Lacco pyramidal site expedition
Everything you need to know before signing up for this expedition — difficulty, authorizations, equipment, pricing, and the link to Paititi.
A warm outfit that stays dry, kept only for the night, and a light hiking outfit that can withstand mud and rain, worn the same throughout the trek. This strategy keeps the pack light, since much of it needs to be reserved for things other than clothing. The warm, dry outfit should include good socks and a heavy sweater or down jacket, since some camps may be at altitude (3,800-4,000 m) where it can freeze at night. During the day, on the other hand, a t-shirt is enough while hiking.
Generally unnecessary. Three-quarters of the hike takes place above 2,000 meters of altitude, where there are few mosquitoes or flies. There are horseflies, but not in overwhelming numbers. To keep the pack as light as possible, mosquito repellent — or even citronella — is not part of the priority gear.
The weight of the backpack allows the difficulty to be adjusted. What is certain is that the first three days are by far the most difficult, since they start with a 3,000-meter elevation gain, and the team's total load — porters plus participants — is at its heaviest at that point. The pace can be slowed down as needed, and there are strategically placed camps along the way, relatively accessible for a beginner profile. That is, someone who isn't a high-level athlete, or even a regular one, but who has at least a minimum of training — for example, a casual weekend athlete — and who preferably isn't significantly overweight. For high-level athletes or very well-trained profiles — whether Amazonian-type or mountain-type profiles —, it is possible to do two camps in a single day; Peruvian guides will know how to organize this. In that case, the trek moves up to a difficult, even extreme difficulty level. Beyond the initial ascent, depending on the authorizations obtained from Peruvian authorities, the descent toward the areas closer to the lowlands can include difficult, very difficult, even impossible sections: machete-cut passages, with mud, dense vegetation, and steep elevation change, where even the best profiles cannot exceed two kilometers per day. This part of the trek can also include sections of walking in water all day, exhausting, requiring strict discipline to keep feet dry at night. These relatively lowland areas may include side excursions, or even full multi-day explorations, in terrain known as "monte" — very low, very dense forest, with very pronounced elevation change. These explorations are rarely done with heavy loads, rather with light loads, and demand enormously on physical capacity, even for the best profiles, including those with lowland Amazon experience. This terrain represents a new challenge both for Amazon specialists and for mountain profiles, since it combines both types of difficulty.
Yes, this logistics can be arranged locally in the last village before the no man's land. For the initial ascent, especially on 18-day treks or longer, mules are essential. They work well with a strategy of leaving a minimum amount of food up top, if only for the day or days of the descent.
The explorer or journalist is picked up from the airport by an official Peruvian local guide. An acclimatization period is necessary before entering the heart of the matter, the heavy trek. This acclimatization can take place in the Cusco / Pisac region, with the possibility of visiting some Inca ruins, or even walking with llamas. Its duration varies according to the explorer or journalist's choice, but at least two days of acclimatization are required.
Then, from for example Calca, Lamay, Coya, Taray, or even Lares — if acclimatization ended at Lares for example —, a motorized transfer by bus or car takes place to the Lacco valley, where the last civilized villages are located. Some have electricity thanks to solar panels, and there is sometimes a Starlink connection to the rest of the world. The explorer or journalist can then stay a few days there, or leave directly to begin the heavy trek, in coordination with both the local authorities, SERNANP, and the guides — necessarily Peruvian explorers who know the way to the site or the exploration zone.
At the start, the explorer or journalist takes few initiatives, but the more the heavy trek enters unknown territory, the more the advance strategy becomes a debate between the Peruvian guides and the explorer or journalist, where the latter can take the lead.
None. Food is usually bought locally, together with the guides. Their weight-to-calorie ratio is roughly equivalent to freeze-dried food, mainly through dried meat, tuna, and dry foods such as rice or pasta.
The meal structure is quite atypical compared to Western habits: a lot is eaten in the morning, because camp is still set up, and a lot in the evening, because camp is set up again. On the other hand, very little at midday — just a snack, which might consist of bread and cheese, for example — and fairly little water during the climb, which can pose an adaptation problem in the first few days.
Water is mainly managed in the morning and evening, in large quantities, through tea and soup — you need to know how to sweat without drinking too much during the day, since fuel is scarce. In particular, there's no fire available during the day to boil water, a necessary step before drinking it. Any water can be safely drunk as long as the boiling time is sufficient — the Peruvian guides know this subject perfectly well. It is therefore advisable to keep boiled water from the morning in your water bottle, possibly in a lightweight aluminum thermos, since there will be no way to refill with water during the day.
The four pillars of a good calorie-to-weight ratio, bought locally, are dried meat, tuna, rice, and pasta. The explorer or journalist can certainly bring calorie bars or very energy-dense foods — such as Kinder Bueno, commando/military-style bars, or simply crushed, optimized nougat — and should plan to share a little with the Peruvian guides themselves too. But this remains a supplement, not the main caloric core of the expedition.
For long expeditions beyond 18-20 days, or even 25 days or more, a supplementary fishing and hunting activity may be planned, but it must be limited and explicitly stated in the permits authorizing the expedition. These activities are very difficult for a non-Peruvian foreigner to carry out, even one already familiar with the Amazonian environment, because you need to know how to fish, hunt, and move at the same time. This is indeed an expedition, not a survival course: the latter aims to survive in a relatively static way, while an expedition must maintain overall movement — some days may be stationary, but overall the camp keeps advancing. Fishing and hunting must therefore be harmonized with this movement, which in practice requires great expertise, unwritten, passed down mainly through the oral tradition of locals, some of whom live in the forest year-round. These fishing and hunting activities are only possible if the permit explicitly authorizes them. If the permit does not explicitly authorize them, they cannot be carried out, and the expedition cannot therefore be extended beyond 18, or even 20 days.
Yes. Recently, it has become possible to bring a mobile Starlink antenna powered by solar panels. This has already been tested and works well, except under fairly dense forest cover or in cloudy terrain, but overall, generally, it works well.
Alternatively, an Iridium-type satellite phone can be brought, although it allows for fewer things — in particular, you can't chat on WhatsApp, since available data is very limited. In practice, that data takes the form of short SMS messages, but for voice calls it can be quite useful. Iridium has more robust coverage than Starlink, especially in bad weather: Iridium tends to get through fairly easily, whereas Starlink does not.
A SPOT-type GPS beacon can also be used. It offers very good value for money if the need is to track the expedition in real time, with one position per day. However, for communication — providing situational updates, reporting unexpected events, and so on — it is not the best tool. But it is a very good tool, arguably the best, for geographic tracking of the expedition.
It is possible to abandon the trek at any point along the way — in fact, this is sometimes even the best option. In that case, one or two guides will return with the explorer or journalist who decided to abandon, for various reasons.
In the case of injury, however, it is not realistic to expect helicopter rescue. It is more realistic to consider a rescue expedition, organized either without, or with, direct contact with rescue services. Helicopters are very difficult to land in these areas, the weather is highly unpredictable, and it's often necessary to wait several weeks for a suitable window — not counting the relative cost, as well as the required permit.
Additionally, no insurance operates in the area. The activity is not considered a classic recreational or sporting activity from the point of view of insurers, although from the Peruvian government's point of view it may be considered a recreational activity (without any stable, established process on this matter). It is therefore considered by insurers to be a risk activity, outside their usual scope of coverage. A civil liability waiver, signed by the explorer or journalist, is signed before departure.
It all depends on the physical abilities of the explorer/journalist. In the worst case, they may be accompanied by just one Peruvian. In the best case, there can be a ratio of 1 to 3 between the foreigner — fairly untrained, or somewhat trained, but not more than that — and the number of Peruvian guides/porters accompanying them.
This 1-to-3 ratio is considered a maximum ratio, in which the foreigner only needs to carry their clothing, and possibly a bit more, but not food — particularly not their own food, which generally represents between 70 and 80% of the expedition's overall load.
Contact us directly on WhatsApp — we personally answer every inquiry.