Peru & Bolivia Travel Blog: Expert Guides & Insider Tips 2026

The shipbuilding residents of the small island of Suriqui on the Bolivian side of Lake Titicaca are planning a new and ambitious undertaking: the construction of a totora reed ship, built only with the same pre-Columbian methods these Aymara descendents have been using for the last thousand years, to sail on a trans-oceanic excursion from New York to Spain via the Canary Islands in May or June of 2014.

One of the most notable carnavals of Peru is quickly approaching- the Amazon Carnaval, based in Iquitos, the largest city of the Peruvian rainforest. The city has announced that the principal activities of this year's Carnaval will take place from February 7^th through 10^th, with ten indigenous communities will be participating, including the Shawi, Cocama, Maijuna, Yagua, and Candoshi. Festivities will include float contests and parades, costumed dance groups, bod

The Lord of Sipán is considered one of the last 30 years's most important archaeological discoveries. Many travelers visit the northern desert coast of Peru to see this Moche tomb and its museum, which displays a great amount of ceramics and other findings alongside the intricate golden treasures of the Moche. Clearly, interest in the 2000 year old Moche civlization is on the rise, as the Royal Tombs of Sipán Museum in Lambayeque received more visitors this year than ever before.

Peru has been making efforts to publicize its impressive bio-diversity to birders, with more than 1,800 bird species, some of which are found only in Peru. This week saw the culmination of the country's first marathon bird-watching competition, which attracted ornithologists from all over the world, and a redoubling of conservation efforts to save the extremely rare Iquitos Gnatcatcher.

Two British researchers announced in this month's Antiquity the discovery of what appears to be an enormous labyrinth among the world-famous Nazca Lines in Peru. In the most detailed study of its kind to date, researchers spent five years walking the lines and studying superimposed designs, digital satellite mapping, and photographs of associated pottery, concluding that the Nazca used ritual labyrinths which were "meant to be walked and not seen".

Each February, the little city of Puno alongside Lake Titicaca throw's one of South America's most spectacular festivals in honor of its patron saint Mamacha Carmen, the Virgen de Candelaria Festival. The city is currently preparing its UNESCO application for "Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity" status for the festival.