would highly recommend this trek using this company. It was worth every penny and showed us some of Peru’s most beautiful landscape and culture.

4 Day Inca Trail

We had a great trip, good guides and good food. Everything was taken care of for us.

Highly Recommended

We were really happy with this tour. Rossi our guide went to lengths to explain to us in English everything and was great fun during rest times too. She was happy to answer all our random questions and we couldn’t appreciate her more for making sure we were one of the first people at the Machu Picchu iconic photo spots.

Super fun and diverse trek!

We thought we would be sad that we couldn’t do the Inca trail... but the four day jungle trek was a total hit. Our guide David has to be the best! He really taught us about the plants and the land, we loved him! I highly suggest booking in advance and adding the zip line and rafting. It made the 4 days such a diverse adventure. Their Online communication is great also! Ask all the questions!

Karikuy Tours provided me with the best experience ever!

I absolutely had the best time hiking the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu. I have to thank Karikuy Tours for that experience! Our guide Rosie, was truly a great addition to our hike. She wanted to make sure that we had the best time while hiking. She was very informative and also very caring. She never tried to push us harder then we could go. She always stayed behind with us! The food was absolutely amazing. I had no idea they were going to feed us so well. I would definitely consider this tour group if you’re thinking about hiking Machu Picchu!

Awesome tour for all ages!!

I am working as an Au Pair in the United States and a dream came true traveling to Peru! This company made me really feel like everything was organized so I could just go with the flow kind of way. Our Tourguide, Ed did an amazing job he encouraged to push yourself he was funny and strengthened the group. Really nice atmosphere awesome group of people and exciting but challenging program on our jungle tour. We could experience the jungle climb waterfalls,pet a little monkey, taste fresh fruit from the jungle and more! It’s really worth it so don’t doubt yourself, go and be adventurous! Julia,19

Macchu Picchu

Superbe journée au Macchu Picchu!! Le circuit était vraiment bien exécuté du départ de l'hôtel jusqu'au retour le soir. Notre guide a été plus que généreux dans ses explications et dans ses connaissances par rapport au peuple inca. J'ai vraiment été impressionnée de savoir et d'apprendre tellement de chose sur le macchu picchu. Ce fut une belle expérience et je recommande karikuy tour fortement. On a répondu à toutes nos demandes et par email la communication se fesait a merveille. Merci encore. Viva Perù!!

Once in a lifetime experience

We booked a 5 day 4 night stay in the Amazon Jungle with Karikuy Tours. We had the most amazing time, from canoeing along the Amazon river to trekking through the jungle, seeing monkeys, caiman and parrots. We were looked after from the moment we arrived until the moment we left and loved event minute.

Amazing Tour !

Such an amazing experience! My boyfriend and I did the Salkantay tour in Jan 2019. We were worried about it being the rainy season but the weather cooperated, it only rained at night and on our last 3hrs on the way to Aguas Claiente. We totally recommend this tour company. Since the very beginning planing stages- they always respond right away, easy to get a hold of through email & Whats App, and they answered all my questions. We even had to change our entire tour last minute to another day due to a delay in our arrival to Cusco and they helped us with out ANY ISSUES! Couldn't thank them enough for accommodating us like that! Our tour guides ( Willey & Vidal) were super nice and knowledgeable. We would call ourselves " beginner hikers" One of them always patently stayed with us ( we were always last to arrive lol). The food was excellent! they gave us a lot too, we never went hungry. They always had our tent set up and ready for us ( I would rent their sleeping bag- It kept us very warm at night. Others who brought their own froze). Getting to matchu peachu is the cherry on top! Vidal took us two around the ruins and explained all the history to us. We also did the extra Huayna picchu climb and it was so worth it for the unique views. Over all everything was very smooth through out the entire trek! Would go again with the same tour company!!

Would highly recommend

We were most pleased with Karikuy Tours. Oscar Marin L. de G. Gerente of Oscar Adventure was most accommodating. He met us at our AirnB and briefed us on our itinerary for 3/21/19. He met us on that date at 5:30 am to take us to the train station. The train ride was great. I lost my camera and tickets when getting off the train. The young lady who met us arranged to get the bus tickets to Machu Picchu printed. At the train station PeruRail took care of reprinting the train and last bus ticket. I would highly recommend Karikuy Tours to anyone. Thank you. Charlie Kenny and Joe Tana Hyattsville MD USA and Cuenca Ecuador

Inca trail, jungle experience, Nazca lines, rainbow mountain

We are a couple from New Zealand. We are traveling a lot and we found this company by chance on internet. From the moment we approached them we knew we were dealing with a well established and professional group.

We had a very prompt communication, handy tips, personalized itinerary. We added more tours as we finally arrived to South America and this was not a problem at all. In fact we got discounts for using so many of the services.

The prices are competitive and the service excellent .

We would recommend and would most certainly use them again.

Great company beautiful experience!!

Thank you to Karikuy Tours and all their staff for giving us the experience of a lifetime. Communication was excellent and the food porter and guides were superb! We loved every moment of arduous hike and was the support and care from all the staff that made me push through some tough days. I would recommend Karikuy Tours to anyone who wishes to do the 4 day Inca Trail. We had a wonderful multicultural group who we are sure to keep I touch with. Thank you for a wonderful time.

Very Accommodating

Ana was very helpful in planning our trek. She was very quick to respond to my emails. Thank you for your assistance.

Great company

Good company for maachu picchu tour. Oscar came to my hostel the night before to go over the next days itinerary. There was a bit of confusion once I got to mauchu picchu but once they got it sorted out was fine. Oscar was great and i recommend them

Inca Trail

Amazing trek, guides, food, and experience! Very thorough de-brief and everything went smoothly from beginning to end. Guides were great and let the group kind of facilitate pace and staying together or doing your own thing. I ended up joining another company (can't remember the name but yellow porters) so they may partner with other companies to coordinate based on availability and people booked.

Custom Tour

We did a custom tour starting frim Lima of Laguna 69, Rainbow Mountain,Salkantay Trek, Machu Picchu, Huacachina and Paracas with Karikuy. Everything was very professional and well-organized. Highly recommended.

Incredible Trip - Classic Inca Trail

This hike and tour was such a blast! The hike, scenery and Machu Picchu all speak for themselves but Karikuy made arrangements to make sure everything went smoothly and that we had an enjoyable trip. Everyone on the hike from our guide, Mario, to the porters and the cook were super nice, great to talk to, cooked great meals and made sure we were safe. The camping equipment provided was good quality and exactly what was needed for this hike. Thanks for such an amazing time!

Salkantay Trek

I had an absolutely incredible time on the Salkantay Trek! Between the landscapes, hot springs, Humantay Lake, ziplining, Salkantay Pass, Machu Picchu, and everything else, every day was amazing. My only complaint is that we weren't fed more.

Classic Inca Trail

Thank you Karikuy the 4 Day Inca trail was Spectacular! great guides, great food and beautiful country. Can't say enough good things. Anyone that wants to visit Peru should definitely set a side a good amount of time as there is so much to see. I thought the weather was going to be unpleasant at first in October but it was great with some drizzle here and there. The Inca Trail has epic views so don't forget to pack a good camera. Thanks to everyone at Karikuy Tours for making this trip unforgettable!

Salkantay was Incredible!

I did the Salkantay Trek solo and joined one of Karikuys groups. What an incredible time it was! The scenery is nothing short of spectacular, this was complimented by the guides personalities as well as the porters and I was in a high spirited group which was also a plus. I would say the price was average for this kind of trek but I felt I got every pennies worth with the service. Equipment was in good shape and the meals were very good. Don't forget to drink the Coca Tea for the altitude, this trek was very challenging but felt like such an accomplishment at the end, Will be coming back to do the Inca Trail with Karikuy in the future!

Great Tour and Price

I hiked the 5 Day Salkantay Trek and from the start booking online was a breeze. Karikuys was always around to answer my question and I feel I got what I paid for. The trek itself was beautiful and the guides were top notch and informative. The meals were good and Machu Picchu was spectacular. No doubts on recommending this company, you are in good hands.

4 day jungle trek to Machu Picchu

Wow! We loved the 4 day Jungle Trek to Machu Picchu and would like to thank Karikuy Tours Peru for making our tour so enjoyable. It was well organised and all the activities were amazing! I would definitely recommend this agency as they are very efficient and helpful. We were taught about the local produce and also about the Inca traditions along the way too! The rafting, zip lining, hot springs and biking were all so much fun and we felt that we had the best of both worlds being able to do these awesome activities whilst trekking to the mountain at the same time!

Amazing day touring Machu Picchu

We had an amazing day visiting Machu Picchu. We were picked up promptly at 2.45am and driven to the train station. Oscar had already met us the night before to debrief us and give us all our tickets so we felt very prepared. We arrived safely at Machu Picchu and had a very informative guide (Miguel-i hopr) and then had free time to eat and drink before coming home. We arrived back in Cusco and were met by Oscar who then quickly drove us home. A long but amazing day, would thoroughly recommend! It was organised and we were supported at each step of the way!! Thank you :)

Four Day Salkantay Trek - AMAZING!

So rewarding and such an amazing experience. Completely loved this adventure and challenge from start to end - the early starts are worth it! Our group was fantastic and everyone really got a long. I felt safe and looked after every step of the way so would recommend.

Four Day Salkantay Trek

My experience taking the Four day Salkantay Trek was unforgettable. Our tour guild was knowledgeable and entertaining, keeping the intense hike fun and manageable. The scenery and places I went to during the trip was amazing and without a doubt something that must be done at least one time.

We had a fantastic time

We really enjoyed our 4 day Macchu Pichu jungle tour it was a great experience from beginning to end.

10/10 would recommend

My buddy and I went on the Salkantay Trek for a college graduation vacation. We had no clue what we were in for, but had several friends say this trek was the best week of their lives so we had to give it a try. Claudia (and all of Karikuy) was a huge help with planning and packing and the trek itself was ABSOLUTELY AMAZING. The views and stories told from our tour guide were breath taking and the people we met along the way will be friends of ours for the rest of our lives (from 11 different countries too). 10/10 would recommend this tour!

Salkantay 5 day trek

I found the 5 day Salkantay trek very challenging as well as beautiful. Our guides were so well organized. Also kudos to Karikuy who were very responsive to all the questions I emailed them prior to our trip. The ysupplied so much information about the daily activites of the trek as well as what to bring. In all it was a great experience. One thing I should mention is that the literature I received had the altitude in feet incorrect which is important to me but quite a little thing compared to what a wonderful trek this was. Thanks very much

Single day Macchu Pichu tour

We really enjoyed our single day Macchu Pichu tour and overnight stay in Cusco. Our guide was very knowledgeable and helped us to understand the culture of the ancient Peruvian people. Great experience!

Inkaterra Reserva Amazonica

We absolutely loved our time at the Inkaterra Reserva Amazonia! From the cabana to the guides and of course the fabulous food! It far surpassed our expectations. Our guide Constantino and our host Sandra were both so professional and knowledgeable, yet very fun to be with. Thank you for making it such a wonderful trip for us!

epiiiic 5 day salkantay trek

Myself, my girlfriend and another 2 friends decided to try the Salkantay trek over the Inka trail. This was a great choice!! The amazingly distinct landscapes you see as part of the harder Salkantay trek are totally worth the added difficulty. Karikuy did a smashing job organizing our trek right from the get-go. Our guides, Jose and Roxanna -- were very well prepared and organized throughout the 5 days. 5 stars!!

Laguna Humantay, Rainbow Mountain, Machu Picchu, Sacred Valley, etc.

Just got back from my 7 days in Cusco where I squeezed a ton in during my stay. Karikuy was always reliable and there were no hiccups! Oscar my guide and Claudia always answered my phone calls/emails right away. I 10/10 recommend Karikuy to anyone who visits Peru!

Great Macchu Pichu Tour

We really enjoyed our 4 day Macchu Pichu jungle tour with Karikuy. We were given private hostel rooms during the trip and had a great guide (Pablo).

4 Day Inca Trail

My husband, son and I had a fantastic experience. The trip was arranged flawlessly. The guide, Mario, met us in the hotel the night before (we had to change the meet time since we booked a day trip to Sacred Valley last minute, the agency rescheduled the meeting at a later time, everything was done through emails!). He came to meet us in the morning and brought us a bag to put our stuff in for our private porter, and carried our bag to the bus. We met the rest of the group and started the hiking. My husband and I were the slowest in our group (because we were the oldest!), there was always a guide and sometimes both guides staying with us. Mario would stay one step behind my husband to make sure he didn't fall down the steep steps! He offered to hold my husband but my husband insisted to walk by himself. They kept offering me to carry our backpacks and shared their drinks with us.The porters were all nice and amazingly carrying a "mountain load" of stuff and still walked like a puma. In my second day near the end, since we were so behind the group and it was getting dark and cold, two porters walked back to meet us and brought hot tea and sandwiches! I was amazed by the quality and variety of the food they cooked on the way, though most of them was carbs - which I read it should be! The view on the trek was beautiful and people we met were all humble and nice. I feel like I am connected with Peru and the Inka people! Overall, it was a great experience and we all want to go back! Other feedback: I think I read somewhere that the guides are supposed to have oxygen bottles for emergencies, but they didn't. Also it was not clear in the instructions that we have to carry our own pads - they are really light, and it wasn't an issue for us since we hired a private porter. But it will be good if it can be explained explicitly in the instructions. We also didn't know that we can hire porters for a day or two instead of all 4 days -- again this doesn't apply to us as we need a porter for the whole trip -- but it will be good to know the info ahead of time.

4 Day Salkantay Trail

My son and I had the most amazing time on our trek with Karikuy Tours! Everything progressed seamlessly and even when we changed our train times they were so accommodating and arranged for us to be picked up early. I can't recommend enough booking with Karikuy Tours. They provided us with a great trip and were excellent with communication!!

Picture perfect

The Lares trek was absolutely phenomenal. Views were as of they were in a painting and my fiancée and I had so much fun climbing and chatting with our guide. We went in the low season so it was just us on the tour but it was great because we got to go at our pace instead of waiting for stragglers. The trail was well kept (but challenging!) and the places we stayed were great. The food though was fantastic. Our chef (and his wife who is in the picture) were great and made us traditional food that we were definitely impressed came out of the few things he had. It was also great not to have to carry everything we had, but just a day pack which was a benefit to the Lares trek. The train ride was interesting as well and we got to learn a lot just from sitting in the train. But all of that doesn’t compare to the tour we had from our guide inside Machu Picchu. We got to see a double rainbow over the ruins and we learned so much about the Inca people. The whole trip was amazing!

Fantastic Inca Trail

My son and I had a fantastic time on our 4-day, 3-night Inca Trail Trip with Karikuy Tours. The guides and porters for our trip were great, always keeping us on schedule, setting up camp for us in spectacular locations, and preparing wonderful meals. We felt especially privileged to have two strong, capable female guides to lead our group, and we were fortunate to share the whole experience with a friendly and adventurous group of fellow trekkers. The whole experience exceeded our hopes and expectations.


Attached: (1) Picture of my son (Jeff) and me (Bill) at the top of Machu Picchu Mountain with Machu Picchu in the distance below.

Best wishes,

Bill Pech (Inca Trail Trip, Dec. 21-4, 2017)

PERU TRIP

First of all I want to guarantee that my review is REAL. I had the opportunity to enjoy their services and I have to admit they made a really good job, the best ever. In particular Claudia who is kind, available, and prompt in her replies. Everything was perfect, the timetable, their tips for a perfect trip, the accommodations were gorgeous, and their services flawless. I am really satisfied with this 15 days trip so well organized in every step. I truly suggest this company for their services. I am used to travel a lot and I have to admit I have never found such a good TO. I'd like to compliment you Claudia and your staff for the great job you have done with me. Definitely the best value for money you can have in such a beautiful country as Peru. Thank you for a most lovely and memorable experience. If I have the opportunity to come to Peru again, I'll use your service again. If I have friends who want to come to your country, I'll definitely remember your company. Thank you again for providing such a memorable experience. Ciao!

2 Day Tour of Machu Picchu

My husband and I went on the 2 day tour of Machu Picchu, with a sunrise climb of Waynu Picchu (pictured). Karikuy Tours took care of us from start to finish. They came to our hotel in Cusco about 6pm the night before to meet with us in person and answer all of our questions about what to bring and what to expect. They also give you all your tickets for the multiple buses, trains and entry points you go through and explained each one. I was pretty nervous catching the multiple buses and trains and finding our accom so I really appreciated this level of service! About 5am the next morning, a tour shuttle bus came to our hotel and picked us up. It took about 3 hours to drive to the train station. It took a bit of time to pick up all these other people from their hotels (which frankly is very annoying, long and tedious but it happened on every tour I went on so I think this is the standard in Cusco). From here, we boarded the train. We sat in economy but honestly I was super impressed with how clean and comfortable the train was. The ride to Aguas Calientes (the town at the bottom of Machu Picchu) was gorgeous and there’s windows on the roof so you can even see up! We were served drinks and snacks (all included) on our train ride. There was some confusion when we got off the train. Our guide was late to turn up so they sent someone else who spoke absolutely no English. Downloading an app onto your phone that works without wifi is a MUST. Fortunately, we managed to peek over this girls shoulder and see our names were written down on a piece of paper - sheer luck! Once our English-speaking tour guide turned up 15 minutes later, things got much easier. He arranged for a person from our hostel to take all our luggage back to our room (remember to lock your bags and keep all your valuables on you, I got to the hostel to find my bag completely open but nothing taken thankfully - but it’s not worth the risk!). Our guide then escorted us through Aguas Calientes, showed us the location of our hostel, and then took us to the bus that would take us up to Machu Picchu. He even told us the best side of the bus to sit on for the greatest view! The buses are comfortable and it takes 20-30mins to get up narrow winding roads. Our guide then accompanied us through the gate to Machu Picchu, showing us what tickets we needed to be scanned. It was pouring rain when we arrived and a complete whiteout. Despite this, we had an amazing time with our tour guide. We had a guide all to ourselves - just the two of us! He spoke amazing English and answered all our many questions, he was incredibly knowledgeable. You cannot go to Machu Picchu without getting a tour - there is soo much to learn! If somehow you find your own way to Machu Picchu, there are plenty of guides waiting outside the gates who speak great English and you can book on the spot. Our guide took us to get our passports stamped with the special Machu Picchu stamp! After our tour, he then left us, but not before explaining when and where to use all our remaining tickets. So helpful! Fortunately the whiteout cleared after 4 hours, and after exploring the wonder that is Machu Picchu by ourselves, we took the bus down the mountain and walked to our hostel. I don’t have high expectations for hostels, but no one in the hostel spoke English (this is when that app comes in handy!). Our bags that they were holding were also unzipped. The next day we took the bus back up the mountain ourselves to climb Waynu Picchu. We had much better weather this day and the view was simply amazing! However, when it was time to head down, all the bus drivers had gone on strike! We didn’t get refunded for our ticket, and my poor husband had busted his knee during the climb, so he had to hobble for over 2 hours down the mountain. There were loud protests in the square of Aguascalientes when we got to the bottom, but they weren’t violent thankfully. We ran to our hostel, grabbed our things, and just made the train with 5 minutes to spare. At the train station, a man from the tour company was waiting for us to drive us back to our hotel - thank goodness there were no other people in the car or multiple hotel stops, we were exhausted! All in all, the tour company were great compared to going it alone, but there were still a few cons. 3.5 stars.

Salktantay Trek

Our 5 day trek to Salktantay was incredible. Our guide, Mari, was excellent and did an awesome job at handling the 13 of us... Even when we were perpetually late and trying to get lost. The views were incredible, the company was even better, and the food was among the best we had on the entire trip. Highly recommend!!

Machu Picchu

My boyfriend and I did the sunrise 2 day tour of Machu Picchu with the second day morning hike up Huayna Picchu. I cannot imagine with the lines and number of people doing this tour any other way than having someone arrange all the various transportation, know when to get into line and what to expect. My only criticism was the lodging. They put us in the Denny's hostal in Aguas Calientes that for one of the two days had NO RUNNING WATER> Not ideal after a long day of sunshine, sweat and crowds. But overall, good experience.                                                                                                                                         Karikuy's Response: Thank you for the review! Unfortunatley Aguas Calientes suffers from water shortages, all hotels and most hostels store water for emergencies but if the hotel or hostel is full these only last a couple hours. We apologize for the inconveniance, it is not a situation we can control and is up to the local government and utility company to remedy.

Great Tour - No Issues

I just returned from Peru, having finished the 4 day/3 night Salkantay Tour. From start to finish the tour was flawless, obviously meticulously planned out. The staff was excellent and the meals were more than adequate. Our lead tour guide, Nealto (or Neil, or "Coach" - sorry for the bad spelling) was a standout. He was very personable and extremely knowledgeable about the trail as well as local and historic Inca customs. He also demonstrated that he genuinely cares about each individual person's needs and treated every single person with the utmost respect and kindness. I hope that he receives the recognition that he deserves.

Very organized company

I was trying to set up the train, van , bus and hotel and tickets to go to Machu Picchu and after a month I realized that's really complicated. After a research I found Karikuy, and they do everything for me. Everything that they offer is 100% real. They help , explain, guide and communicate to you all the time. Amazing Team . I Loved and enjoyed Machu Picchu - Thank You Karikuy

Jungle Inca Trek

Traveled to Peru this past May for 9 days and was the best adventure trip I've done so far. I attached a video of my whole trip including the 4 day jungle inca trek and Rainbow mountain tour I booked via Karikuy. I love the tours. The guide contacted us the day or night before to let us know what we needed. I recommend the Jungle Inca Trek to Machu picchu to anyone who not only want to hike the inca trail but also experience adventure along the way. Cycling down a mountain was amazing, water rafting in Class IV was no joke either, and ziplining in the mountains in 5 different positions was both scary and exciting as well. Best of all, the 16 mile hike may sound so intimidating and impossible but it was the best part for me. Going thru mountains, jungle, river, meeting locals, learning about inca culture. It was the the most amazing time of my life. Finally, the Machu Picchu itself was a whole new world, truly is majestic. Its my first wonder of the world and it absolutely encouraged me to travel and see the other wonders of the world. And the cherry to the cake, we had the best guide Jhimmy!!! He is the funniest and nicest guide ever. Our group will never forget him. Link

Salkantay Trek

We had an amazing time! It was a difficult trek, but a really rewarding one. We were so happy with our guide, Nilton, who made all the difference in our journey. The views were astounding and we couldn't have asked for a better experience.

Jungle Inca Trek

I was worried about going with this travel company since they weren't on trip advisor or any big name websites like many other companies but I loved their purpose. This was the best gamble we had ever taken! We were fully prepared with the information they sent and couldn't have had a better experience. You will rough it as far as the accommodations go but they are completely up front about that. They don't try to hide anything and the tour guides are AMAZING. Would 100% recommend this company.

Wonderful Staff

Thank you Karikuy Tour for your wonderful staff on their professionalism and concern for safety. They made it enjoyable!

Will book again!

The trip was excellent! As a yoga retreat/trip planner, I needed a company that I was confident in booking with. Karikuy was professional and organized. They met the standards that I hold for my business and I was grateful for the ease and convenience they gave me for a cost that I could afford. I will definitely be booking with them again!

VINCENT!!!

Absolutely the best trip of our lives. Completely new to traveling to South America, and the assistance and advice to preparing for our destination of a 4 day Jungle Trek was perfect. The operation never missed a beat (very knowledgeable and professional staff) and our team leader was VINCENT! Obviously passionate about his field and territory, and positively a joy to share the experience with. My lady and I felt completely safe with his leadership even though the adventures here were FAR out of our comfort zone...never once were we made to feel anything other than welcomed and inspired. I would do this trip again in a heartbeat. AMAZING! Thank you Claudia, Vincent, Hector, and Karikuy Tours. We will be back.

Trip of a Lifetime

Booking my Salkantay Trail travel through Karikuy was seamless and done with ease. I expected a long line of to-do tasks prior to the trip and I was pleased to find that the company's process ran efficiently. The price and the reviews are what drew me to Karikuy. I was disappointed that the Inca trail was booked but it turns out that I absolutely loved Salkantay trail. It was cheaper in price which was wallet friendly for me personally! My best girlfriend and I are travel buddies and decided to do this trip last minute. We had never hiked before in our lives. The guide was super helpful and full of history. It was an emotional, spiritual and life changing experience. Trip of a lifetime.

Machu Picchu Inca trek

Had a once in a lifetime trek with amazing guides and a great group. I can’t wait to come back to peru!

Amazonion jungle tour

When I booked with Karikuy I was pretty hesitant because they didn't have much reviews on TripAdvisor. I booked my tour to Amazon Jungle departing from Cusco and returning to Lima with transport in cusco and hotel in Lima and transport to/from airport in Lima. Everything turned out just fine. The lodge in the Amazon and the guide were great for the value. The pickup were all on time except because my flight delay to Lima the pickup didn't wait for me. I would imagine they would check my flight status. However they did refund me the cost of the taxi.

I couldn't get in touch with the tour company immediately when I need help but i usually get a respond within 20-30min during business hour.

Epic Jungle Trek

I went to Peru in August and went on the Jungle Trek with 15 others, that I didn't know and became close friends with all of them. Rene, our tour guide was amazing leading us through the 4 days to Machu Picchu, When you are spending 4 days 3 nights with 15 others, you get to know them quite well and leaving them after the 4 days was tough to do. We all enjoyed each others company and still are staying in touch. Claudia from Karikuy did an excellent job of communicating with me the plans around this trip from the beginning to the end of the trip. I would say it has been my most memorable and amazing adventure trip I've ever had in my life. Thank you Claudia and the Karikuy organization for making it so memorable for me. If I go back to Peru, I will definitely be using Karikuy to set up my tours.

Memorable Inca trail trek

I booked the 4 day 3 night Inca trail trek to Machu Pichu in January 2017 for August 2-17 for our family party of 5. Booking was easy and communications were good. We then realised we needed to get an earlier train back from Machu Pichu which was arranged no problem for a small additional charge. I then realised one digit of one of our party's passport number was incorrect, worried that this would invalidate the permit I informed Karikuy who said they could get it changed, for $20, which I paid immediately. After worrying for two months and an email saying that the change was delayed, I was informed it was done. This is a bit strange because when we arrived in Cusco the passport number was still wrong on the permit. Which in the end didn't matter. Not sure why I paid the extra $20!! Anyway we arrived in Cusco and met our guide, Mario, in our hotel the night before our trek and set off the following morning. The trek was fantastic, but hard work. Mario was great guide, informative, knowledgeable and patient. The meals and porters were also great (one night the tents were late because a porter had hurt his ankle and one of the evening meals was not up to the same standard as the others!). Mario made sure we were up and at the sun gate early on the final morning to get the full experience of seeing Machi Pichu for the first time. He also gave us a great tour of the site. The ruins we saw along the trek were also fascinating and Mario was very knowledgeable about all of them. My only complaint was that the tents we had were old, one with a broken zip and they did leak on the last night when we had rain - maybe time for some new ones!
Overall an enjoyable, memorable and well organised trek.

Interesting trip in the Amazon

I used Karikuy to book our Amazon adventure at the end of our two week Peru trip. Everything worked as planned and we were picked up (and returned to) our hotel. We stayed in the Ecolodge which was lovely along with the wildlife. Meals were good and the excursions very interesting.

Karikuy made our trip planning easy!

We travelled to Macchu Picchu via Cusco for four days with help from Karikuy. We had already booked hotels and train tickets, but realized that figuring out other transportation, tickets to various sites, and tour guides was not as easy as we expected. When I reached out to Karikuy and explained what we needed help with, they understood immediately and figured it all out for us at a very reasonable price. It was only three weeks before our trip, but they jumped in right away. Everything went flawlessly. Drivers showed up on time and were easy to find, tour guides were informative and friendly, and all of the tickets were arranged for. My only minor surprise was that the timing for tours in Macchu Picchu ended up slightly different than we had agreed upon initially. It all worked out great in the end. I would recommend using Karikuy if you need the same type of help that we did. Claudia, who helped us arrange everything in advance, was particularly great to work with. She helped us figure out a complicated ticket situation and gracefully dealt with several changes we made to our itinerary!

Epic Peruvian Adventure

 I couldn't recommend Karikuy highly enough! From the research stage, to planning and booking tours, accomodation and activities Karikuy helped us at every step of the way! 

Even while we were in Peru Karikuy was working behind the scenes to ensure that our trip went to plan.

We were in Peru when the flooding tragedy recently began, and Karikuy had a back up travel plan ready for us, before we even knew there would be an issue on the roads we were travelling on.

Karikuy listened to the kind of trip we envisioned, and matched us with some really excellent local tour guides. 

Even during minor hiccups on our trip due to lost baggage and a quick trip to the medical centre to remove about half a sea urchin from my foot, Karikuy ensured our tour guides knew where we were and helped us get back on track.

You can really do all the research you want yourself, but there is no way to beat the local knowledge to be gained from the team at Karikuy.

Exploring Peru surpassed my expectations - not only because of the amazing people, history and vastly changing landscapes but  because Karikuy helped us plan such an epic holiday!

Hands down the best experience!

My boyfriend and I did the Jungle Adventure with Karikuy in March - BEST EVER! When I was looking up Machu Picchu treks I either found them way to expensive or not very fun. I also was really nervous doing 4 days of full trekking. Starting from the bike ride down the mountain, trekking, ziplining and everything in between it was amazing. Our tour guide JJ was really fun and very knowledgable. Food is great and they cater for vegetarians so my boyfriend didn't go starving. The hostels/homestays were great. I have and will continue to recommend this to everyone I know doing Machu Picchu Trek. 

Best Trip We've Ever Taken

My brother and I completed the Salkantay Trek between March 31st and April 4th. Our guide, Aurelio, was extremely friendly, knowledgeable about the area and the local culture, and fostered a great camaraderie among our group, which consisted of 17 people from five different countries. The food and accommodations were great given the environment, and the chefs did a phenomenal job mxing up the meals from day to day. Peru was the most beautiful country I've ever visited, and the Salkantay Trek allowed us to see a little bit of everything. I've already recommended to a friend and will surely be recommending this company to several more.

Awesome trip!! So glad I went with Karikuy!

I selected Karikuy Tours Peru for my Machu Picchu tour because of a number of reasons.  First, they had many tour options available.  Second the price was the best.  Now that I have completed the tour, I'm really glad I went with them!

The communications by Claudia Timana was outstanding!  She explained everything and very quickly answered all of my email questions. Also when I had a quick question, the online chat support was super helpful.  The accommodations were good. All of the employees at the hostels were very helpful and friendly.  The meals were amazing!  Everyone one of them. The meals were preordered and I ate things I normally would not order otherwise.  The tours were on time and arranged perfectly.

Finally, our tour guide Jimmy was so gracious and such a good guide.  He really knows his history and culture and was passionate about the Peruvian way of life.  They are proud people rich in history. 

Jimmy was awesome!!! 

 

Thanks Karikuy!   You made this the best trip yet. 

 

Peru was my 28th country to visit. So I have past tour experience to compare :)

Salkantay Trek 4 days

 

We trekked the Salkantay Trek with Karikuy Tours on the 19th to 22nd April 2017. Our guide Caesar met us promptly at our hotel the night before and explained everything in good English and we were picked up in the morning full of confidence. The company was really professional, Caesar was so great, caring and knowledgeable and the group number was only 15 with 9 nationalities. Weather was  fantastic and views amazingly class to the highest mountains and glaciers. We were not disappointed. The meals were incredible for the facilities.

We would not hesitate in recommending this company and this Trek.

Great Guides, Spectacular Scenery

I would recommended the Karikuy tours Salkantay trek to anyone who enjoys the great outdoors and hiking. You get to see the real Peru and many of its beautiful sights on this trek. It is challenging in parts but that makes it very rewarding at the end of each day. I'd say an average level of fitness would be fine to do this trek, as the guides are great and there is a one at the front of the group and one at the back, so if you want to take your time and soak up the sights and atmosphere then everyone is accommodated and can do it in their own time. In brief I would say it has great guides, spectacular scenery, and even good food provided along the way!

 Link

Sunrise Tour Package

My son and I did the sunrise machu picchu tour package in late January.  When you consider the logistics involved with all the different "moving parts" necessary to get us to and from Cusco, various pickups and deliveries, it was amazing that everything came off without a hitch.  From the guides through the sacred valley and machu picchu, to the hotel arrangements, and the pretravel checkins the night before each trek, things went flawlessly.  Thanks Karikuy and Oscars Adventures.

Unforgettable Trip

My boyfriend and I had the most amazing time doing the Eco Amazonia 3 Day Tour. Our guide Alex was very knowledgeable and went above and beyond to make sure that we had a great experience. The food was delicious and freshly made, including fresh fruit grown in their self-sustaining ecosystem. The lodge itself is beautiful, and we loved our romantic cabin. Getting to feed monkeys by hand, as well as see all the animals via motor and paddle boat was an adventure we will never forget. I highly recommend this to anyone able to make the trip!

Experiencia inolvidable!

Queria agradecerles por el hermoso tour que ofrecen.

Desde el guia Percy, y los porteadores hemos pasado unos maravillos 4 dias de Aventura en el Inca Trail. Hemos aprendido muchisimo y capturado lugares de ensueno.

Flawless Trip

I wanted to let you know how very pleased we were with our Lares trek.  We really liked our guide, Vladimir.  He was informative, good natured and good company.  The cook, Nico, provided us with outstanding meals and was also good-natured and kind.  We liked the serenity of the Lares trek and decided that, in the end, that was the perfect trek for our group.  All the transfers were seamless and our hotel in Agua Calientes was beautiful and delightful. Vladimir gave us a wonderful and insightful tour of Machu Picchu.  In short, it was an amazing experience that went like clock-work.  Thank you for providing us with an extraordinary experience on our Mother/Daughter trip that we will remember for a lifetime.

Our trip was absolutely incredible.

We would like to thank Julio Cesar Tello at Karikuy for all of his assistance with the planning of our trip to Peru.

 

The whole trip was absolutely amazing.  All our guides and drivers were great and very helpful and informative, our travel connections were great and our overnight stays were delightful.

 

Our group chose the “Southern Circuit” and then customized it in order to see more points of interest we were interested in seeing. We were very pleased with the ability to customize our tour and see more than we thought we would be able to see.

 

We will definitely recommend Karikuy to others who are planning a trip to Peru.  Our trip was absolutely incredible.

 

The Adams group

Wonderful Time and Experience

Hola! Our family had such a wonderful time and experience on our expedition to the rainforest! Thank you Angel! You were a great guide! Please come visit us in Denver, Colorado!

Mi casa Es su casa!

Took care of all our needs

We loved our trip to Salkantay 5D/4N. We booked with Karikuy based on the testimonials. It was very well done and they took care of all our needs during the trip. Being a vegetarian on the trek was not a problem. Our guide Nilton was very knowledgeable, always positive, friendly and overall he was terrific. our group was also wonderful. Had a blast. We would be happy to recommend Karikuy to friends and family. Hope to come back and visit soon!

We loved our experience

My partner and I did the Inca Trail in May 2016. We booked with Karikuy and they were really prompt at replying to emails and gave detailed answers to our questions, no matter how many we asked! Karikuy also gave us a detailed guide to Peru, with tips as well as recommendations for hostels/restaurants. Whilst you do not walk the trail with Karikuy, they ensured that our tour was organised and met us beforehand to brief us which was really great. We loved our experience and would not hesitate to book through Karikuy again. Thanks!

Amazing journey that i will never ever forget!

We booked a customised tour with Karikuy with the Jungle Inka trail treck, followed by a tour to lake Titicaca and the Uros floating islands.



I was unsure at first because i had never heard of this tour company. After reading several reviews and watching a video someone had made of there Jungle Inka trek we were sold. When booking the tour it was such an easy process, with prompt responses and all questions asked - it was off to a great start. The jungle inka trail trek was a highlight of my life - it was the best tour we had ever done. We were lucky and got the best tour guide ever - Aurelio! He was full of knowledge and had passion for his job - after spending the 4 days with him, we didn't want to part with him and we all ended up crying when the tour ended - after such an amazing journey with him we felt lost when he left. Everything was perfect about this tour from the accommodation, the people, the adventures and the amazing food - i could not say one bad thing. My favorite part was staying in the house in the jungle where everything they fed us was off the land, they roasted there own coffee and even made there own chocolate. We were very lucky with our group size there were only 6 of us and we made up 4 of those people - so it felt very personal. Machu Picchu was incredible and the breathtaking views they would leave us speechless along the way. I would recommend this tour company to everyone and i would do it all over again in a heart beat! I would love to come back to Peru and explore more and we will defiantly be using Karikuy tours. Thank you for the amazing journey that i will never ever forget!





Thank you Julio - it was truly amazing! Words do not even explain how amazing this trip was.

Accommodations & guides exceeded our expectations

We just returned from our 2nd trip to Peru. This time we explored the Amazon rain forest, Paracas Reserve & Ballestas Island. Despite the late reservation on our part, Julio was able to put together a fantastic itinerary. All accommodations & guides exceeded our expectations.



Will definitely use Karikuy again for the 3rd time.



Mar & Rowena Buendia

Los Angeles, CA.

Fantastic and Very Relaxing.

Ten of us, six from UK and 4 from Canada booked a tour of Peru with Karikuy. Julio arranged all of our complete package personalized to our needs. We had 6 on the first leg of the tour and the rest joined us at Arequipa. The whole tour was arranged with care and when our flight was delayed by a day Julio re-arranged everything at short notice. Our guides and porters during the 4 day Inca trail were excellent. They catered for individual needs- various members of the group had various dietary requirements and all of them were met without any problem. Following the Inca trail we spent 2 days in Puerto Maldonado and it was fantastic and very relaxing. Our only problem was the cancellation/delay of the flight back from Puerto Maldonado due to heavy rain. Julio was very helpful throughout and helped us to get some refund from Star Peru. We will highly recommend Karikuy for any one wanting to tour Peru.

We would do it all over again

Wow. This trip was so incredible. Peru is a beautiful country. The sites, people, and food are fantastic. Julio planned a custom tour for us, at a very reasonable rate. Better than if I had planned it myself. Everything went as planned except for one small hiccup. Once addressed it was dealt with very professionally. Our itinerary included Lima, Cusco, Sacred Valley, Machu Picchu, Puno (Lake Titicaca) and Eco amazonia in Puerto Maldonado. Every location we encountered was so unique and special. We can't even pick which was better than the next. We dealt with Oscar for the bulk of our tour in Cusco and surrounding areas and he was incredible. Always on time, courteous, informative, professional. But, he was not the only person who was this way. Every person we encountered along the was way was top notch. We highly recommend Karikuy. We would do it all over again.



-Christina and Raymond from Toronto, Canada

Smooth and seamless trip!

My fiancée and I chose Karikuy so we could take a break from planning on our travels and have a stress-free organised trip to just completely enjoy the great sights Peru had to offer... and that is EXACTLY what we got- a smooth and seamless trip! Karikuy were brilliant from the outset. Julio planned a custom 12 day itinerary for us and gave us a number of options to help keep it within our budget. It can't have been too easy with us constantly changing our minds but he was always very helpful and responsive to our emails. Over the 12 days of our tour the transfer and other services were excellent. We started off in Lima, then onto Ica, where we had a great time sandboarding, then flew over Nazca lines in a private plane. We caught a comfortable overnight bus to Cusco, where we stayed a couple of days to acclimate, then got picked up for our 4 day Jungle Inca Trek. The trek was really amazing with an awesome guide and good accommodation. The food included was great too. And of course, Machu Picchu and the Machu Picchu mountain was incredible! Our final destination was Lake Titicaca in Puno. There was always someone to meet us and explain everything we needed to know at each destination. Even when there were a few hiccups (as expected in South America), Julio and his team always solved them quickly and professionally. I would definitely recommend Karikuy to other travelers, as they offer top quality service at an affordable price. Thank you Karikuy for an unforgettable Peru experience!



-Dean and Yurina from England and Japan

Wholeheartedly recommend Karikuy...

As a photographer I had heard many great things about Peru. When I arrived it was an explosion of sights and things to shoot. I must have taken over 5000 photos :) I found Karikuy on Google and did some research, they seemed like an average company at first but from my first correspondance with Julio my plans were quickly put on paper with a detailed itinerary they created for me based on what I wanted to see and do. I mentioned the photography and they let me know the most photogenic places to visit, although I don't think you can go wrong in Peru, even Lima with it's mood and overcast skies provides great shots of the cathedrals and colonial buildings. The price of the tour is what really hooked me as it was more then reasonable, Paypal checkout helped me ease my mind about fraud as I have had an account for Ebay. My only disappointment was that I did not get to hike to Huayna Picchu as it was sold out. I recommend you book these admissions as far in advance as possible. Other then that the tour was very proffesional and the guides were great. Email correspondance was always quick with their main office, they also have an emergency cell line. I got a bit sick with the altitude but Karikuy guides helped me through it and I recovered. Their attention to customers was very much appreciated as I traveled alone. Wholeheartedly recommend Karikuy for your trip to Peru, Oscar in Cusco is just a pleasure and Julio is a great at putting together a great trip. Thank you for everything!

The experience changed me forever.

When I contacted Karikuy I asked for more then a tour, I was looking for a spiritual experience. I had heard there were many places like these in Peru but I also knew I was asking for a lot, however this company did not disappoint and the experience changed me forever. I started my tour by arriving in Lima and trying some of the best food I have ever tasted. God so many different dishes to choose from! The I went to Puno and Lake Titicaca where I spent a night with a local family on Amantani to see their way of live. There are things we truly take for granted in life and spending some time here really opened my eyes as well as the amazing views of the lake. From Puno I went to Cusco to catch my flight to Puerto Maldonado and Corto Maltes Lodge where I had an Ayahuasca session which of course was unforgettable, I believe I came out a different person after that but thats another story unto itself. Having some free time after this experience to reflect on the journey I then traveled to Cusco and to Machu Picchu which is just something heavenly. It is as if you are not on earth, I couldn't even begin to describe this place. TV or magazines can't even come close to having you witness this place in person, it really feels like you are on another planet it is so alien. Anyways I am glad I chose Karikuy, they gave me the experience I wanted and much more, I am not the same person as I was before this trip and I am very grateful for that. Thank you and a big hug to all the staff at Karikuy Tours.

Karikuy Did a Great Job...

Bucket List: Check

Peru and Machu Picchu were tops on my bucket list. After our oldest son graduated from college, we booked a trip with Karikuy to experience Peru and celebrate his Engineering degree. Karikuy did a great job squeezing in a lot of Peru in 9 days including Lima, Amazon, and of course Machu Picchu and Cusco. Multiple airports, hotels, and tours without a hiccup. Always a Karikuy guide where they were supposed to be. 9 days is too quick to enjoy Peru would be my only downside. Vistadome train ride back from Machu Picchu, hike up Machu Picchu mountain above the ruins, a night in Cusco mixing Pisco sours behind the bar at Pisco de Museo, and seeing the stars and milky way from the Amazon in pitch black on the river were highlights but the food was amazing, the people terrific. Need to go back.



-Larrabee Family

Very good service and will recommend.

Trip was good. Got to see many great sites in Peru, Machu Picchu was my favorite. We got to see the ruins at sunrise and wow, incredible. Karikuy is very good company and easy to book, price was even better. All services were good and customer service very good. We create our itinerary fast and easy and Karikuy send us price and information. Very good service and will recommend.



-Baruch

Hard to come by companies this well run...

I just got back from my trip to Machu Picchu and it was fantastic. The incredible scenery, the food, the people, what more could you ask for, Peru is an incredible country. From our arrival in Lima to our departure from Cusco we were made to feel at home, our guides were very warm and informative and anytime we had any questions Julio was just an email away with information and guidance. I travel a lot and it is hard to come by companies this well run, and it is only a small company and local which is great because we got a very good price overall. All I can say is you will not be disappointed. Thank so much Karikuy and Viva Peru!



-Jo-anne from Canada

Company with a huge heart...

Thank you for organizing this trip for me and my group, the experience was very enjoyable from booking to execution the guides were mostly on time, the hotels were great and the guides very informative. Our group enjoyed trying new foods and learning about the history of the areas we visited. Our itinerary was well planned and we got to visit the most we could in our 9 days in Peru. I am very grateful to have found this small company with a huge heart, thanks again for such a wonderful journey.

Best trip ever...

Traveled with a group of friends to Peru to do the Salkantay trek to Machu Picchu and what an adventure it was. This was one of the hardest treks I have ever done in my life but the scenery made it all worth the plane ticket alone. Karikuy is a great tour company and took care of us from the moment we arrived in Lima. Their guides are very friendly, some speak English better then other but there is no language barrier and they know what travelers want to see and do. Our guides even partied with us in Cusco after the trek! If you are undecided about traveling to Peru, go now! there is so much to see and do, did I mention the food is amazing! Best trip ever hands down.



Thank you Karikuy Tours

-Fendley Group

Memories to Last a Lifetime!

I booked a 4 day Jungle Inca trail tour for my parents, boyfriend and myself. It wasn't the tour we original had our hearts set on but Karikuy tours convinced me that we would not be disappoint and they were right! We had the most amazing adventure; cycling, hiking, rafting and zip-lining our way to Machu Pichhu. Our guide was wonderfully knowledgeable about the area and the ruins, he went above and beyond to make sure that we were safe and having a good time. The food on our tour was excellent! We always had enough to eat and got to enjoy some amazing Peruvian food. We were all so impressed by our tour and seeing other travelers along the way we knew we picked the best tour company. We will be sure to recommend this tour and our guide, Edgar to friends and family visiting Peru. A wonderful experience had by all and memories to last a lifetime!



- The Sanderson crew from Prince Edward Island, Canada

Great Trip.

Just completed a great 10 day trip. Lima, Nasca, Arequipa, Puno, Cusco, Macchu Pichu - traveling alone but easily connected with a tour in each site. Pick-up and transfers worked seamlessly. Julio was quick to respond to my one phone call question and one email while I was there. Great trip. I'd recommend Karikuy highly.

Experience we will never forget!

Read some reviews online and was hesitant at first, but once I got in contact with Julio it was a breeze organizing my trip to Peru. Me and my GF Katie had a great time from visiting the Islas Ballestas and Lake Titicaca to Cusco and Machu Picchu. We recommend you also spend some time in Lima as the food is the best. Karikuy was very responsive to our requests when putting together the itinerary, we had a custom itinerary put together and were very pleasantly surprised by the price. We are recommending to all our friends and family back home. Thank you for an truly memorable experience we will never forget!

Karikuy is the #@$!...

Karikuy is the #@$! OMG so glad to have found them online, they did an awesome job at putting together an itinerary for me and my mates. We did the Jungle Inca Trail it was a crazy adventure all the way to Machu Picchu! Great guides, great food and company. Recommended to all my mates, you could not make a better choice! Thanks Julio and the team over at Karikuy!

Our Guides were Amazing...

Thank you so much to Karikuy. Julio helped us every step of the way for planning our trip and accommodate changes that we requested. Even when we were in Peru, he was able to answer any questions for us. Our family booked a 9 day tour which included tours of Lima, Nazca Lines, Ica/sand dunes, Cuzco, Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu. All our tours provided us such great one on one service. There was always someone to meet us to pick us up from the various public transportation stations. We never had to worry about getting around town and visit all the amazing sites that Peru had to offer. Our guides were amazing and provided so much information about the Incan history. There was always time for us to spend time as a family and to explore on our own. Peru is an amazing country and the people so friendly. I wish we could have stayed long. Karikuy will be my first choice the next time we visit!!

Guides were fantastic

Hello Julio I hope you are doing well! I traveled with your company two years ago in August on the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu. We had a wonderful time, and I wanted to say thank you again for your guidance. Your company is great, and the guides were fantastic. I attached a photo from our trek! This was from the first day.

..Unforgettable Experience.

Julio: today is the last day of our stay in Peru and I want to thank you for what you did to make this a unforgettable experience. From detailed itinerary to knowledgeable guides, friendly people who took care of our transfers, to accommodations that exceeded our expectations we are most grateful to your agency. We will certainly promote Karikuy Tours to anyone we know that might want a similar experience... Thanks again Julio.... Arie Van Seters & mark Heins... Ps special commendation to Percy our guide during 4 day Inca Trek.

..Exceeded our Expectations..

I was part of 'Seldom's' group and just returned to the USA. Karikuy tours provided a wonderful experience in Peru. Your guides were prompt and knowledgeable. Oscar met us with a smile, and we stayed at his wife's B & B where we were treated like family. All of the 'hostels' far exceeded our expectations both in warmth and hospitality.



The two days of touring in Cusco were very informative. I did feel that we did try to cram too much into those days--I understand that Peru has so much to offer and you want to share it all! The Inca trail guides were SUPERIOR! Valerie was organized and informative. Guido has such heart and was gently encouraging. After childbirth, I found the trail to be most challenging for me. Hector rescued our two fellow travelers who couldn't continue.



I appreciated how all tour guides were on time, friendly, and delivered all tickets and information necessary. A suggestion for Peru--take some of the fees from the trail and invest in composting toilets! The porters are a wonder too! The camp food was excellent and abundant. The trip to Puno was informative too. The floating islands were quite unique as was the cultural background. Great guide on that trip too. I had some trouble at the airport. Evidently one is not able to take fossils out of Peru. I bought one for my son and one for my grandson at one road market on our trip to Sacred Valley. I would have appreciated knowing we couldn't take them out of the country. The seller didn't tell me that. Overall I thoroughly enjoyed your country and people. Warmth and hospitality abounded. Thank you.



Patricia Fuhrman

..Went Above and Beyond..

Joining a group tour is not our idea of seeing places because of lack of flexibility and would limit our interactions with the locals. The main purpose why we travel is not only to see places but also try to learn the country's culture, history and interact with the people. Julio Tello of Karikuy made it possible for us to achieve all these at a very reasonable price. Special thanks to Tarsis Ayala (Lima) who went above & beyond in guiding us to restaurants where the locals go. We very much enjoyed the food at La Buena Muerte Cevicheria & El Tio Mario Anticucheria. Also, many thanks to all the guides for their insightful knowledge shared to us. We will highly recommend your organization to everyone who's planning a trip to Peru. Muchas Gracias !



Rowena & Mar from Los Angeles, California

..An Amazing Adventure!

This tour was hands-down the best part of my (group of 7)'s visit to Peru. It was action packed, very well organized and the best part of it was our tour guide. Aurelio (I forget his last name but we did the tour from May 26-29). We did the Inca Jungle Tour. Aurelio was so patriotic, fun, excited, organized and caring. He led us around and we had complete trust/love for him. Thanks so much for an amazing adventure!

..Would not change a thing.

The trip of a Lifetime. Great service, great value and a great guide in Miguel. We were a small group and we had an absolute ball. The contact with the locals added to the experience. We packed a lot into our two weeks and I don't think we could have done better. Highlights were the train from Puno to Cusco and of course the Lares Trek. We climbed the stairs to Machu Picchu and our guide took us to a great spot to see the sunrise. A magical moment. We ascended Huayna Picchu which completed the experience. Glad we chose Karikuy and would not change a thing. Thanks to everyone for the blast!

..Super Helpful...

The Corto Maltes Amazonia was our adventure. Karikuy was super helpful seeing that everything went smoothly prior to the trip. The jungle adventures were great and our lodge was the perfect refuge after a day of strenuous hiking. We even had a beautiful parrot visitor. I highly recommend!

Great trip, great value, great service!

Great trip, great value, great service! I am very well-traveled but had never worked with a tour company before, so I cannot believe my great good fortune in finding Karikuy. I was traveling alone, and don’t speak Spanish. Julio listened to what I wanted, customized a tour for me at an incredibly reasonable price, and I was over-the-moon happy with the entire trip, which was 2 weeks. There were no snafus, it was seamless. I can’t wait for someone I know to go to Peru so I can recommend Karikuy to them. Go!!

I Totally Recommend.

I really enjoyed this trip to Peru. And thanks to you guys, you made it easier for me. I did it in just 5 days! It was crazy, I wouldn't make it without your help, advice, and timing! I totally recommend. I took the Machu Picchu and Sacred Valley tour with them, and the Titicaca lake (Uros islands) tour.

..The Trip of a Lifetime.

Julio and Karikuy were our boots on the ground planning a study abroad experience for seven students and myself. We had a unique itinerary and budget as we traversed the country. Karikuy made it the trip of a life time. They were always accessible and helpful as we traveled from sea level to over 4,000 meters and back down again from ocean to mountains to jungle. The jungle experience at the Inotawa Lodge was the unexpected highlight - completely off the grid and amazing everything from the food to the accommodations and everything in between. We will be back again!

..Couldn't Have Been Better.

I spent a lot of time and effort trying to find the perfect trek for a small group of three with an absolute time crunch. With the February restrictions on the Inca Trail, we ended up with the Salkantay as our option. From the get-go, we were provided with exceptional turnaround time on questions, and full transparency from Karikuy. When we met with the representative in Cusco the night before the trek began, everything took on a very real feel--by the end of day one, we knew that the choice we made couldn't have been better. Every portion of the trek for our group went flawlessly; the food was good, the sleeping conditions better than expected, and the Salkantay is full of breathtaking views. A company can make or break a trip like this, and thankfully not only did I have the best company and friends with me, but the guides were outstanding (Leo and Joel were outstanding). I will not hesitate to book through Karikuy again on my next venture in Peru.

..Would Definitely Recommend!

Thanks the tour was amazing, William and his crew were very good, would definitely recommend!

Amazing Trip & Memories...

We had an amazing time in Peru as Julio's team at Karikuy put together a perfect custom itinerary for us that included Cusco, an Inca Trail hike, Machu Picchu, and Huayna Picchu. We had no issues throughout our entire trip from the time we landed in Cusco until the afternoon we departed. All of our hotels were excellent and any transportation arrangements (cars, trains) were always on time.Special thanks to Oscar (our driver in Cusco), Jaime (our Cusco guide), and Neilo (our Inca trail and Machu Picchu guide) for their professionalism and service. It is clear that Karikuy works with the best local people to ensure that you have an amazing trip and memories to last a lifetime. We highly recommend using Karikuy for your trip to Peru and seeing the magical, mystical and breathtaking Inca citadel of Machu Picchu.

Wonderful Experience...

This was a wonderful experience, going from the tranquility of Lake Titicaca, then trekking up in the hills on the Salkantay Trek, before finishing at the wonder of Machu Picchu. The organisation was smooth & untroubled, and the hotels booked were good, in particular the one in Cusco which was beautiful. Our plans had to change along the trip & this change was accommodated without any problem.

Strongly Recommend...

My family, ie., me, my husband and daughter booked tour with Karikuy from August 17th to August 24th. This was the best trip we had and enjoyed our time in lima, cuzsco, machu picchu, sacred valley. They were prompt in providing transportation and friendly tour guides. I strongly recommend Karikuy tours and will not be disappointed. We heard about karikuy tours from a friend at work who had a group tour and they recommended to us. I called Julio couple of times while I was in Peru and he always answered me promptly. My daughter said she wants to go back to peru another time. Overall this is the best tour.

Very helpful...

Great 4-Day Inca Trek. We included the whitewater rafting and zipline adventures. Our guide "Broly" was great. Very helpful and super cool. Would definitely recommend Karikuy Tours.

Awesome adventure...

I booked my jungle trek with Karikuy tours without knowing much about them and I am very pleased with my decision! Julio was always very helpful and responded fast to my questions. Also, a guide was sent to my hostel to prep me for the trek and even offered to come back and explain for my friend who was arriving the next day. Also while I was in Cusco, I asked for a last minute tour of Sacred Valley and everything was set up for me in no time. I had an awesome adventure during the jungle trek and I do recommend it with Karikuy tours (with rafting and ziplining :D) because the prices are good and its a well organised trip. Was really worth it!



- Alissa from Montreal, Canada

Had a great trip...

Had a great trip with karikuy tours during our family backpacking trip to Peru. They organised our nazca lines trip which was all excellent. I would have organised a lot more trips through them to save myself hassle if I had known how good they were.

Amazing Experiences...

My trip was for my annual birthday trip. And what a birthday it was, I did the jungle trek tour. And I had the most amazing experiences. I would think that everyone should go.

Price was fantastic...

Our tour with Karikuy was amazing! originally we were only going to book Machu Picchu jungle trek but decided to do a custom two week tour through Peru. Everything was perfect all the sights and cities we wanted to see were included and all our accommodation, transport and tours of local attractions. It made it so easy and was a nice break from having to organise everything ourselves. We basically showed up at each stop there was always a friendly tour guide waiting with good english. The price was fantastic and the accommodation was always clean and in a good location. Machu Picchu was the highlight we had an amazing tour guide and a nice small group. we had so much fun we wanted to do it over again when it had finished. Cannot recommend this agency highly enough.

Whole tour was great...

Had a great time on my trip which included the tourist bus from Cuzco to Puno and a lake Titicaca cruise, followed by the Salkantay trek to Machu Picchu. the whole tour was great, Guides to pick me up at all locations except where a bus was nearly 2 hours late, so I got a taxi and the fare was refunded the next day. I would recommend Karikuy tours to anyone.

Incredible vacation...

Julio booked my trip to Corto Maltes Amazonia Jungle Lodge near Puerto Maldonado, Peru, and he made the process completely effortless for me. This was a relief, as I had tried to book the lodge myself for days with no luck. One phone call to Karikuy, and it was taken care of immediately! All I had to do was show up! I am so grateful to Julio and his team for the incredible vacation they were able to provide for me. It was a trip of a lifetime, and I have Karikuy to thank for it!

Thank you Karikuy

We booked our vacation with Karikuy without any clue around the service quality. Julio always responded very quickly to our questions. Our vacations started in Lima then we went to Ica, Nazca, Arequipa and finally Cuzco. We always had somebody waiting for us at the airport our the bus station. The hotels booked by Julio were clean and comfortable. We spend great time in Peru without being worried for hotel, pick up or visit...etc. Thank you Karikuy and Julio for everything!

One of the best!

We booked package 5d/4n in Corto Maltes Amazonia through Karikuy.It was really good choice to go with Karikuy. Everything was perfect. We would recommend to everyone to go with Karikuy they are one of the best!



Zdenka , Lukas & Elis

Czech Republic

It was phenomenal!

My fiance and I booked this trek (over the Inca Trail) because it was the road less traveled by tourists. It was phenomenal! Our guides and horseman were simply the best and took care of everything. It was just us, the mountains, the locals and llamas. A dream. The hike is tough, but so worth it. We can't wait to go back and do another!

Karikuy was the best choice I could've made...

Choosing Karikuy was the best choice I could've made when visiting Peru. I was looking for an Andes adventure and Julio customized the perfect itinerary that included an Inca trek to Machu Picchu with mountain biking, hot springs and zip lining as well as amazing evening and city tours in Lima and Cusco. It was great meeting so many people in the different tour groups and all of the guides throughout the trip were very professional and a lot of fun as well. You can tell Julio only works with the best. The local families I stayed with on the jungle trek, mountain biking at 4k meters in the Andes and seeing Machu Picchu at sunrise are experiences I'll never forget. Thanks Karikuy!

Amazing how much we got to see and experience in just one week!

My boyfriend and I booked our tour to Peru for the holiday season only three weeks before arriving there, and Julio was very accommodating while working with us under rushed circumstances. We were so impressed with each tour guide we had during our trip! Each day we said, "This is our favorite day so far...no wait, THIS is our favorite day, etc." We chose The Inti tour package and it's amazing how much we got to see and experience in just one week! Since the package was very affordable, we didn't feel bad about spending money on the local art and souvenirs. There was a very smooth transition from one leg of the trip to the next. A very thoughtfully planned tour! I have already recommended Karikuy to others I know who wish to visit Peru soon.



-Kim & Matt from Florida

Affordable and dependable organization with a big heart...

Five women friends from Sitka, Alaska traveled to Peru to tour Machu Picchu. We booked our trip with Karikuy and were so pleased with being able to tweak our trip until it included everything each of us wanted to do. Julio was always quick to respond to questions and requests. Considering all the different areas and activities we experienced our travels were smooth and experiences rewarding. Karikuy is an affordable and dependable organization with a big heart.... so I recommend it heartily.

Excellent, knowledgeable, entertaining and fun.

I wanted to take my husband to photograph the beauty of Peru and it soon became a trip my best friend was coming on including a friend of hers! I wanted to plan this trip as best I could, my best friend suggested a visit to Lake Titicaca. Unfamiliar with this region, I did a lot of researching on getting there from Cusco and what touring companies were available. After dealing with a few vendors, I came across Karikuy and what a blessing! Tours were outlined clearly, payment was easy and best of all, Julio the founder and pretty much the CEO, answered every email, every question, so quickly and so friendly that you would think it was a long time friend of yours assisting you with booking the trip! Fantastic customer service! The tourism company partnered with Karikuy at Lake Titicaca was excellent, knowledgeable, entertaining and fun. Alex, our tour guide was thorough and caring of his guests and even spoke several languages to accommodate other foreign travelers and help them gain a better understanding of what they were seeing and visiting. Don't hesitate or have a doubt with Karikuy. Julio knows what he's doing and he's doing it well! Thank you so much for the experience!

Most affordable on the web and totally legit

KARIKUY Was able to help me organize my Volunteer groups visit to Machu Picchu at short notice and get an amazing priced group rate that included Airport Pick up, Hotel, Tour, Guide and return to Airport. I was impressed with their organization and promptness. Most affordable on the web and totally legit. I will definitely use them next time I visit Peru.



-Dustin Patterson From Silver Spring Maryland

I highly recommend Karikuy...

A thank you note to Karikuy for all arrangements in Lima, Cusco, Sacred Valley, 4 days Inca Trail to Machu Pichhu, Puno - Lake Titicaca and Nazca Lines. Julio was very prompt and diligent in responding to all questions and made sure all transfers/hotels were safe and comfortable. I highly recommend Karikuy for travels to Peru. 3 cheers to Julio and Karikuy! Thank you again.

Made the best choice by choosing Karikuy.

My daughter Kristin always does something memorable for her birthday. This time she decided to celebrate in Peru and asked me, her father, to come along. I said okay, however, she had to make all the arrangements. After some research, Kristin decided on booking with Karikuy. Kristin worked with Julio to plan and organize our nine (May 11-19) days in Peru. With me in Honolulu, Hawaii, Kristin in Buffalo, New York and Julio in Lima, Peru, coordinating this trip was not going to be easy.



As it turns out, Julio did it all and then some! From the moment my daughter began working with Julio setting up the tour until the time we departed Lima to head home, the level of service that Karikuy provided us is unsurpassed! Julio was always quick to answer emails and customize our trip the way we wanted it! We always had someone picking us up at the airport and hotels ensuring we got to where we needed to go. We even had folks briefing us on the following day's itinerary. We definitely made the best choice by choosing Karikuy.



Our arrival in Lima was late in the evening. However, Aaron was there to greet us, take us to our hotel and provide us detailed information on the following day's flight on Peru Air to Arequipa. Aaron made us feel comfortable. In Arequipa we did an afternoon tour of the city and the following day we did Class IV white water rafting in the Chili River!



We took the tourist bus to Puno with stops along the way. At Abra La Raya, the highest elevation on the tour at 14,232 feet (higher than Mount Fuji), we felt like being on top of the world!



We spent a couple of days in Puno, a port city in Lake Titicaca (12,507 feet elevation). We took a boat ride to visit the people of Uros that live on floating islands made of reeds (papyrus). Unbelievable! Our next stop was on the island of Taquile. We climbed to the top of the island, an elevation of 13,284 feet for the best fresh trout lunch ever! A very memorable day which is also Kristin's Birthday!



Every day is an adventure! Even the bus to Cusco was exciting with stops along the way to visit many archeological ruins, churches and museums. In Cusco we had just enough time to have dinner and have an early turn in to prepare us for the hike to Machu Picchu!



We got on an early bus that took us to the train station to ride on the historic Peru Rail to kilometer 104. It was like going back in time! We met our guide Juana in kilometer 104 where we began our two day Inca Trail hike. Juana is amazing! Best guide ever! She explained everything from the history of the Inca people to naming flowers and orchids along the trail! The hike to the Lost City of Machu Picchu was the highlight of our visit. We trekked for 16 kilometers (about six hours) going up and along a mountain to the Sun Gate for our first glimpse of Machu Picchu. It was definitely breathtaking!



This trip was the best ever! If I were to compare this with all the other trips I have taken, this would be on the top of the list. If you haven't been to Peru you are missing out. I would recommend this to all my friends and family! I recommend Karikuy! It is an affordable and the level of effort is five star! The most memorable experience my daughter and I will never forget! There is so much more to write about of our trip. We had so many great experiences. Why wait till retirement…go now!



-George and Kristin from Hawaii and New York, USA

Affordable, reliable and very knowledgeable...

When we decided to book our trip to Peru, we thought we would just wing it and hope for the best. But once we started researching and found the trips offered by Karikuy and the ability to customize your itinerary, we thought it was too good to be true. Julio helped us decide the best trip to suit what we wanted and he executed it flawlessly! It was comforting to know we'd always have a guide to pick us up at the bus station or airport and take us to our already booked hostel. And Julio always picked the best possible tours and hostels at an affordable price. Every day was a new and fun adventure but the Jungle Inka Trek was definitely the highlight of our trip.



There's no other way to book a trip to Peru than going with Karikuy. Affordable, reliable and very knowledgeable about travelling in Peru. Thanks Julio! You gave us a trip of a lifetime!!

Booking with Karikuy tours was a great experience.

Booking with Karikuy tours was a great experience. Julio was very helpful and answered all of our questions prior to booking. We chose a private 5 day Salkantay Trek to Machu Picchu and received a great price. Unfortunately, last minute one person in our group was not able to join so there were only three of us attending the trek. We did however feel very safe with our guide, porter and chef. The staff went above and beyond to make us feel welcome to their country and in showing us their culture. The trek itself was an amazing experience with beautiful senery changes and views. I would definitely recommend Karikuy tours again and our Porter, Percy. Also, The extra cost to make it a private tour seemed well worth it if you can afford it as some other groups just seemed too large in size.



Thank you Karikuy Tours for making our Trek in Peru special!



-Ashley

Los Angeles, CA

Fabulous gang and very good guide!

Our overall experience with Karikuy has been very good. We did the jungle Inca trail, the Titicaca (Puno, Uros, Amantani (overnight) and Taquile) and then one night in Arequipa. The one problem we had was with pocket money. We never knew how much pocket money in cash would be necessary. For example on the islands of lake Titicaca we wished that we had more money to buy stuff from the families and such. Otherwise everything worked out well, we especially enjoyed the jungle Inca Trail with our fabulous gang and very good guide! Thanks.

I had a great trip with no problems.

I booked my trip within a week of my departure. Not knowing whether I'll be able to visit every place I wanted to, I contacted Karikuy. Julio was extremely responsive and helpful. I had a great trip with no problems. There was always someone to meet me in all the towns and everyone was quite patient in dealing with my limited grasp of Spanish. I'll recommend Karikuy to anyone interested in visiting Peru on a budget.

Definitely recommend Karikuy Tours

My sister and I booked our travel to Peru with Karikuy Tours, we were pleasantly surprise how things evolved smoothly, we were picked up at the airport and bus terminals on time by local guides who were pleasant and professional, and they were available to answer questions. The accommodations on hostels were clean and close to the city centers. All of these allowed us to enjoy the amazingly beautiful Peru fully. We will definitely recommend Karikuy Tours to friends and family, if we went back to Peru we will use karikuy again.

The itinerary was so nicely planned..

My sister and I joined Karikuy's 9 day "Southern Circuit Tour" end of April 2012. The itinerary was so nicely planned and Julio is always quick in responding to our inquiries. We have seen (and enjoyed) a lot in our tour. We had once worried about having altitude sickness in Puno and Cuzco but the itinerary allowed us sufficient acclimatization. We virtually had no altitude problem and had a really really great time, particularly in climbing up the Wayna Picchu to overlook the stunning Macchu Picchu!!!! Thanks Karikuy for pre-ordering the very limited tickets to Wayna Picchu for us! :)



We were always given good care during transfers between airport, bus stations and hotels. All tickets required (for local tours, bus tours and excursions) in every cities we visited they were always ready for us once we arrived.



THANKS Karikuy, Julio and all local guides!!! :)

We had a great time..

We went to the Cortes Maltes resort in Puerto Maldonado with Karikuy. Before we made our way to Peru, I did some research and found some great information about Karikuy. Julio was very helpful throughout the booking process and it's just too bad we didn't get to meet him during our trip.



We had a great time in the Amazon (minus the fact that we were sick, but that's our own fault). The food at the resort was excellent! Especially since I am vegetarian, I was very happy to see that the kitchen prepared delicious and different meals for me the 4 days we were there. Amazon is beautiful and I would recommend that you definitely visit it.

Call it an expedition or adventure

This is a vacation that we call it an expedition or adventure, learning lots of things not from books but we were there myself to experience life in another part of the world. Macchu Picchu is its climactic part of our trip, although I struggled to climb Machu Picchu but happy to see we were up there and knowing a lot of its historical facts.



We take this chance to thank Karikuy, especially Julio and the rest of the team for making this happen without much trouble. There are surely other great highlights of our trips. We could not imagine ourselves sand boarding in the dunes of Ica that we never did in our life; climbing a much higher elevation in Puno, the Taquile island at Lake Titicaca. We were gasping for breath but it is worth the experience ... THANK YOU, KARIKUY, THANK YOU, JULIO, making it happen ... Go Karikuy, Go !!! More success !!!

The service was outstanding.

We had a wonderful trip and will be back in a heartbeat. The service was outstanding, people were friendly, polite and we enjoyed every moment of our stay. The hike was a real challenge and the tour guides helped us get through every hurdle. We would like to specially thank Oscar, and Cusco city tour guide Roni for having made our stay in Cusco memorable. The El Balcon Hostel at Cusco was a very good choice as it was centrally located and close to all the sites.



Thank you again for making our trip a success. We will definitely contact you when we plan our next trip to Peru and would be happy to recommend you to all our friends.



-Shankar & Sonal from Washington DC, USA

Made our trip to Peru amazing

Julio and his team of guides made our trip to Peru amazing. We had a very tight schedule and he arranged the perfect itinerary and took care of everything. My daughter and I will forever remember our trip thanks to Karikuy.

Karikuy were a tremendous choice

My son and I recently had a very memorable trip to Cuzco, the Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu arranged through Karikuy. It's a leap of faith to book online however the team at Karikuy were a tremendous choice. They are highly organized, punctual and professional. I would not have the slightest hesitation in booking future trips with this team.

Very reliable and caring

I was travelling on my own and was really worried about the 2 day trip I had booked with Karikuy, but it exceeded my expectations. guides were very knowledgeable, spoke good English and were very attentive. Transfers from one place to another were very well organized, and the staff always made sure we got safe to our destinations and met us everyday to tell us about the next days schedule. I would recommend Karikuy to everyone who travels around Peru, very reliable and caring. Thank you!!

The best of both worlds: Tailored service and group experiences

The best of both worlds: Tailored service and group experiences



Visiting Peru with the help of Karikuy Tours was the best decision I made. Julio was very personable, professional and accomodating. He really cared that I had the most enjoyable experience while visiting his country. The itinerary was exactly what I wanted, a combination of some days on my own and other days spent in organized group activities. The accomodations were excellent and the group tours and 4-day Inca Trail hike were amazing.



The Karikuy staff were reliable, culturally and historically knowledgeable and had the best local recommendations. It was also important to me that my tourism dollars went directly into the local economy and not some foreign-owned operator. Without a doubt I would recommend Karikuy Tours and will visit Peru again with them.



-Lisa Gervais, Toronto Canada

Honestly takes a caring interest in making friends with his clientele...

Thank-you so much Julio. You were wonderful. Every place we arrived someone was there to take us where we needed to go. We could call on Julio any time and he was always there to help us. We had a wonderful trip and it was much less stressful thanks to booking with Karikuy. I want to go back to Peru and if I do I definitely will book with Julio and Karikuy!



- Jane Ebert -





My friend Jane and I were putting together a travel itinerary that was the most complex I'd ever attempted, involving lots of local flights and hotels around Peru. Without Julio's assistance we'd never have been successful in organizing this trip and that's for sure. And what was really great is we both felt like Julio was always there for us whenever we ran into problems; airline flight delays etc. We'd call Julio on the spur of the moment and he was always patient, helpful, and just plain expert at helping us straighten things out again. Plus, on our way through Lima, Julio made time to escort us to one of his favorite local restaurants, a great place to eat and one we wouldn't have known about or experienced otherwise. To me it felt like Julio isn't just running a business, but the guy honestly takes a caring interest in making friends with his clientele, and this really impressed me about him.



- Alan Mitchell

Conscientious and professional service...

Karikuy provided conscientious and professional service during our trip to Peru.

Great guides, great food, great fun...

Our time in the jungle and then hiking the Inca Trail is on the list of best experiences EVER. Karikuy helped us book an unforgettable experience that rivals any other vacation we've ever had. Great guides, great food, great fun. THANKS!

everything was taken care of...

We wanted to travel to Peru and weren't sure who to book the trip through. After a little googling we saw Karikuy. The trip was planned great - we even went back and forth and made changes and Julio was extremely fast to respond with the changes in itinerary and prices. When we got there everything was taken care of, there were even people there to pick us up at the airport every time! I will recommend Karikuy to anyone I know traveling to Peru!

Book your trip with them!

This experience was unbelievable. I did things that I never thought I would get to do and I met people that I will never forget. The opportunity would have never been available if it wasn't for Karikuy and I want to go back asap! From having the hostal booked, someone to pick me up at the airport and everything set up for me was a blessing. It really made my trip amazing. I was shown things along the trip that Im sure I never would have been shown if it wasnt for Karikuy. If you are going to Peru, book your trip with them!

would definately recommend Karikuy to any fellow traveller to Peru!

We booked a 2 week custom tour with Karikuy to Machu Picchu, Lima, Puno, floating islands, Arequipa, Nazca lines etc. and they were fabulous!! We made some changes during our trip and Karikuy was very accomodating. All the staff we met were super friendly and helpful. I highly recommend this company to anyone who would like to travel around Peru. They are very knowledgeable and give great advice!



- Cleona Luk -



I just came back from Peru with a group of 3 girls from Canada. I am very glad we booked with Karikuy. We had a wonderful experience with Julio and his network of tour guides with a special mention to Jorge Canales (Arequipa) and Oscar Marin (Cusco). From the moment we landed to the moment we left Peru we were shown great hospitality and felt safe and taken care of through out our entire trip from Lima to Huacachina to Nasca to Arequipa to Puno to Cusco to Machu Picchu and back to Lima.



Unfortunately the airline had lost my luggage upon arriving and Julio was so sweet in following up with the airlines for 7 days till it was found in order to have it delivered to my next destination. I am so grateful and thankful for that!



I would definately recommend Karikuy to any fellow traveller to Peru!



- Nancy L -

One of the most memorable trips we've ever taken!

My wife and I just returned from the most amazing trip around southern Peru! Thanks to Julio and his wonderful network this was by far one of the most memorable trips we've ever taken! Karikuy's personal approach to coordinating our trip kept us worry free and allowed us to sit back and enjoy our vacation. Julio is a true professional and his tours place an emphasis on the rich peruvian culture while comfortably maximizing your time. We can't say enough about Karikuy. Julio, many thanks and best wishes brother!



-Jason and Sharika, Ewa Beach, Hawaii

I had the most amazing time and experience

The picture says it all..I had the most amazing time and experience in Peru. My trip was one year in the making, which means I bugged Julio last year and again this year to put an itinerary together to cover all the places I wanted to visit. Needless to say, after many versions a perfect itinerary was in place and I couldn't be happier with the accommodations, the fun guides and the overall experience that Karikuy had to offer and all that within a reasonable budget. I visited Lima, Nasca Lines, Huacachina, Arequipa, Puno-Lake Titicaca, Cusco, Machu Picchu with the short Inca Trail, all in a 10 day schedule. I would definitely recommend Karikuy to anyone interested in not just seeing Peru, but experiencing Peru to its fullest!

knowledgeable, friendly, helpful, and most of all, fun!

As the winner of the 2011 Karikuy contest, I was given the opportunity to hike the Jungle Inca Trail to Machu Picchu, and it was easily one of the greatest travel experiences of my life! I have backpacked all over Europe, the Middle East, North America, and Asia, but this one week in Peru managed to pack in every emotion, experience, and encounter one hopes to have after months on the road. Mountain biking! Whitewater rafting! Zip-lining! Hot springs! And let's not forget hiking deep into the jungle, losing your breath as you go up into the mountains (from the exercise and from the scenery) and then running down into the valleys where ruins and rapids await. Julio took care of everything for me ahead of time (including my vegetarian meals!), which took out a lot of the guess work. And my guides during the trek were knowledgeable, friendly, helpful, and most of all, fun! I have made friends for life and Peru has stolen my heart. Fanks Karikuy!

Definitely good value for your money.

Couldn't originally find much about Karikuy but were very pleased we decided to book with this company. We had loads of questions beforehand and also made quite a few changes to our itinerary, which wasn't a problem at all for Julio. Always received a quick response and nothing was an issue. When we arrived in Peru, we were taken care of by Oscar who organized some extra sightseeing for us in Cusco. Everything went smooth, accommodation in Cusco was fantastic, superb experience. Would recommend this company to anyone who wants to relax because they take care of everything for you. Definitely good value for your money. Thank you Karikuy!

I will never forget this experience..

I'm really glad I picked Karikuy for my Inca Trail trip. Hiking to Machu Picchu was the best experience of my life and everything went to plan. Julio was really helpful with ongoing email communication prior to the trip, the hotel for me was ideal; with really friendly staff and was perfect place to relax after the trek. The briefing before the trek gave me all the information I needed and the trek itself was superb - excellent guides, who were so kind and informative, with just the right words to keep you going, amazing cooked meals for breakfast, lunch and dinner and a great bunch of hikers. I will never forget this experience and I would recommend Karikuy without hesitation.

Best honeymoon ever! Go Karikuy!

We booked our honeymoon trip with Karikuy not knowing what to expect, and we were super happy! Julio was always quick to answer emails and customize our trip the way we wanted it! We always had someone picking us up at the airport, and ensuring we got where we needed to go within the city. We spent a few days in Cuzco, exploring the Sacred Valley and doing a horseback tour. We spent 4 days on the Inca Trail with an amazing guide and great group! Our trip to Puerto Maldonado was also so much fun, and also a great place to relax after the Inca Trail. I would (and will) recommend Karikuy to my family and friends anytime! If you are looking into booking with Karikuy, I would also glady provide more information about our trip! It is an affordable way to see Peru, knowing you have a few dedicated people working to ensure your trip happens flawlessly! Best honeymoon ever! Go Karikuy!



-Andy and Arina from Toronto, Canada

One of the best trips we've ever taken..

Our trip to Peru was one of the best trips we've ever taken. We only had about 8 days to do all the things we wanted, but Julio worked out a very reasonable tour package for us. We met the people of the Uros floating islands in Lake Titicaca, stayed with a family on Amantani island, traveled through the Sacred Valley, explored Machu Picchu and got to climb Huayna Picchu. We ate ceviche, kuy, and alpaca, drank pisco sours, and had a 12-course meal at Astrid y Gastón in Lima. All of our drivers and guides were very helpful and personal, and they answered all of our questions. Every transition between sites was smooth and comfortable. We recommended Karikuy to our friends going on their honeymoon, and we'd recommend Karikuy to anyone else going to Peru. Thank you so much!

Highly Recommended!

I volunteered at Karikuy for three weeks as part of a ten-month trip around the world, including four months in South America. Myself and my girlfriend Ania wanted something relevant to our careers in the media and found Julio through Volunteer Latin America (VLA). I enjoyed our experience very much. I must confess that not everything about the placement was what I expected it to be, but if the last ten months have taught me anything, it's that almost nothing is as you expect it will be and you will have a better time if you go into things with 'a clean mental pallet'. I found Julio to be welcoming and writing articles for Perupedia and blog posts for Karikuy was exactly my sort of thing! Living in the neighborhood of Planeta with Julio and having our meals with his family was also great. They were so generous and hospitable and I feel like I've seen the authentic Lima Peru that other backpackers don't see. It was also great to meet and socialize with other travelers during our stay. Watching movies, playing video games and going out for dinners, drinks and tours in Lima was much more fun when shared with our new friends!



As well as running the volunteer program, Julio also booked our Inca Trail trek to Machu Picchu, as well as our flights from Cusco to Lima and our hostel in Cusco. Julio and his associates were so helpful: for example Oscar who picked us up from the airport in Cusco and dropped us back for our return flight; and Bruno, our guide for the four-day trek to Machu Picchu, who was simply excellent. Our week or so in Cusco is one of the highlights of my entire ten-month trip and it wouldn't have been the same without the organisation and effort from Julio et al. We've already passed Julio's details on to several other travelers we've met in Colombia who are heading south to Peru. I say to you what I said to them: highly recommended!

Thank you for an incredible trip.

Hello Julio, just wanted to thank you for an incredible trip. It was just what we were looking for. Everything from the sand boarding, buggy rides, repelling and all of the ruins we were able to visit, Machu Picchu, Nazca Lines, Pisac and Ollantaytambo. I've attached some photos of the repelling trip in Corao. Thanks again.

A very good experience...

I was collaborating with Karikuy and Perupedia and wrote some posts for the web. There I met very interesting people who I made friends with. Later I got to visit the wonderful museums and whereabouts of Lima. In balance, a very good experience, more so because of the people met and the conversations we had there.

Polite, professional and knowledgeable..

Thank you VERY much for the assistance you provided in arranging our unforgettable group trip to Bolivia and Peru. Despite the last minute schedule changes caused by the striking miners and Peruvian airlines, you and your associates ensured we had minimum of disruption on our journey. We were very happy with all the hotels, tours, and meals included in our package, and thoroughly enjoyed each of the cities we visited. Throughout our trip, all our guides and drivers were polite, professional and knowledgeable about the cities and sites. Thank you, Julio.

Can't wait to go back!

Took a trip to Peru and Julio totally hooked it up. Julio was able to set us all up with everything from picking us up/dropping off to the airport, setting the itinerary for the entire trip including booking flights within Peru, as well as managing to take us around Lima while translating for the 3 of us and giving historical anecdotes of Peru, Lima, and his neighborhood. Julio's hospitality in the home was also fantastic and he has a wealth of knowledge about the country as well what to do, where to go, and what/where to eat. Cant wait to go back!

Excellent accommodations and prices.

This is the second time I have traveled in Peru with Karikuy. The first trip was to Huaraz, Cuzco, Aguas Calientes, Machu Picchu, Markawasi and Lima. I have just returned from the second trip where we visited Lima (including Miraflores and Barranco), Puerto Maldonado and Ica (including Islas Ballestas). Both trips were full of adventure and an experience I will never forget. From the the hot springs in Aguas Calientes to the clubs in Lima to the jungle in Puerto Maldonado to sandboarding in Ica, Peru is an amazingly diverse and beautiful country with many different types of adventures to pursue. I have traveled extensively throughout Central and South America and what sets Karikuy apart from the rest is the personal attention and excellent service. Julio knows his stuff - from the best restaurants with the best prices to best tour guides, we were taken care of every step of the way. He has first rate customer service and is able to customize a trip to the type of adventure you are seeking. Whatever that may be - don't miss the best ceviche in the world!! :) I always felt safe wherever we went and I was continually impressed with each place we visited. Excellent accommodations and prices. I will be back for more! The picture here is from our hike in Markawasi. Safe travels!! :)

Made us feel like family...

Our trip to Peru in April 2011 went off without a hitch thanks to Karikuy. Julio was extremely helpful with the planning, always returning emails/calls quickly and staying on top of important travel issues like reconfirming flights without our prompting. Once in Peru our guides were excellent! Oscar and his wife made us feel like family in Cusco, personally checking on our hotel room and requesting a bigger room on our behalf without us asking. In the jungle, our guide, Manuel, was knowledgeable, fun, and flexible. We loved the lodge. We originally tried to book much of the vacation ourselves until we realized Julio had access to much better prices. I highly recommend this agency. They are quick to handle any problems, answer any questions, book any type of trip you need, and all at better prices. THANKS KARIKUY!

Cared about my experience.

One of the best decisions I made while travelling to Peru was to allow Karikuy to assist me along the way. They were extremely helpful, patient and knowledgeable. I had a million questions and all of them were answered without hesitation. When travelling to a place you have never been before it's important to know you are making all the right choices and seeing the right places. My itinerary was customized to my exact needs and I was guided the entire step of the way with people who cared about my experience. I had a blast and I owe a lot of that to the Karikuy team for allowing me to have so much fun while they took care of the rest! thank you Julio and the team in Peru! You were Awesome :)

GREAT COMPANY!

Discovered Julio via the Internet. I liked that he was a young entrepreneur promoting authentic and affordable travel experiences in his home country of Peru. His business was brand new when I worked with him, and he arranged a trip from start to finish for me and my son (incorporating my own personal requests). We had a fabulous time and it was not the "same-old, same-old" boring travel-company type of a trip. We experienced Peru with real locals, seeing sights and sounds that are not on most travel brochures, and it was a trip of a life time. Julio is enthusiastic and very supportive of and interested in helping the local economy and bettering the lives of Peruvians through his programs - it is not just about providing a sight-seeing service to tourists. GREAT GUY! GREAT COMPANY! If you are adventurous, young at heart, on a budget, and can be somewhat spontaneous, then Julio and Karikuy, is for you!

Everything was just perfectly organized...

I found out about Karikuy through the internet and immediately thought they're into some serious business, because of their professionally looking website and fast replies by the agents. We booked a custom made trip to Lima, Cusco and Machu Picchu which lasted one week and everything was just perfectly organized. We felt like everyone was taking really good care of us all the time. All the local agencies were a great pick by Karikuy and we never regretted having booked them. We will definitely recommend them to any of our friends travelling to Peru. Thank you Julio for your suggestions and help.

Julio was nothing but helpful..

I just returned from my trip to Peru and we decided to go with a tour package last minute. Julio was nothing but helpful and managed to arrange everything for us in a customized and economical fashion. We managed to see everything we wanted and more! Thank you Julio!

Adventure of a lifetime.

As winner of the 2010 Karikuy Machu Picchu Contest, I was lucky enough to visit Lima, Cusco, Aguas Calientes and Machu Picchu with my sister on our very first trip abroad together! Karikuy coordinated all of our transfers, lodging, domestic flights on Peruvian Airlines, tour admissions, PeruRail train rides and English-speaking guides, relieving us of all the typical logistical stresses of traveling. Julio, Oscar, Marco and Wilfredo provided fascinating insights about Peruvian history, culture and landmarks during our guided tours, and we appreciated the thoughtful itinerary, an ideal mix of planned activities with other travelers and free time to explore on our own. We will remember always our first sips of coca tea and Inca Kola, stumbling onto the Festival of the Lady of the Nativity in Cusco Plaza de Armas, our pursuit of the perfect Pisco Sour and the winding Urubamba River in Sacred Valley. Best of all, Machu Picchu truly is a new wonder of the world; seeing the ancient citadel in all its architectural splendor, from the precise masonry and green terraces to the sacred llamas and ethereal mountain views, was a profound and magical adventure of a lifetime. Thank you, Karikuy.

I recommend Karikuy

The volunteer program at Karikuy is one-of-a-kind in the flexibility it provides. One works according to his area of expertise or interest - anthropology in my case - and contributes to Perupedia with the help of his or her personal knowledge and experiences. Of course, said set of knowledge and experiences is greatly expanded by the truly immersive experience at Karikuy; one stays with a family in a Lima neighborhood no tourist gets to see, marches off on excursions to the farthest corners of the country, and makes use of Mr Tello's travel expertise and contacts across Peru to make the most out of his stay. In my four weeks with Karikuy I have scaled the heights of Marcahuasi, danced with Virgen del Carmen celebrants in the Sacred Valley, cheered amidst football crowds from local club matches to the World Cup finals, and had much, much more food than I probably should have. In all, I recommend Karikuy to those looking for something beyond the run-of-the-mill straitjacket volunteer program, but who prefer instead a program flexible to one's interests, schedule and skills.

I don't think it gets any better than this!

I booked 3 things through Karikuy -- a horseback tour, the Classic Inca Trail and a flight. Julio got me a great price on the flight and accommodated my request to look into changing the departure time while I was on the trail. Transportation from my guest house to the airport was also (unexpectedly!) provided. The Inca Trail tour itself was fantastic; I definitely think our group was getting every bit as good an experience as others on the trail, but for far less money. I was unhappy with the horseback tour as it wasn't entirely as described, and after letting him know that, Julio gave me a partial refund. Great value, service and attentiveness to customer requests from Julio and his local agent -- I don't think it gets any better than this!

Julio was a friendly, knowledgeable host...

If you're looking for a unique way to explore Peru and experience it in a different light to the average tourist, then volunteering is the way to go. I found that researching and blogging for Karikuy gave me access to a truly authentic side of Peru, living amongst the locals and gaining an insight into how they live. Using Lima as a base, I spent weekends and any chance I could get travelling throughout Peru. Julio was a friendly, knowledgeable host who gave up his time to make sure us volunteers experienced Peru to the max.

Karikuy truly lets you experience all that Peru has to offer.

Volunteering with Karikuy truly lets you experience all that Peru has to offer. You can take the trek to Machu Picchu that isn't swarming with tourists, visit the country's lesser known sites and cities, and explore every aspect of your home base: Lima. After 1 month, I feel like I got a taste of everything here...the people, the landscape, the food, and yes, the pisco....and hope to one day be back for more!

the Karikuy experience - the ultimate gateway for all that is Peru

I had the unique experience of participating in the Karikuy Volunteer Program for a solid 4 months, during which it became apparent to me that this was not your average volunteer experience. The program offered me the unique opportunity to explore this beautiful country from a safe and welcoming home base filled with warm people, delicious food (which at some point became addictive) constant support from Julio and the other volunteers and of course genuinely good fun. The program has challenged me and what I thought I knew about myself, the world and the people in it. And now, having recently returned to Canada, I can definitely say that I've been motivated to continue my exploration of Peru in the near future. This would not have been possible without the Karikuy experience - the ultimate gateway for all that is Peru :)

I told my friends

Thank you and your guide in Cusco Oscar for good organized 1-day Urubamba river rafting tour on the 18 of September 2010. I am satisfied with your rafting. I told my friends and display photos of your rafting tour. Special thanks to Oscar for help with tickets to Machu Picchu and the detailed information given me in Cusco.

Comfortable and truly memorable.

My experience volunteering for Karikuy had a lot of firsts. First time traveling to South America, first time visiting a Wonder of the World; Machu Picchu, and most importantly first time writing for a published blog. I really appreciated the chance to start to make a name for myself with travel blog writing and my experiences traveling through Peru has fueled the fire for additional trips to South America and worldwide. Julio and Karikuy made my stay in Lima, Peru comfortable and truly memorable. When I think of Peru I will always have great memories of the delicious food, the amazing nightlife and the breathtaking views while hiking in Huaraz.

An excellent program run by an excellent host.

An excellent program run by an excellent host. Julio, the founder of the Karikuy organization and his family made me feel right at home during my time volunteering with the organization. Julio went out of his way to make sure I was able to have a genuine Peru experience. He opened up his home to myself and the other volunteers allowing us the opportunity to assimilate into Peruvian society. A truly wonderful experience and one I would recommend to everyone interested in seeing this stunningly beautiful area of South America.

What impressed me more was the well planned trip

Our trip to Peru has been an extremely enjoyable one thanks to Karikuy. Julio (founder of Karikuy) has been warm and welcoming, giving us a slice of Peruvian life with his hospitality. What impressed me more was the well planned trip that ensured we had someone to take us around at every city in Peru, since we do not speak Spanish. Thanks Julio, Peru had been an awesome trip!

Julio and his family were extremely welcoming

Volunteering for Karikuy was an eye opening experience, one filled with good people, good food and excellent opportunities to explore Peru like a local. As a volunteer I was able to gain more experience in travel writing, make new friends and satisfy my globetrotting tendencies. Julio and his family were extremely welcoming and made you feel right at home with their own brand of Limeño hospitality. From finger licking Peruvian hamburgers and ocean fresh ceviche to all night Peruvian dance fiestas and Machu Picchu jungle treks, you'll get to learn and love all this beautiful country has to offer just as I did.

They were Fantastic.

It was hard to find information on this tour agency before we booked them so we weren't too sure if they were legit or not when we booked them. But I can now confirm for anyone thinking about booking a tour through them they were fantastic. And one of the cheaper tour agencies around. Cuzco Explorer I think was the actual company we went with in Cuzco but we booked through Karikuy. Price at the time I think was around 320 or so dollars for the classic (Inca) trail. Apologies to them for leaving it so long to getting around to doing this, but better late than never.

Thanks for the wonderful experience.

I fell head over heels for Peru. The country is beautiful in so many ways. Volunteering for Karikuy allowed me to experience this in ways I would have never been able to myself. As a dancer, I researched social and performance dance in the country for the website. I was amazed to see how dance was a such a huge part Peru. Everyone dances from age 2 to 80. It was so much fun to dance from Peñas to festivals. I learned some moves from Julio's family and hiked till I couldn't hike no more. Thanks for the wonderful experience. And try the ocopa arequipena!

It was an amazing experience & I couldn't have done it without your help.

Your company was very helpful from booking the tours & the tour guides that took us through it all. It was an amazing experience & I couldn't have done it without your help. I survived the Machu Picchu mountain climb. Thanks again for everything.

A memory that I will remember for the rest of my life thanks to Karikuy

Karikuy's Jungle Inca Trek to Machu Picchu was probably the highlight of my whole four month trip through South America. We biked, water rafted, hiked and ziplined through this bug invested jungle for four days, dripping sweat and barely breathing at that high altitude. Our days were spent waking up before sunrise to hike up and down steep and scary cliffs for up to 8 hours a day (while holding all our belongings on our backs!) We got to see monkeys and other jungle animals, paint our faces with a natural red sunscreen of berries, dress up in traditional Indian costumes, swim in waterfalls and relax in natural hot springs. On the last day of our trek we woke up at 3:30 am so we could climb up the 3,032 rocky steps to Machu Picchu. The view was truly magnificent! We definitely left this Wonder of the World in awe! It is a memory that I will remember for the rest of my life thanks to Karikuy.

Why Volunteer? I’ll Tell You Why

Waterfalls, mountains, canyons, volcanoes, religious locations, festivals, cities, tombs, mystical Machu Picchu, concerts, hiking trails, hamburger man…the list goes on. Not only are you able to see just about anything you want in the country, but you get you write about them for Karikuy. To me, the blogging was a type of journal for my adventure and the Perupedia was just researching my interests. And I’m pretty sure nobody knows more about the entire country of Peru more than Julio. On top of that, he has family nearby and across the country that welcomed us with open arms. For that month of volunteering, we were a part of the family. This experience was so great that it is almost depressing because I’m not sure anything will live up to this again! Seriously, person-to-person, volunteer. ☺

Amazing doesn't even begin to describe our trip

Amazing doesn't even begin to describe our trip to Machu Picchu or our experience with Karikuy. From the minute we started planning our trip Julio did an excellent job of working with us to make sure that our trip was everything we wanted it to be. Machu Picchu has been a place I had dreamed of going to for years and with the help of Karikuy it was even better than I imagined. Everything was taken care of for us from beginning to end and it was great to know that we were in good hands along the way. The Jungle Trail package was fantastic and I can't imagine a better way to experience Peru and arrive at Machu Picchu. Karikuy helped us pick the very best way to see Peru and ensured wonderful memories for years to come. If I ever have the chance to go to Peru again I will definitely use Karikuy again. Thanks Julio!

It was an absolute pleasure

I worked in Peru as a blogger from August 2009 to September 2009, to use the word "work" loosely. By that I mean it was an absolute pleasure to spread the news and entertainment of this growing, secure and overall wonderful nation. In my time there, Peruvians never failed me when it came to providing fascinating subjects to blog on during the week and explore during the weekends. I totally recommend this experience to all interested in life, period.

I highly recommend Karikuy

First and foremost, I highly recommend Karikuy. Obviously Machu Picchu in particular and Peru in general were amazing, but the experience provided by Karikuy, from the planning stages through the execution, was top notch. The price was incredibly reasonable and they literally took care of everything for us (minus the flight down there). This included picking us up from the Lima airport at midnight when we landed, and dropping us off at 10:00 p.m. on our way back to the States. Karikuy planned a trip for us and we kind of tweaked it based on what we wanted to do. We did the "Inca Jungle Trail" to get to Machu Picchu - and if you're thinking of hiking to Machu Picchu, I'd recommend doing that trial rather than the actual Inca Trail because we heard a lot of people complain about the length/pitch of the Inca Trail, whereas the Inca Jungle Trail was hard enough that you were definitely working to get to Machu Picchu, but not overwhelmed.

This has been the experience of a lifetime

This past month and a half in Peru has been...indescribable. I have had an incredible time; I've done and seen things I never dreamed of doing. And Julio and the Karikuy Organization made that all possible. I can't thank you enough. This has been the experience of a lifetime.

Julio has an indispensable Knowledgebase on modern and ancient Peruvian culture.

I'd been traveling through Argentina, Uruguay and Chile before working as a volunteer in the Karikuy volunteer writing program. In the time that I spent in Karikuy I felt a lot more about the local way of life, traditional and modern than in the rest of my trip combined. Julio has an indispensable Knowledgebase on modern and ancient Peruvian culture. To that end, he's also full of interesting and varied anecdotes. Big props to him overall.

We did some amazing travels...

In August I volunteered with Julio for a month. I decided to volunteer because I wanted to stay longer in one place and that way get to know real Peruvian life - and thanks to Julio and his family I learned a lot about Peruvian culture, life, food, birthday parties, clubs, anticuchos etc...:)! I enjoyed Peru a lot - we did some amazing travels to Machu Picchu, Nazca, Huacachina, Marcahuasi, Arequipa and Puno. Peru is a beautiful country with a lot of interesting history - let's go and look for the "El Dorado", Julio:)!!! Bueno, muchas gracias por todo. Saludos tambien a Karikuy - el gato LOCOOOOOO.

An unparalleled experience.

Volunteering for Karikuy has driven my interest to return to Peru and pursue future projects. With the environmental research I did for the Perupedia project, I am able to walk away with a depth of knowledge about a country I don't normally have when I travel. And with the volunteer project I was able to plan and take trips around Peru to get to know the culture and beauty of its diverse geography. Living with a Peruvian family, eating Peruvian food and residing in one of Lima's oldest neighborhoods offers an unparalleled experience. Get used to counting your expenditures with Peruvian hamburgers and learning to live with your heart wide open.

Give the Karikuy experience a go!

I was the volunteer guinea pig so as to speak, though perhaps that's a bad analogy to use here since the guinea pig is often cooked for meals in Peru. My time volunteering with Karikuy was actually much more pleasant than that. The structure is set up so that you will really get out of the experience what you put into it. One of my main draws to the program was experiencing a different culture and way of living. The people were friendly, the food was good, the sites are worth seeing, and the work environment is relaxed (and often more like a vacation). I stayed for a month, but easily could have stayed longer, if not for prior plans and plane tickets to travel elsewhere. If you're looking for a unique way to experience Lima, the tourist options of Peru, as well as get unique insights into Peruvian living that the average tourist never sees, give the Karikuy experience a go! Plus, all the while you get to work on the Perupedia project to help others learn about Peru. Who knows, maybe you'll see me back there sometime too.

Fantastic

It does not matter what your expectations of Peru are, your trip is guaranteed to exceed them. Peru is a beautiful country that pictures can not even begin to capture. You must go there yourself, and Karikuy is definitely the way to get there; great tours at even greater prices. Julio does an amazing job planning everything and takes all the stress out of international travel. I will definitely be returning sometime. We had so much fun in our 9 days that we had to stay another. Whole heartedly recommended.

If you're looking for a good time....

... now that I have everyone's attention....



Seriously, Karikuy is the way to go. Professional, organized, and personalized service from the second you inquire about a tour to the moment you board the plane back for home. Every day was a mind-blowing adventure, and the experiences would not have been possible without Julio's help. He is extremely well-versed in the country, and has many connections throughout the Peruvian travel scene to make your vacation dreams possible. And talk about a good deal! This was my college graduation gift on a whim to myself, and I couldn't believe all we got for the price.... lodging, domestic travel, activities ranging from sandboarding in Huacachina to exploring the ancient ruins of Machu Picchu. And Julio is such a down-to-earth and fun guy... you seriously would be missing out if you didn't have such a fantastic guide.

Great time, no problems!

I've traveled to a few different countries in the last few years, and this travel agency has been by far the most cordial and informational. This is a stark contrast to many other horror stories I witnessed while in Peru of other agencies losing people's money and reservations. Karikuy truly embodies the warm spirit of Peru. When first arriving in Cusco, we were immediately greeted by a friendly woman and driver who helped us carry our things and drove us to the hostel. When we arrived, it was very easy to check in. The next day we were guided around by an extremely informational tour guide while we witnessed the beauties of the surrounding Cusco. When it was time for the Inca trail we had no problems meeting out trail guide and starting the trail. Every day in Cusco was simply beautiful, and extremely non-stressful. I attribute this to the travel agency. This trend continued throughout my two week stay in Peru. Traveling to another country can be extremely stressful due to many factors such as climate, language, food, and people. The last thing one needs is for the travel agency to be incompetent. If you want a stress free experience in beautiful Peru, I would travel no other way than with Karikuy.

Road to Machu Picchu

Earlier in the year I took a wonderful trip throughout multiple locations in Peru with friends. The people who I went through to set up the trip were helpful and hands-on along the way. Costs were extremely reasonable for travel fare, food, accommodations, etc. Along the trail leading to Machu Picchu I was doubly impressed by how well we were taken care of by friendly guides, cooks & porters. I have no complaints and took back countless memories. Thanks Julio!

An Early Summer Adventure

If you are planning on going to Peru then Karikuy is the way to go! I was able to experience the mystical Incan ruins, wild Peruvian nightlife, and catch some secret local hotspots thanks to our guide Julio. It is possible to backpack independently but if you travel with Karikuy you will be sure to have a knowledgeable and reliable guide. I rate the trip an A+ and plan to return in the future.