 |
| PERU TOURS BY INTEREST |
| Peru General Tours |
| Amazon Tours |
| Archaeological Tours |
| Birdwatching Tours |
| Inca Trail Tours |
| Study Tours and special interest |
| PERU ELITE TOURS |
| The inca experience |
| Peru eco adventure |
| Inca odissey |
| Ancient Treasures |
| Footprints of the incas |
| Taste of peru |
| Peru Explorer |
| ADDITIONAL INFORMATION |
| About InkaNatura |
| InkaNatura in Press |
| Our rainforest lodges |
| Maps |
| Travel Essential |
| Articles |
| Photo Gallery |
| Links |
United States or 
Canada TOLL FREE 1-888-870-7378
MON - FRI : 06:30 - 00:00
SAT : 10:00 - 19:30
SUN : 10:00 - 14:30
 
 
|
 |
 
  
 Powered
by
 Credit Cards |
Day 01 - Lima Upon arrival, you will be met at Lima’s international airport and transferred to your hotel. Overnight at selected hotel. Day 02 – Lima/Puerto Maldonado Transfer to the airport for your flight to Puerto Maldonado. Arrival and Transfer from the airport to the river port on the Madre de Dios River. A 30 minutes journey down the Madre de Dios River by motor canoe brings you to the riverside trailhead to Sandoval Lake Lodge. From here the trail takes you on a 2-miles (3,2-kilometers) walk through secondary forest, until we reach a small canal where we board canoes and are paddled 220 yards (201 meters) through a flooded forest of 100-foot (30-meters) tall Mauritia palms. As the canal opens onto the shimmering surface of the lake, we transfer to a catamaran and are leisurely paddled across half the lake to the lodge. After lunch and a brief rest to avoid the early afternoon heat, we will learn about the history of the lodge and the philosophy of its founders. Then we once again board the catamaran and set off to explore the entire west end of the lake. Here, in the flooded palm forest we drift to the sounds of hundreds of Red-Bellied Macaws as they return to the palm forest for the night. This macaw species is found locally in parts of the Amazon, always living in flooded palm forests such as the beautiful palm stand at Sandoval Lake. At 500-800 birds, this flock of macaws at Sandoval Lake is currently the largest reported in the world for this highly-specialized macaw.
As night falls we will look for the large and extremely
rare Black Caimans. If it is a clear starlit night, we will also
be able to float in the middle of the lake to marvel at the brilliance
of the sky and listen to the sounds of the forest.
Day 03 – Puerto Maldonado A pre-dawn wake-up call will enable us to be on the lake for sunrise and a hopeful encounter with the family of Giant Otters who frequent the lake and are most active at this time of day. Sandoval Lake offers abundant wildlife including over 40 species of birds resident to its lake margins, most of the fish-eating water birds around the lake actively fish in the early morning as well, and this outing should provide excellent views, of the prehistoric- looking Hoatzins, These are easy to observe and also photograph from the paddled canoes or catamarans. After returning for a late breakfast we set off into the cool under story of the tall virgin forest near the lake to see some towering wild Brazil Nut trees and a demonstration of how our hosts collect, open and commercialize this important natural product. After lunch and an hour or so to relax we once again board the catamaran to explore the eastern part of the lake, where we might see one or more of the five species of monkeys who live in the forest near the lake, such as the Brown Capuchin Monkey and Squirrel Monkey. Before dinner we will again enjoy an informative natural history video or slide presentation. We will leave after dinner to try and spot some Black Caimans on the lake, or to go on a short night walk through the primary forest. (B,L,D)
Day 04 Puerto Maldonado/Cusco After early breakfast we leave near dawn and we take a final, shorter paddle around the west end of the lake to try and glimpse the Giant Otters before returning by motor canoe for the 35 minutes return trip to the Puerto Maldonado Airport, taking advantage of valuable early morning wildlife activity along the river. From here you fly to Cusco Arrival at Cusco airport, reception and transfer to selected hotel.
After lunch on your own, we’ll enjoy a guided tour of the nearby Inca ruins including Kenko, the ceremonial bath of Tambomachay and the amazing Sacsayhuaman, a huge fortress of massive stones. We will also take a tour of the city including the Koricancha, temple of the Sun, a nice example of the Inca architecture, The 12-angled stone, the Main Plaza, the Cathedral and much more. Return to your hotel later in the day. Return to your hotel later in the day. (B)
Day 05 –Cusco/Valle Sagrado de los Incas Full day tour, including visits to the colorful Pisac Indian Market and the Ollantaytambo Fortress. At an elevation of 8,500 feet, the Urubamba Valley, or Sacred Valley of the Incas, is the historic heart of the Inca Empire. It was intensively cultivated with terraces increasing its harvest several fold. Small villages lined the valley floor, while the stone fortresses of Ollantaytambo and Pisac served the dual purpose of providing protection and serving as religious centers. Without the benefit of the wheel, the Incas built massive stone cities and ruled an empire stretching 3,300 miles over some of the harshest terrain on earth. Without the use of mortar, the Inca constructed their cities, suspension bridges, and aqueduct systems, with an engineering expertise that has survived five hundred years of natural disasters, conquest, and modern development. PLEASE NOTE THE MARKET ONLY TAKES PLACES ON TUESDAYS, THURSDAYS AND SUNDAYS. Overnight at Hotel.
Day 06 – Valle Sagrado de los Incas/Km.104 /Wiñay Wayna/Machu Picchu We take the train from Cusco or Ollantaytambo, following the Urubamba river to Km.104 of the railroad, where we alight and cross a footbridge to begin our hike at the Inca site of Chachabamba. After a brief visit to this lovely ruin with its water channels and fountains, we start the four-hour ascent that will take us past spectacular overlooks above the great valley, then below a lovely waterfall near the delightful site of Wiñay Wayna (Forever Young). We ascend through this largest and most exquisite of the Inca Trail sites, passing its chain of ritual baths and elegantly curved terracing, and then joining the main Inca trail. We follow it across a steep mountainside and up narrow stairways through lush, humid cloud-forest of giant ferns and broad-leaf vegetation. Suddenly we cross the stone threshold of Intipunku (Sun Gate) and encounter an unforgettable sweep of natural beauty and human artistry –a backdrop of twisting gorge and forested peaks framing the magical city of Machu Picchu. We walk the last half-hour or so down the royal flagstone walkway, past outlying shrines and buildings and through the heart of Machu Picchu, taking a bus to the small town of Aguas Calientes where we overnight in a local hotel.
Day 07 – Machu Picchu/Cusco We enjoy an early morning visit to the fabled ruins, spending the day in both guided and individual exploration. After we visit the most fascinating features of this astounding and mysterious Inca settlement, some will want to take the optional hike to the summit of Wayna Picchu for an amazing overview of the site, while others may prefer to investigate Machu Picchu’s multitude of hidden nooks and corner After a full-on experience of this glorious monument to the Inca achievement, we return to Aguas Calientes and board the return train to Cusco.
Day 08 Cusco/Lima Transfer to the airport for return flight to Lima, Arrival at Lima airport, reception and transfer to selected hotel. Afternoon city tour of Lima visiting the colonial and modern areas of Miraflores and San Isidro. Overnight at selected hotel (B)
Day 09 - Lima / USA Morning transfer to the airport for your international flight to USA. Departures : Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday Prices per person in USD Based in a minimum of 2 passengers travelling together Small and large groups rates available.
What's Included
Domestic flights, meals not noted in itinerary, optional tipping to guides and local staff; airport taxes; and items of a personal nature (sodas, alcoholic beverages, laundry, etc.) More about Machu Picchu Perched high above a sinuous bend in the Urubamba River, Machu Picchu has lured explorers, poets and pilgrims to its mist-wreathed ridge top ever since its discovery by the American explorer Hiram Bingham in July, 1911. No one lived here before the Incas. Those mighty empire builders from Cusco discovered this extraordinary place, finding it rich in natural features sacred to their religion. Both inspired and humbled by its dramatic natural beauty, their answer was to create on a vast scale one of the planet's most sensitive and harmonious works of art. The aesthetic genius of its layout and architecture coupled with the durability of its brilliant planning and engineering have given us today this finest of jewels among the UNESCO world heritage sites. Scholars still argue about the meaning of Machu Picchu: why it was built and what purpose it served, who lived there and when they departed. Most agree that its main intent was spiritual and ceremonial. Suggested reading list All available through http://www.amazon.com and/or http://www.longitudebooks.com Lost City of the Incas, The Story of Machu Picchu and its BuildersAirport taxes Lima
|
 |
Itineraries, concepts, maps and most of photos by