Published on Sep, 2024
Caral is a recent (1994) archeological find that rewrote Peruvian history. It is the 2nd oldest city in the world! So while most tourists know about the Incas who were in their heyday at the time of the Spanish conquest (1500's), Caral was occupied in 3000 B.C. (5000 years ago!) If you are interested in archeology, then this is a fantastic site to see. The construction is stone, however no metal was used or found on the site. The pyramids are step-like and each terrace is built on top of a previous terrace, the same pattern that continues throughout Peru and Mexican ancient civilizations. The site (in a valley 20 miles from the ocean), the ruins, and the tour by local guides is very interesting. Once we arrived at Caral, we engaged and paid a local (national archheological service) guide to give us a 1.5 hour tour. The tour is very informative and I believe you are not allowed to go into the site without a guide. Be warned however that the guide may not speak Engish, which was the case for us. Luckily the excursion host, Carlos, speaks excellent English and could translate and also asked my questions to the local guide, etc.
I heartily recommend Caral as an archeological must see site. There are several companies that can provide transportation to Caral. I recommend going with this company (Los Cazadunas) on a private tour with the company's owner, Carlos. This has several advantages. First, Carlos is the driver and host for the day. He is an amazing host. It's more than transportation out to an important archeological site. It's a very long drive and sharing that time with someone personable who is willing to share their experience about life in Peru and in general makes the time fly by. Carlos uses local eateries on the highways that as a tourist you would never go to. But once inside you realize this is where the Peruvians are going. At the breakfast stop there were 5 our busses stopped at the same place. At the lunch stop, the food was excellent and the parking lot full compared to nearby places that were empty. As a tourist, I have a limited time but want to learn about the people, history, food, and life in Peru in a short time. This is a great way. Because the trip is private the itinerary is very flexible. Earlier I had mentioned that I was interested in birds, so we had planned to go to Caral and then to Lomas de Lachay, which he recommended because it was an unusual inland geographical place that had green vegetation in the middle of the desert due to altitude and fog. Already this was a tailored second destination on a trip to Caral (184 km north of Lima) compared to other companies with set itineraries. But while we were at Caral, I learned about a second site called Vichama that was occupied at 1500 BC but at which remarkable 3D sculptural art had been found. Carlos said, let's go there instead and we did. We also hired a local guide at Vichama (mandatory at all national archeological sites). Finally, I will point out an extremely important advantage of this company. It is not much more expensive than the competition but Los Cazadunas will give you a very reasonable price for a solo traveler and guarantee that the tour will run with just one person. The other companies reserve the right to cancel if the minimum number of passengers does not book or you perhaps can fool the system by ordering two seats. For a solo traveler this is a huge advantage since you don't want to be disappointed at the last minute having your tour cancelled.
I had a really great time on my day out with Carlos to see Caral and Vichama archeological sites with private transportation and personalized itinerary. We also had two very nice meals (breakfast and lunch).. The breakfast is included. Lunch is not included but very reasonable.
Due to the pricing, there is NO additional cost to taking a private tour with Los Cazadunas compared to taking a group tour with other companies that might cancel at the last minute. I enjoyed my day out to Caral and recommend it to others.
