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PERU TRAVEL PLANNER
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Indian resistance
Since the early 1970s, the indigenous rainforest nations, in
particular the Campa Ashaninka from the much threatened central jungle area,
have been co-ordinating opposition to these threats. Representatives, sometimes
working in conjunction with indigenous political umbrella organizations, have
gone increasingly regularly to Lima to get publicity and assert Indian claims to
land. For the Ashaninka, this territorial struggle has been and continues to be
for titles on the Ene and Tambo , the only regions left to them after four
centuries of "civilizing" influence. In publicity terms they have met with some
success. The exploitation of the forests has become a political issue, fuelled
in the early 1980s within Peru (and outside) by the bizarre events surrounding
Werner Herzog's filming of Fitzcarraldo, a film about exploitation of Indians,
yet whose director so angered local commmunities that at one stage a whole
production camp was burned down.
With the rise of Sendero Luminoso things got much worse for some indigenous
Peruvian Amazon groups. Again, the Ashaninka suffered greatly because of their
close proximity to the Sendero heartlands. Sendero are now virtually extinct,
due in part to the fierce stand taken by the Ashaninka themselves, and in the
last six years, the Ashaninka have regained control of much of the territory
they had lost to the terrorists. The problem they face now is one of organized
land invasions by settlers, many of these recalcitrant terrorists, frequently
with the support of regional authorities. In many cases, the political
revolutionary fervour of the late 1980s and early 1990s has been replaced by a
spreading religious evangelicalism.
While the Indians have certainly undergone a radical growth in political
awareness, in real terms they have made little progress. Former President
Belaunde, whose promises of human rights in the late 1970s led to many thousands
of Ashaninka making their way down to polling stations by raft to vote for him,
has merely speeded up the process of colonization, and in the Ene region alone,
the Indians face multinational claims to millions of acres of their territory.
To make matters worse, President Fujimori changed the law in 1995 to allow
colonization of Indian lands if they had been "unoccupied" for two years or
more. Obviously, with many of the traditional rainforest Indians having a
semi-nomadic existence, depending on hunting and gathering for survival,
colonists can take over an area of forest claiming it as uninhabited, even
though it's part of traditional territory. This particular law change
particularly affected the Ashaninka, who had already been forced to leave their
usual scattered settlements for self-protection against the terrorists. At the
close of the twentieth century, they had largely moved back into their original
settlements and territories, though closely followed by more waves of colonists.
The civil war against Sendero, in which the Ashaninka played a significant role,
did much to unite the traditionally scattered Ashaninka nation, but whether or
not it has prepared them sufficiently well to hold things together remains to be
seen
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Published articles and reviews about us
2010
Testimonials
Norman Pedersen
Date:
Sun,18 Jul 2010
Machu Picchu and my entire visit to Peru were
wonderful. A dream come true.
I could not have been happier with everyone I met through your
arrangements.
The tours were very informative and showed me more than I knew
existed in this beautiful place.
All of the accommodations were very comfortable.
The luncheon buffet at the Alhambra was top rate. And the Ferré
Hotel in Lima was also a very good choice.Your personal assistance
throughout was exceptional!
Thank you for everything!
Melinda Hughes
Date:
Tues, 13 Jul 2010
I was one of
the “Joel Williams” party of four who was recently on a Peru Gateway
Travel tour of northern and southern Peru. I had to write so you
would know how satisfied we were with the hotel accommodations, the
tour guides, the restaurants they choose for our lunches and just
everything about the trip.
The hotels we stayed in were well located, clean and convenient in
every way. We have absolutely no complaints!
Our tour covered Peru from the north to the south. It had four
internal flights, so there were many connections, pick ups and
deliveries involved. Peru Gateway Travel made sure we were always
delivered on time to the airports and promptly met and picked up
when we landed. We never had a moments worry.
Since we had many different day tours, we had several different
guides. All were professional and spoke our language well. All were
very knowledgeable and eager to impart that knowledge to us. They
chose great places for our lunches and the cuisine was
unforgettable. We have traveled to many countries but found the food
in Peru to be absolutely wonderful.
I also wanted to mention the drivers who picked us up at all times
of the day and night, drove us to our next destination and the
delivered us safely to our hotels. We never had a driver who was
less than prompt, courteous and most importantly, a skilled and
careful driver.
The sites we saw were the places we chose to see. And they did not
disappoint us. From the desert to the Andes to the Jungle, we
enjoyed it all.
Please feel free to use this email on your website or as a
testimonial. All four of our group would recommend Peru Gateway
Travel to anyone planning a trip to Peru. We were well taken care
of, enjoyed delicious food, saw awesome sights and had a wonderful
time.
Sincerely.
Ajay Chopra
Date:
Fri, 02 Jul 2010
We are back in
Lima. Our trip to Machu Picchu was wonderful, thank you and your
team and the ground staff in Cuzco for all their help and care. A
special thanks to Angella for her help.
We hope to do business with you in the near future.
Best Regards
Saikat.
Date:
Fri, 02 Jul 2010
I just wanted to let you know that we had an amazing
and wonderful trip to your country.
I must state that the people of Peru impressed me very much - they
are so nice!
While I have already filled-up the feedback form, this is just a
personal note to say Thank you.
Do visit India sometime - we have a lot in common.
Regards,
Irina Pascu
Date:
Fri, 25 Jun 2010
I am now back
home but still not believed that the holiday is over. I just
write you to tell you that I had a wonderful time in Peru and to
thanks for
your support. The circuit was very well designed and I had the
opportunity
to visit all the important sites I envisaged and also the Sacred
Valley and
the Altiplano.
I was really impressed by the organization and your people, always
in time
for pick up and interested to offer the necessary information.
Finally I showed to my friends that Peru is not so far and a visit
there
could be a wonderful experience. For me was a dream come true.
Many thanks to you and to your team.
Melissa Polier
Date:
Tues, 22 Jun 2010
My 2 adult children and I recently returned from our
hike to Machu Picchu and I wanted to thank you for all your
assistance. Our trip was great. We very much enjoyed visiting your
beautiful country. I especially want to praise our guide, cook and
porters. They did a terrific job. The food was marvelous and after a
long hike it was definitely something to look forward to. The
porters were very kind and when I needed some assistance at the end
of the 3rd day one of the porters helped me a lot. Our guide was
great. He was very knowledgeable and fun to hike with and he seemed
to really love his job. Again, thanks so much for everything
Read More testimonials »
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