Peru Panoramic

Welcome to Peru. Meet and greet at the airport and transfer to your hotel in the Miraflores district.

Visit both the colonial and modern sections of the this "City of Kings". Colonial sites include the lovely Plaza de Armas with its cathedral and palace; and the exquisite Torre Tagle Palace, the modern-day seat of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In modern Lima drive through the exclusive residential areas of Miraflores and San Isidro.

Welcome Dinner
Evening dinner will be at the XVII Century Colonial mansion, Casa Hacienda Moreyra. Transportation from your hotel is included. (BD)

You will be picked up and transferred to the airport for your domestic flight to Puerto Maldonado in Peru's Amazon Basin. You will be welcomed at the airport and driven ten minutes to the lodge's Puerto Maldonado headquarters. While enjoying your first taste of the forest you will be asked to pack only the necessary gear for your next few days, and leave the rest in the lodge's safety deposit boxes. Drive 20 km to Tambopata river port in the native community of Infierno. The 45-minute boat ride to Posada Amazonas will take you into a primary forest private reserve. Upon arrival, the lodge manager will welcome you and brief you with important navigation and security tips. In the afternoon you can take a 20-minute walk to the 30-metre scaffolding canopy tower. From atop you obtain spectacular views of the vast expanses of standing forest cut by the Tambopata River winding through the middle. Now and then toucans, parrots or macaws are seen flying against the horizon, or mixed species canopy flocks land on the treetop next to you. (BLD)

Tres Chimbadas Oxbow Lake is 30 minutes by boat and 45 minutes hiking from Posada Amazonas. Once there you will paddle around the lake in a catamaran, searching for the resident family of nine giant river otters and other lakeside wildlife such as caiman, hoatzin and horned screamers. The next visit is to the parrot clay lick, only a 20-minute walk from the lodge. Here you will see dozens of parrots and parakeets descend on most clear mornings to ingest the clay on a river bank. The clay lick is most active at dawn and during the late mornings and mid-afternoons. After lunch you will take an ethnobotanical tour. A boat ride downriver leads you to a trail designed by the staff of the Centro Ñape. The Centro Ñape is a communal organization that produces medicines out of forest plants and administers them to patients who choose their little clinic. They have produced a trail which explains the different medicinal (and other) uses of selected plants. Following dinner, you have an optional night hike. This is when most of the mammals are active but rarely seen. (BLD)

This morning you will be transferred on the river to the airport for your flight to the colonial highland city of Cusco. On arrival, you will be met and transferred to your hotel. Allow time for your body to acclimatize to the high altitude.

Cusco Walking Tour
In the afternoon we will take a walking tour of the ancient capital of the Inca Empire. Visitors are easily entranced by this lovely city. The tour includes a visit to the Cathedral and Santo Domingo Church, passing through the city's main streets and the Plaza de Armas. You will walk through some of Cusco's most astonishing streets to reach the San Blas Church. (B)

Morning departure for a drive through the fertile countryside to the colonial village of Pisac. During your visit to the bustling marketplace, you will have the opportunity to bargain with the natives for many different types of Peruvian handicrafts and jewelry. After lunch, the tour continues to the village of Ollantaytambo for a visit to its impressive Inca fortress. (Market operates Sun, Tue, Thu). (BL)

Early in the morning pick up from your Cusco hotel and drive through the Andes to our starting point of la Curva, here you will receive your safety talk and equipment. After a brief period of practicing on the flatter parts of the river, we will begin our rafting experience, passing down to Ollantaytambo through rapids of class II and III finishing with "El Resbaladero" (the slippery one) which is a strong grade three rapid that includes whirlpools. After we dry off and change we will head to a picnic tent lunch at the side of the river. Transfer back to the hotel at 16:00 approximately. (BL)

The day is at leisure for shopping, wandering the historic streets, or for optional touring. (B)

Early wake up for a train ride (in the Vistadome carriage) through the Sacred Valley of Urubamba to the "Lost City of the Incas," Machu Picchu. Perched 8,200 feet above the valley, it was hidden by mountains and semi-tropical jungles for 400 years until discovered by Hiram Bingham of Yale University in 1911. Archaeologists believe that the Inca "Virgins of the Sun" took refuge from the Spanish Conquistadors here. Buffet lunch will be served at the mountaintop Orient-Express Sanctuary Lodge. Overnight will be spent in the town of Aguas Calientes at the base of the mountain. (BL)

The morning is free for optional visit to Machu Picchu. In the afternoon we will return to Cusco via the spectacular railway journey. (B)

Day is at leisure for you to wander the historic streets of Cusco.

Inka Wall Dinner Show
Tonight you will enjoy a dinner show at the Inka Wall Restaurant. This show presents a great cast of actors and dancers representing colourful and showy ceremonies and Inka dances. The duration of the show is 2 hours and is accompanied by a national and international gastronomic buffet. (BD)

You will be picked up and transferred to the airport for your domestic flight to Arequipa airport where you will be met for your half-day sightseeing tour of this beautiful city. Included is a visit to the Spanish Colonial Monastery of Santa Catalina, called "a city within a city", which lay closed to the layman and shrouded in mystery for over 400 years. This remarkable relic of colonial times now is open to the public. Continue to your accommodations in Arequipa. (B)

Early departure towards the highlands passing through Yura-Pampa Cañahuas and La Pulpera with a good chance of observing groups of wild vicuñas and fighting cattle. Stop en route to see petroglyphs in the Caves of Mollepunco and in the town of Callali to see natural hill formations with the appearance of enchanted castles. Drive to La Calera to enjoy the thermal baths under the stars. Return to the township of Chivay overnight. (BLD)

To maximize your probability of seeing condors we depart very early for the "Cross of the Condor", a superb viewing point located at about an altitude of 15,000 feet. Drive a little further in to the canyon to see some pre-Inca ruins and watch the way of life in this remote land. Return to Arequipa for your return flight to Lima. (B)

Final day is at leisure for souvenir shopping or for taking a last optional tour (additional cost). In the afternoon you will be picked up for your airport transfer to Lima International Airport for your late evening outbound flight. (B)