Peru is in western South America and shares borders with Chile (to the south), Bolivia (southeast), Brazil (northeast), Colombia (north) and Ecuador (northwest). It has three major regions: a narrow coastal belt, the wide Andean mountains and the Amazon Basin. The coastal strip is predominantly desert, but contains Peru's major cities and its best highway, the Carratera Panamericana. The Andes comprise two principal ranges - Cordillera Occidental and Oriental - and includes Huascarán (6770m/22,200ft), Peru's highest mountain. To the east is the Amazon Basin, a region of tropical lowland, which is drained by the Maranon and Ucayali rivers.

Bird and marine life is abundant along Peru's desert coast, with colonies of sea lion, the Humboldt penguin, Chilean flamingo, Peruvian pelican, Inca tern and the brown booby endemic to the region. Common highland birds include the Andean condor, puna ibis and a variety of hummingbird. The highlands are also home to cameloids such as the llama, alpaca, guanaco and vicuña, while the eastern slopes of the Andes are the haunts of jaguars, spectacled bears and tapirs. Peru's flora contains a number of hardy and unique plants, including patches of

Peru's climate can be divided into two seasons - wet and dry - though this varies, depending on the geographical region. The coast and western Andean slopes are generally dry, with the summer falling between December and April; during the rest of the year, the

Costs in Peru are lower, on average, than those in developed countries, but higher than those in many neighboring countries. Lima and Cuzco are the most expensive places in the country. If you're on a tight budget, you can scrape by on around US$15-20 per day, but if you want to stay in modest hotels and eat out at restaurants, you'll have a better time on around US$50 a day. Prices for luxury accommodations run up to US$200 at popular destinations like Machu Picchu.

The easiest currency to exchange is US dollars. Other currencies are only exchangeable in major cities and at a high commission. Money can be changed in banks, casas de cambio, first-class hotels or with street changers. Casas de cambio are usually the easiest places to change money. Street changers, who hang out near banks, never offer better rates than the best bank rate and have been known to cheat travelers so are best avoided. Rates vary from place to place but not significantly, unless you try to change money at a hotel which charges high commission. Travelers' checks are changed at a slightly lower rate than cash. Visa is the most widely accepted credit card, but credit cards attract an 8% commission unless you are using it for a cash withdrawal (in Peruvian currency) from a bank. ATMs (Visa and Plus system are most widely recognized) are now the best way to extract money in Peru.

A combination of taxes and service charges are added to bills in the best hotels and restaurants and can total as much as 28%. The cheaper hotels and restaurants don't add taxes. Tipping is not expected in budget restaurants. A tip of 10-15% is fine in upmarket restaurants if a service charge has not already been added to the bill. Taxi drivers are not tipped - bargain hard beforehand and stick to your price. Local guides should be tipped US$3-5 per day. Bargaining is a way of life in markets.

Peru's peak tourist season is from June to August, which is the dry season in the highlands, and this is the best time to go if you're interested in hiking. Travelers do visit the highlands year-round, though the wettest months, January to April, make trekking a muddy proposition. Many of the major fiestas occur in the wettest months and continue undiminished in spite of heavy rain.

On the coast, Peruvians visit the beaches during the sunny months from late December through March, although few beaches are particularly enticing. The rest of the year, the coast is clothed in mist. In the eastern rainforests, it naturally rains a lot. The wettest months are December through April, though travelers visit year-round since it rarely rains for more than a few hours and there's still plenty of sunshine to enjoy.