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The latest in our Tour Operators That Give Back Series meets the adventure travel pioneers specializing in remote and rural Peru.

The beach town of Pimentel, near Chiclayo (on Northern Peru’s desert coast), is known for its family-run beachfront cevicherias. These restaurants have immediate access to fish straight from the sea. Ceviche is eaten only for lunch in the north - so make your visit in the afternoon. Northern Peruvian ceviche is prepared with paper-thin sliced red onions, chile peppers, large chunks of fresh fish and lots of lime juice. The fish gets cooked by the lime juice on the outside, but stays raw on the inside. Fishermen in Pimentel still use the tule reed boats of their ancestors, which you’ll see on the pier and on the beach. The malecon (an ocean front promenade) is lined with decaying stately homes.

Batan Grande is a sprawling archaeological site where weather-beaten adobe pyramids tower over a forest of algarrobo (carob) trees. The gold, spondylus shells, pottery, breastplates and masks from the tombs continuously being excavated at Batan Grande are on display in the Museo Nacional Sican in Ferrenafe. There is very little interpretation at the site itself, but it is exciting to climb the pyramids and see archaeologists at work. I got lost in the forest and encountered an adorable fox. The site is remote and best reached by taxi. Make a day of it from Chiclayo - visit the Museo Nacional Sican (on the way in Ferrenafe), then take a taxi to Batan Grande.