The Authentic Peru Experience

As you arrive into Lima airport and exit customs and baggage, you will be warmly welcomed by our driver. You will be assisted with your luggage before escorted to your hotel, the Antigua hotel in a private vehicle. Free evening.

After breakfast, a visit of colonial and modern Lima, starting in the centre of this vibrant, metropolis. The tour will include a visit of the cathedral, dating from 1654 which still houses the remains of the conquistador Pizarro in the foyer; the Main Square, with the original bronze fountain built in 1650, the Government Palace where the President has his official residence and the San Francisco Convent, with its famous catacombs.

After early breakfast, we bid farewell to Cuzco and take a short drive in a private car to the airport for the flight to Puerto Maldonado. Arrival to Puerto Maldonado. Reception and transfer to the Tambopata river port in Puerto Maldonado. Puerto Maldonado is situated at the confluence of the Madre de Dios and Tambopata Rivers. Its principal activities are gold mining, Brazil nut collecting, timber extraction, agriculture and ecotourism. After a brief survey of the town you will depart on a 1 hour ride via Infierno road, followed by a 30 minute boat journey by motorized canoe to your lodge. Depending upon your arrival time, you will have a boxed lunch aboard the boats or have lunch upon arrival at the lodge. During your voyage you may see bird such as: Black Skimmer, Pied Lapwing, Capped Heron, Jabiru Stork, Roadside Hawk, and several species of kingfishers. After arrival, you will unpack and unwind. A short orientation and a complete briefing on the lodge before your afternoon activity, a short trek into the Amazon Rainforest. Return for dinner.

Early wake at dawn for a visit to an oxbow lake. After an early breakfast, departure fifteen minutes from the lodge by boat followed by a 30 minute walk to the lake shore. From here you will take a long, easy canoe ride around the lake looking for giant river otters, turtles, hoatzin, and wading birds. The giant river otters that are seen here belong to a resident family of nine. Return to the lodge for lunch before embarking on your afternoon outing inot the rainforest. Return to the lodge for dinner and overnight. Optional night walk to look for amphibians and insects

After breakfast, return to the airport in Puerto Maldonado for the flight to Cuzco, the ancient Inca capital of the Incas. In Cuzco, you will be warmly welcomed and assisted with your luggage before your short private drive to your hotel, the Aranwa.

After breakfast, a tour of Cuzco including the Qoricancha temple or temple of the Sun, the Inca fortress of Sacsayhuaman overlooking Cuzco city, Qenko, Tambomachay and Puka Pukara. Return to the hotel in the evening.

After breakfast, we pick you up from your hotel for the 1 ½ hour drive to the put-in at the Upper Urubamba River at Cusipata River Camp. Our professional rafting guides will give a safety talk and provide all the necessary equipment before starting on your 2 ½ hour rafting on Class II and Class III rapids. During the rainy season, December to March these rapids are IV and IV plus but outside of these months they are class III. After a lunch, return to Cuzco.

After breakfast, we depart by vehicle to just outside Chinchero where we will start our mountain bike ride, on back roads and trails. We first ride back roads for about an hour, climbing several hills, witnessing scenes of rural Andean life, before arriving at the Inca site of Moray. This is a fascinating, unique ruin; a fabulous amphitheatre of terracing that was used as an agricultural experimental site by the Incas by taking advantage of the microclimates produced by the varying altitude to breed new varieties of their crops. After retracing our route briefly, we leave the back roads and transition to a two track road that later becomes a walking trail. The route is mostly flat and downhill, with one steep and fairly technical downhill followed by a short but steep uphill. Those who would prefer to ride in the support vehicle are free to do so.
After riding for about 45 minutes we reach the village of Maras, where we will rejoin our support vehicle on the town plaza for a picnic lunch. We get back on our bikes for a mostly downhill ride to the salt pans of Maras. The salt pans are an unforgettable site the people from Maras have diverted a salt-laden spring coming out of the hillside, evaporating the water to collect salt, as their ancestors have done for centuries. We will walk among the salt pans, witnessing a scene largely unchanged from Inca times. From the salt pans we have a final technical bike ride, downhill into the Sacred Valley town of Urubamba. On this half hour section there are a few rocky drops that can be ridden or walked. There is also the option to take the support van along another route. Arrival to the Urubamba for the transfer back to Cuzco. Dinner at the Map Cafe Restaurant.

Today you will have an early start and enjoy breakfast before your train to Aguas Calientes. The train will depart at 06.30am for the 3 ½ hour journey. Arrive to Aguas Calientes train station, gateway to the lost city of the Incas.
Check-in to your hotel, the Machu Picchu Pueblo Hotel. The short ride up to Machu Picchu will meander through breathtaking mountain scenery up to the ancient Inca citadel. Shortly after, a private guided tour of Machu Picchu, the most spectacular ancient city in the world. Built by the Inca Pachacutec, and comprising stone blocks fitted with masterful precision, Machu Picchu harmoniously blends into the mountain landscape. There are many theories as to the origins behind Machu Picchu but three of the most popular ideas include a temple to the sun, a fortress against the jungle inhabitants or a sanctuary for the Incas. This fabulous city has houses, temples, warehouses, a large central square, all connected by narrow roads and steps, and is surrounded by terraces cut into the mountain side which were used for agriculture.

Today you will enjoy a free day in Machu Picchu with an opportunity to see the site at sunrise. Today no guide is provided as we feel that Machu Picchu requires a certain amount of self discovery to be fully understood. Return train back to Cuzco and your hotel.

After breakfast, transfer to the bus terminal for the tourist bus to Puno, visiting several archaeological sites along the way. Lunch is included. Arrival and transfer to your hotel, the Amantica Lodge, located on the island of Amantani.

After breakfast, pick-up to start your full day's excursion to the islands of Uros and Taquile. Your first stop will be to the communal islands of Uros, otherwise known as the reed islands, whose islands are made entirely of tortora reeds and home to a small community dating back to a pre-Inca culture. You will appreciate how these people toil out an existence on such a remote setting complete with its own school. After the visit, boarding of the yacht as you continue your trip to the Island of Taquile whose inhabitants are more closely related to the Aymara people of Bolivia than the Quechua Incas of Peru. You will enjoy a walk on the islands before returning to Puno on-board your yacht and return to your hotel.

After breakfast, you will be transferred to Juliaca airport with boarding passes in hand for your return flight back to Lima in time for your return flight home.

End of our services.