Alpacas and llamas get the attention of tourists who venture to South America, but their wild counterparts – the vicuña and guanaco – are equally impressive.
If you’ve seen many alpacas or llamas, then you can tell this guy is a little different looking. Much more slender and with a simple brown and white coat, it may not look as funny or fancy as the domesticated camelids of South America.
But, this is the ancestor or the alpacas, and it produces the finest wool! Thankfully though, there are very strict controls in how often, and who, can ever herd up wild vicuna for their wool.
I actually thought the vicuna looked cuter than llamas, as they seem to have a funny expression on their face. This guy does have ears, but I liked how they seemed to disappear when he looked straight at me. If you want to try to spot some vicuna in the wild, then head to Peru, where they are most common. You can also find them in the Andes in Chile, or if you are lucky even parts of Bolivia and Argentina.
I finally caved in and went to Peru and Machu Picchu.
Happily, I must say that I enjoyed it and had a good time. The reason for enjoying my time in Peru? Spending it with good people, slowing down my travels to take more time for photography and avoiding the larger groups and crowds.
The required Llama at Machu Picchu photo
Avoiding Peru for 8 years
While most people put Machu Picchu high on their travel list, I aggressively avoided it for almost a decade. You see, 9.5 years before I finally went I started working for a (then small) tour company called Gap Adventures. The company grew every year and I watched more than 100 colleagues and co-workers over the years travel to Peru, show me their photos and exclaim how amazing Machu Picchu and the country of Peru were.
During those years I wrote tour itineraries, newsletter stories and website articles about Machu Picchu nearly every month. I answered phone calls from travellers and sold trips to people who were convinced that I’d hiked the Inca Trail, as I knew it all by heart and could envision the entire trip in my mind. Blah blah blah…start at Km 82, blah blah blah…Dead Woman’s Pass…blah blah blah…Sungate. I knew all the trails – The Lares Trek, Salkantay Trek, Classic Inca Trail and more. Peru was a permanent fixture around the office and as the company grew and stories kept pouring in, I lost all interest in visiting.
Cusco, or Cuzco, was actually quite a bit of fun – tasty Alpaca steaks and craft beers
I felt like I had spent an eternity in Cusco and hiking in the Andes to see Machu Picchu. Visiting Machu Picchu became as exciting to me as watching an inch worm slowly make it’s way across a tree branch. (Actually inch worms seemed more interesting.) People I worked with started to simply assume I’d been to Peru and seen Machu Picchu – it practically became a requirement that your first work trip was to Peru.
The country, the experience, “Peru” itself had become a commodity over those years. I mean we used to brag about sending more people on the Inca Trail than any other company. We had trips laving every day, supported a weaving project for women in the Sacred Valley, we trained porters to guide tourists on the Inca Trail, our offices in Cusco and Lima had more staff than many other adventure travel company’s had at their head office – Peru was everywhere and everything.
Taking a break at the interesting site of Moray after biking around the Andes Mountains in Peru
Being freed from the daily Peru onslaught
Almost 8 years after selling those first Peru trips, I parted ways with the now not-so-small tour company called G Adventures and never made it to Peru.
After being freed of the incessant barrage of Peruvian information I slowly started to gain a bit of wonder about Peru. I mean it did create many life-changing experiences for travellers year after year, going by the emails and testimonials I used to receive. There had to be something special about Machu Picchu perhaps?
Alpaca yarn. The bright colours are dyed with chemicals, whereas the duller colours are dyed naturally
Fast forward a year and, as fate would have it, I ended up winning a trip to Peru with another company called Intrepid Travel.
Heading to Peru, by way of the Galapagos
I had a new job and new freedom, life was good. So after living down in the Galapagos Islands for a while, a (free) side-trip to Peru seemed like a no-brainer. I could finally judge for myself what this Machu Picchu place was about, without actually having to spend much to get there. I was able to keep expectations low.
A tasty Alpaca Salad in Cusco
I had a great time in Cusco, eating Alpaca steaks and mountain biking around the Sacred Valley. I hooked up with two other travellers for a short 3 person tour to Machu Picchu and I think it was the ideal experience. It didn’t feel like a group trip, it was like we were just 3 friends who hired a guide to show us some towns and bring us to Machu Picchu. If I was going to like Peru, this was the way to do it.
Finally Visiting Machu Picchu
After about a week in Peru it was finally time to see what all the fuss was about. Time to head to Machu Picchu.
A drizzly, overcast day greeted us, which was actually great as it meant we didn’t have to get up quite so early to take the bus to Machu Picchu. (That “watch the sun rise” at Machu Picchu dream isn’t often a reality as the mountains are commonly shrouded in mist and clouds early in the morning.)
View of Wayna Picchu in the clouds at Machu Picchu
My little group of three had a couple hours of touring around the Machu Picchu ruins before parting ways with our guide and having the place free to roam as we wished. We slowly walked around the site, visiting the Inka Bridge and many popular spots, waiting for the heat of the later morning sun to start to burn the clouds away and unveil Machu Picchu, Wayna Picchu and the entire mountain area.
I passed by a couple of G Adventures groups, and thought how lucky I was to be sharing this place with just a couple of new friends, for some reason the people in those groups weren’t smiling and didn’t seem as enthused about Machu Picchu as my two travel buddies. I think, perhaps, they must’ve hiked the Inca Trail and spent the past two days hiking in rain and sleeping in flooded tents. Any Inca Trail hikers I ran into that day told me they had wished they had skipped the Inca Trail as the weather had been terrible.
The Inka Bridge at Machu Picchu – looks safe, right?
And so, after a couple more hours it came time to head back to Machu Picchu Pueblo for a late lunch. I’d been satisfied with my time at MP. I took photos, I enjoyed what I saw and I was happy it happened. It wasn’t as magical as some people made me think it would be, but I imagine that is because I’ve been to many other amazing places and my preference has always leaned towards wildlife destinations.
My favourite part of walking around Machu Picchu? Spotting a couple of lizards, some llamas and small rodent things, similar to Chinchillas!
Still, I was super happy to visit Machu Picchu. Unlike the Galapagos Islands, it isn’t high on my list for places to return to – I can understand, however, that it has a big impact on many travellers who appreciate the history, culture and impressive setting of the “Lost City of the Incas”.
Feeding some Alpaca Huacayos in the Andes was even more fun than seeing Machu Picchu
Upon arrival in Cusco, Peru one of my missions was to get to the bottom of a mystery that has haunted me for many years – does Alpaca taste better than Llama?
Having had Llama many times in Bolivia, I wanted to try their somewhat smaller, and some say cuter, cousins. You may wonder what Alpaca tastes like. Well, it’s quite a mild flavour actually, not game-y like venison or even lamb can be. You’d be hard pressed to tell it isn’t beef steak in many cases, but if you get a good Alpaca meal there is a nice difference, it’s quite lean and a little sweet.
Now I’m no ‘foodie’ (I rarely use Instagram, but always use the beer app Untappd) and I am not prone to frequently taking pictures of my food. I did manage to get some not-totally horrible Alpaca pictures though.
My first Alpaca meal was at a place called Nuna Raymi in Cusco.
Alpaca en el Ukhupacha
I elected for an Alpaca steak cooked with some traditional herbs and a sauce that had a bit of a kick to it. The actual item I got was called Alpaca en el Ukhupacha and to quote from the menu description it was “Alpaca sirloin marinated with pachamanca herbs accompanied with yellow and panca chil’s and mashed potatoes, topped with sautéed veggies on olive oil, pisco and paprika.”
After eating this tasty Alpaca I was sold on the idea that Alpaca tastes better than Llama, but to be sure, I decided to try to start a new challenge – I must eat Alpaca every day I am in Cusco. I couldn’t be left wondering if that tasty Alpaca meal was a fluke.
Most places around town had simple steak versions, which often looked good, but I was always on the look out for something a little different. I didn’t just want to eat Alpaca steak after Alpaca steak.
Alpaca Brochettes
The next Alpaca meal worth mentioning is the one I had after a day of exploring Sacsahuaman, Tambopatchy and some other Incan sites near to Cusco. A few of us decided to check out LIMO, a place right on the main square. It was a nice spot, albeit a typically overpriced tourist spot when you consider what you get. This place is more known for seafood and ceviche and I wasn’t overly hungry this time so I opted for the Alpaca brochettes. These morsels of meat well presented and came with some tasty Peruvian potatoes, sauces and sides. While my Alpaca was good, I was more excited about having the Pisco Sour here, which was really superb.
The next Alpaca meal that makes it on to my Cusco Alpaca tasting challenge is probably the healthiest Alpaca meal I had. After eating potatoes, rice and starchy foods for so long in Peru, I needed to fuel up on something healthier. Yes, even though I’m a meat eater, I do sometimes have a craving for green things and vegetables. I headed to a place I knew that would have good beer and they also happened to have a delicious sounding Alpaca salad on the menu. It was exactly what I needed and their own craft beer helped make it another favourite Alpaca meal.
An amazing Alpaca salad at Dragon’s Palate in Cuzco, Peru.
I managed to sample some other Alpaca meals outside of Cusco, Peru as well. Just to ensure that Cusco wasn’t some strange vortex for tasty Alpaca meat. It turns out that in Machu Picchu Pueblo you can also get some great Alpaca meals. But back to the tasting challenge! By the end of my time in Cusco, my final verdict was yes – Alpaca tastes slightly better than Llama.
Craft beer in South America isn’t anything new. When I was in Argentina in 2004 there were microbrews as far south as Ushuaia and I sampled some craft beer in Sucre, Bolivia back in 2007. But when I first passed through Peru there wasn’t much to get excited about.
Thankfully Peru is catching up to some of their South American neighbours, albeit on a small scale. The beer of dominance today is Pilsen, while Cristal is pretty much everywhere as well. Interestingly, the beer that was everywhere last time I visited (Cusquena) is still popular but has branched out offering more unique styles and seems positioned as a higher-end brew now.
Dragon’s Palate in Cusco is one place that serves up good food, and their own Microbrews
As with my Craft Beers of Ecuador post, I’ll break things down for Peru in terms of mass-produced popular beers and the harder to find, locally brewed craft beers. While it isn’t so easy finding some of these brews the good news for beer lovers is that more craft, artesanal brewers are popping up in Peru. Lima, Cuzco and even Iquitos have some locally available (but still hard to find) beers. In time, hopefully craft beer will become more common in this South American country.
Popular Beers in Peru
These are the beers you’ll see on t-shirts or find in virtually any bar in Peru, they’re pretty much all pale looking lagers, with the exception of some of the more recent adventurous offerings from Cusquena. SABMiller owns a bunch of the most popular Peruvian breweries.
A 1.1L bottle of Pilsen Callao
Pilsen Callao from Backus y Johnston (SABMiller)
Straw lager taste, a light flavourless brew. That’s about all you need to know. Apparently the most popular brew in Peru at the moment (although similar claims are made by Cristal), it’s also the watery-est and dullest of the bunch. Officially, it’s supposedly a maltier beer by style, by it fails in this regard. The 1.1L bottles that are popular for sharing are fun, but lower your expectations to appreciate this generic brew. If you somehow really like the taste of this, then you’ll love Cristal.
Pale yellow, lifeless looking beer that has no head retention. At best it is an easy to drink grainy lager that is best served ice cold in the heat of the sun. Aroma is corn, soap, fermented something. Taste is light, mild sour, blandness. It’s just nothing really…flavoured water with some alcohol added. I’d say it is worse than Pilsen, hmm perhaps…hard to gauge the difference. They’re both painfully non-de-script lagers, the type of cheap beers most backpackers and travellers consume in vast quantities, then suffer the consequences for the next day. But hey…at less than half the price of a good beer, like Norton Porter, I can’t fault the budget beer drinkers.
Cusquena Premium, the first Peru beer I had years ago
Cusqueña Premium from Cervecera del sur del Peru (SABMiller)
Last time I was in Peru, this was ‘the’ beer. Things have changed and Cusquena isn’t the Everyman beer. The beer itself though hasn’t seemingly changed, so it seems that it’s just been a marketing shift in beer consumption in Peru. Insights aside, this beer is a decent brew for a pale yellow lager. Grainy? A bit. Flavour? A bit. Drink it cold…the one I had in the snow at home in Canada was better than the ones in warmer weather in Peru.
A non-SABMiller brew! Ajeper is a small multi-national beverage company and it seems their beers are a little better than some – on par with Cusquena anyways. This beer has an almost headless pour with a wafting smell of grainy wheat and sourness. Not promising. Pale yellow straw colour, this beer is unfortunately another generic brew. The especial/export label does nothing to help it. I had hoped for this to be a fine lager, but it tastes muted, a mild flavour of grains with little substance. Another forgettable Peruvian beer, but not as bad as Cristal or Pilsen Callao.
Great looking bottle, first impression is promising. Damn! It’s a light grainy lager again! I don’t have to pour this one out of the bottle to know it is likely pale yellow in colour. It’s not ‘as’ grainy as some, and is decently drinkable. I wouldn’t say it is a ‘Cerveza premium’ as the bottle states but I’d put it closer to the top of widely available Peruvian beers. Overall aroma is sweet corn and grain, a bit sugary. Taste is also grains, but a bit sweet. Abrupt, dry finish leaves you craving more flavour, as there isn’t much of it here. I put this in the league of Heineken- an over marketed, under delivering brew. Rant aside, drink this before the other big beers of Peru if given a choice.
That covers the main ‘big’ beers I had in Peru. I didn’t sample everything the country has to offer, but it’s a solid run down of what to expect. Now, on to the more adventurous macro brews. In terms of South American offerings, you could almost call these craft beer. They all have distinct flavours and styles, beyond your pale lagers.
Cusquena De Trigo, a wheat beer!
Cusqueña De Trigo from Cervecera del sur del Peru (SABMiller)
A wheat beer in Peru? This pleasant surprise wasn’t the easiest to find, but was worth the effort. Medium opaque-murkiness it’s a light orange colour. A local could mistake this for looking like chicha if it weren’t for the monstrous amount of foamy head you get while pouring. Aroma was a little grainy and typical lager yeast, not so wheaty. But the flavour was wheat beer and quite refreshing. Nothing outstanding but high marks for Peru, I would happily drink this simple wheat beer again.
Apu Cerveza de Coca from Backus y Johnston (SABMiller)
You can’t go tp peru without giving in to the coca plant hype. Chew coca leaves, drink coca tea…or drink coca beer! Very light colour with a hazy translucent look. It has a huge smell of lemons, looking and smelling like lemonade. It’s easy to drink but has an odd spiciness alongside that zesty lemon. It really doesn’t taste like a beer, but more an alcoholic juice. You would liken it to a Radlermass beer I guess, but with more of an edge. It’s actually better than what I expected…although tastes nothing like what I expected. Best part of the beer is that the label calls it a ‘smart drink’! It’s worth a try for novelty sake, but far from a good beer.
Cusqueña Malta from Cervecera del sur del Peru (SABMiller)
This black beauty is a schwarzbier and is sweet and malty as the name would suggest. One of the darkest beers I had in Peru. It was sugary and a bit syrupy but not so bad overall. There is definitely more complexity of taste to this than your common lagers. It is a beer that you can enjoy while dining on Alpaca steak! But not the most session-able brew. Decent finish, no real lingering after-taste aside from some caramel flavour. All around, a decent effort and beer.
Cusqueña Red Lager from Cervecera del sur del Peru (SABMiller)
This beer is actually a golden orange colour, not quite red or amber. The taste is fresh and mildly sweet. A bit grainy but not like most Peruvian lagers. Expect a big frothy head during the pour. This one falls in the middle of the pack in terms of quality and taste. It’s far better than the light lagers, but not nearly as good as the craft beers. If you’re looking for a bit of flavour without having to pay more for your beer in Peru, this is a decent option. Definitely passable and above average for Peru. Has a light, pleasant finish, a bit wet not dry.
Now for the good stuff! These are, in my opinion, the best beers in Peru. Contrary to popular belief, it is possible to find craft beer in Peru, in particularly around the main square in Cuzco and also in Lima. As I didn’t have time to explore Lima on my recent trip, I’ll focus on sharing the craft beers I had in Cuzco.
Nortons Pale Ale – Looks like swamp water, but tastes good
Nortons Pale Ale at Norton Rat’s Tavern in Cusco
This was the first pint I had in Peru. Yes – a pint, not a bottle of beer! Unfiltered beer I assume. It looked like some kind of orange-brown cloudy Metamucil drink and had a slight sediment left in the bottom of the pint glass. Taste was nice and crisp though. An ever so slight bitterness lingers at the end, while the smell was fresh, a bit fruity and sweet. It is not like any pale ale I’ve seen before but the taste is similar. By Peruvian standards, delicious. This beer was the first time I tasted any hint of bitterness and hops in a beer in Peru. Norton Rat’s Pub has only started brewing their own beers somewhat recently, and while they may not blow you away, they are leaps and bounds better than the light lagers you get used to in South America.
Snortin Norton Porter at Norton Rat’s Tavern in Cusco
My favourite Norton beer. It’s a shame that so many beer drinkers may pass through Peru without realizing well-crafted, tasty beers exist here!
A good beer, wit ha great name – Snortin Norton Porter
There was a definite coffee aroma to this dark, but not black beer. It had a different colour for a porter. It was dark, but with a more brown than black colour. Aside from that it was a joy to drink. Light on the lips it was a bit watery upfront but quickly delivered on coffee and toffee flavours. It had a fairly long lasting dry finish too. From wet to dry it’s a nice effort for a porter beer. The clingy light brown head is evidence that it’s been brewed with passion, or at least quality ingredients. No evident sediment in this brew, unlike their Pale Ale.
Nortons Brown Ale, ok, but could be better
Nortons Brown Ale at Norton Rat’s Tavern in Cusco
A bit dark inside the bar so the colour was hard to distinguish. Definitely a darkish beer but can’t tell how ‘brown’ it is. Aroma was wet, not so strong. Trying to discern this beers characteristics was tougher than their other two brews I had. Taste was a brown ale though. They did get the core elements of that right. A bit of molasses flavour but quite mild. As this beer warmed up, it’s flavours and aromas became more pronounced. So after 1/2 a pint we’ve got a sugary smelling brew that has a medium mouth feel and moderate caramel molasses flavour profile, with a hint of nut or nutmeg flavour. It is far from a light lager, yet fails a bit as everything was just slightly underwhelming with this. A brown ale, or even a nut brown ale, could work so well with the natural ingredients found in Peru…this one needs to be tinkered with, nice but this was my least favourite Nortons brew.
Dragon’s Tears, a tasty American Pale Ale
Dragon’s Tears at Dragon’s Palate in Cusco
Not only did this fun place have good beer, they had good food too! With a little beer garden area, it’s a great spot and right beside a good bakery too. When I visited they didn’t have their Dragon’s Breath Honey Pilsner or Dragon’s Blood Nut Brown beers available, so I got their American Pale Ale, called Dragon’s Tears. The beer poured a mildly opaque yellow-orange colour with a decent amount of sticky head. Good amount of bitterness to this brew. It smelled crisp as well, with a lemon citrus freshness to it. Does not look nor smell like a beer from Peru. It drinks easily with a nice, long finish that leaves a bit of a sour grapefruit, bitter hop flavour in your mouth. Overall, my favourite beer in Peru.
There you go, a run down of 13 beers from Peru. Hopefully on your journey to Peru you’ll be able to sample something beyond Cristal, Pilsen and Cusquena.
