Peru Explorer

 

Day 1: Your Lima airport transfer will take you directly to our joining hotel, ready for the start tomorrow. Today you will meet your crew for your tour briefing and welcome dinner.
Day 2: Leaving the bright lights of the city behind we head south with the Pacific Ocean on our right and towering sand dunes on our left, this region offers some of the best coastal desert scenery in the world. We will have an included boat trip to the Ballestas Islands where we can see rock formations, Humboldt penguins, sea lions and a wide variety of birdlife. We will overnight in the seaside town of Paracas.
Day 3: Leaving Paracas we will continue through the town of Ica to Huacachina Oasis where we take an included dune buggy ride in some of the highest sand dunes in the world. We finish the day off with an afternoon overflight of the Nazca Lines.
Day 4: Today is spent in Nazca flying over the famous Nazca Lines if time didn’t permit the day before. The afternoon can be spent exploring this traditional Peruvian town with an afternoon visit to Chauchilla Cemetery where we can explore ancient burial grounds and mummies from the Nazca period.
Day 5: We leave the desert landscape behind and quickly climb into the Andes. Passing through small villages we will arrive to the town of Puquio (3,200 metres above sea level).
Day 6: The route from Puquio to Abancay is again incredibly spectacular as we traverse through the high-altitude Andean landscape. We will overnight at Abancay.
Day 7: We are entering the Incan heartland now and, if possible, the views get even better. Our overnight say is in the wonderful Ollantaytambo, a Quechan village at the foot of the towering Ollantaytambo Incan Ruins and amazingly intact terraces. We spend the afternoon exploring the first of the Incan ruins we shall visit and wandering the narrow-cobbled stone streets of the village..
Day 8: The route from Ollantaytambo to Quillabamba quickly changes to a series of switchbacks climbing through two sheer cliff faces until you reach the top of the mountains. We enjoy more absolutely spectacular views of this landscape. Near the Abra de Malaga we climb above the tree line and the views are of terraced farmland with vast expanses all around. After the summit is another series of less technical switchbacks that wind their way down into a completely different ecosystem. The scenery has totally changed to a green and lush area filled with banana and palm trees. We overnight in the town of Quillabamba full of sights and sounds of the jungle.
Day 9: Returning on the route we drove yesterday, we will have time to explore the Sacred Valley before overnighting in Ollantaytambo.
Day 10: Today’s train journey to Aguas Calientes allows impressive views of the mountains that tower above us. Arriving Aguas Calientes, it’s a 20-minute bus ride up to the awe-inspiring Machu Picchu, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. There are few sights left in the world that still have the capacity to take your breath away when you first clasp eyes on them, however Machu Picchu is certainly one of them, it truly is a jaw dropping site.
Day 11: We take the train back to Ollantaytambo to collect the 4x4 and drive to the ancient Incan capital of Cusco with its striking Spanish architecture built on top of Incan ruins, much of which is still visible and enjoy wandering the wonderful Plaza de Armas, Cusco’s heartbeat.
Day 12: We spend the day in Cusco exploring more of what makes this city known as the “navel of the universe” to the Incas, so alluring.
Day 13: We take a flight today to Puerto Maldonado located in the mighty Amazon Basin on the confluence of the Madre De Dios and Tambopata Rivers and close to the borders of Brazil and Bolivia. We will be met by our river guide and take a longboat before reaching our wonderful river ecolodge deep within the breathtaking wilderness of the Amazon where we shall spend the next two nights.
Day 14: We enjoy a full day in the Amazon, the world’s mightiest rainforest and biodiversity hotspot with a plethora of wildlife indigenous to this region. We are guided by locals and spend a fascinating day with them learning about life in the Amazon, the forest, and its abundant wildlife.
Day 15: Our final day will see us take an included flight from Puerto Maldonado back to where this incredible adventure began, Lima, where we shall enjoy our final group dinner and reminisce over the last 2 incredible weeks.
Departure Day: Spend a couple more days in Lima or depart to your next destination, the choice is yours