UPPER COLCA ARCHAEOLOGICAL
RESEARCH PROJECT
Arequipa, Peru
Personal Gear
See the Survey Equipment list for additional items.
The following gear list is not too different from what you might bring backpacking in the summer in the mountains of North America. You may refer to the Outward Bound backpacking gear list for ideas. Also, tourist guidebooks like the Lonely Planet Peru have good suggestions. If you need to buy equipment consider shopping online. The "top sellers" list at REI-Outlet.com has great prices and it changes all the time, but consider that most of this stuff needs to be tried on first. For example, don't buy boots online that you've never seen.
Clothes
When packing consider your fieldwork clothes and your city clothes separately. Often one group is being washed while the other is being worn. Unless you are larger than average it is easy to shop for clothes in Arequipa. Notably lacking however are strong wool socks, high-end polypropylene, and breathable raingear (Gore-tex) is in short supply. Shoe sizes are available up to about size 9.
A suggested list of fieldwork clothing includes the following
Pants: Work pants, light nylon or khakis are best. Jeans or Carhartts are heavy and are hard to dry. Shorts: Only tourists and soccer players wear shorts in Peru. Bring one quick-dry pair of shorts for swimming, but don't expect to wear them much in the villages of the Colca. Also bring 1 or 2 pair of non-work pants. Jeans ok.
Shirts: bring a work shirt. Button up front with breast pockets recommended. Undershirts are good but avoid cotton whenever possible. I have a few cotton t-shirts for around town. Also bring at least one thicker shirt, such as expedition-weight fleece.
Long underwear: 2 sets of mid-weight polypropylene (capilene) long underwear, both tops and bottoms. One set for sleeping, the other for working. No cotton! It's a liability when it gets wet and it takes forever to dry when you rinse it.
A warm jacket for nighttime: mid-weight down or thick fleece.
Raingear: a good breathable shell (Goretex) for on top is recommended. Legs are less important, cheap plastic pants are probably sufficient.
Hat: both a warm hat and a sun hat will be needed.
Gloves: light fleece or wool gloves are good.
Socks: Bring mostly wool hiking socks, see note below. Bring at least 6 pr so you can go for 6-10 days without doing laundry.
Underwear: bring enough so you can go 6-10 days without doing laundry.
The city of Arequipa is much lower elevation and is quite balmy. You can do the tourist thing while you're there, so sandals and maybe shorts are good for that. Arequipeños are fashionable dressers and a nice set of clothes for the city wouldn't hurt.
Footwear
Boots - Bring the lightest-weight full-grain leather boots that you can find. Boots with patches of nylon fabric will not stand up to the spiny plants and sharp rocks of the Colca area. Heavy-duty mountaineering boots are overkill, they're quite heavy and often give blisters. Please break in any boots prior to bringing them on the trip. Refer to the Outward Bound boot shopping guide for more information. If you've got over size 9 feet you will not find shoes in Peru!
Socks - Wool or pile socks are recommended. Cotton socks are inappropriate for fieldwork, though they're a nice change for time in the city. A common strategy for avoiding blisters is to put slick nylon socks liner socks underneath thicker wool or pile socks. These nylon socks dry quickly and can be rinsed nightly.
Gaiters - Gaiters are good for keeping your socks clean and also because the knee-high ichu grass is sharp enough to poke your legs through your pants. I'm partial to light-weight ankle gaiters from OR along with thicker pants, but tall gaiters are also good.
Miscellaneous
Medications: Modern pharmacies in Arequipa have many medications, however a few things can be suggested.
If you have had health complications speak to your doctor before coming to Peru, and bring sufficient quantities of any prescriptions you may need.
Painkillers: Bring good headache medication. They only sell raw aspirin in Peru. Bring Alieve and Ibuprofen or whatever you prefer. High altitudes frequently give headaches and a daily aspirin helps to thin the blood.
Nasal spray and eye drops are good in the dry, dusty air.
Wet-wipes and things like that are widely available in Arequipa, but other cleaning products are good to have. Consider bringing Campsuds, Dr. Bronner's or other biodegradable soaps.
You may wish to bring high altitude medications. These are prescription in the USA but are over-the-counter in other places. Get them through a prescription before coming to Peru if possible.
Backpack: you'll want a good sized day pack for most of our activities.
Sunglasses: essential! I use prescription glasses so I'm bringing two pair. Note: if you bring your prescription you can have glasses made quite cheaply in Arequipa. The bright altiplano sun will hurt your eyes, and the light ash soil reflects brightly as well. Bring good sunglasses and a solid case.
Moneybelt: put this on on the airplane and leave it on.
Money: It is recommended that you travel with US$100 - $200 in cash, minimum. Bring crispy bills no larger than $50. Any small tears or stains on US money and it will not be accepted, they're very fussy about this. The Plus, Cirrus, and Star ATM machines are widely available, and credit cards (especially Visa) are also useful.
Neckerchief
Camera: recommended. It's a dusty place, so keep it clean.
Bags: A dozen good 1 or 2 gallon ziploc bags, useful for everything, especially cameras. Also consider bringing a few thick trash bags. Large trash compactor bags are good because they're thick plastic. Bags in Peru are all very thin plastic.
Sun screen: they do sell SPF 50 banana boat in Peru, but you can never have too much of your favorite stuff.
Camping
If you plan to participate in the high altitude phase of the project you'll need the following. Even those who aren't camping out may want some of this equipment for their own comfort.
Sleeping bag: a 0 or 15 deg F down bag is probably sufficiently warm.
Thermarest: nice to have, even on hotels mattresses!
Large Backpack: We will each be responsible for bringing our personal equipment up to the caldera, a full day hike up to 4900masl (15,500'). A good backpack is recommended.
Tent: you may wish to have this for your own travels. We should have enough tents for the field crew.
Stove: You won't need this on the project. If you do bring one, white gas is sold as Benzena in Peru. A stove you can also put unleaded gas in is recommended.