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PERU TRAVEL PLANNER
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The rebellion
When the Hapsburg monarchy gave way to the Bourbon kings in
Spain at the beginning of the eighteenth century, shivers of protest seemed to
reverberate deep in the Peruvian hinterland. There were a number of serious
native rebellions against colonial rule during the next hundred years. One of
the most important, though least known, was that led by Juan Santos Atahualpa ,
a mestizo from Cusco. Juan Santos had travelled to Spain, Africa and, some say,
to England as a young man in the service of a wealthy Jesuit priest. Returning
to Peru in 1740 he was imbued with revolutionary fervour and moved into the high
jungle region between Tarma and the Río Ucayali where he roused the forest
Indians to rebellion. Throwing out the whites, he established a millenarian cult
and, with an Indian army recruited from several tribes, successfully repelled
all attacks by the authorities. Although never extending his powers beyond Tarma,
he lived a free man until his death in 1756.
Twenty years later there were further violent native protests throughout the
country against the enforcement of repartiementos. Under this new system the
peasants were obliged to buy most of their essential goods from the corregidor,
who, as monopoly supplier, sold poor quality produce at grossly inflated prices.
In 1780, another mestizo, José Gabriel Condorcanqui, led a rebellion, calling
himself Tupac Amaru II . Whipping up the already inflamed peasant opinion around
Cusco into a revolutionary frenzy, he imprisoned a local corregidor before going
on to massacre a troop of nearly six hundred Royalist soldiers. Within a year
Tupac Amaru II had been captured and executed but his rebellion had demonstrated
both a definite weakness in colonial control and a high degree of popular
unrest. Over the next decade several administrative reforms were to alter the
situation, at least superficially: the repartimiento and the corregimento
systems were abolished. In 1784, Charles III appointed a French nobleman -
Teodoro de Croix - as the new viceroy to Peru and divided the country into seven
intendencias containing 52 provinces. This created tighter direct royal control,
but also unwittingly provided the pattern for the Republican state of federated
departmentos.
The end of the eighteenth century saw profound changes throughout the world. The
North American colonies had gained their independence from Britain; France had
been rocked by a people's revolution; and liberal ideas were spreading
everywhere. Inflammatory news-papers and periodicals began to appear on the
streets of Lima, and discontent was expressed at all levels of society. A strong
sense of Peruvian nationalism emerged in the pages of Mercurio Peruano (first
printed in the 1790s), a concept which was vital to the coming changes. Even the
architecture of Lima had changed in the mid-eighteenth century, as if to welcome
the new era. Wide avenues suddenly appeared, public parks were opened, and
palatial salons became the focus for the discourse of gentlemen. The philosophy
of the enlightenment was slowly but surely pervading attitudes even in remote
Peru.
When, in 1808, Napoleon took control of Spain, the authorities and elites in all
the Spanish colonies found themselves in a new and unprecedented position. Was
their loyalty to Spain or to its rightful king? And just who was the rightful
king now?
Initially, there were a few unsuccessful, locally based protests in response
both to this ambiguous situation and to the age-old agrarian problem, but it was
only with the intervention of outside forces that independence was to become a
serious issue in Peru. The American War of Independence, the French Revolution,
and Napoleon's invasion of Spain all pointed towards the opportunity of throwing
off the shackles of colonialism, and by the time Ferdinand returned to the
Spanish throne in 1814, Royalist troops were struggling to maintain order
throughout South America. Venezuela and Argentina had already declared their
independence, and in 1817 San Martín liberated Chile by force. It was only a
matter of time before one of the great liberators - San Martín in the south or
Bolívar in the north - reached Peru.
San Martín was the first to do so. Having already liberated Argentina and Chile,
he contracted an English naval officer, Lord Cochrane, to attack Lima. By
September 1819 the first rebel invaders had landed at Paracas. Ica, Huanuco and
then the north of Peru soon opted for independence, and the Royalists, cut off
in Lima, retreated into the mountains. Entering the capital without a struggle,
San Martín proclaimed Peruvian independence on July 28, 1821.
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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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