- Arrival in Arequipa airport where you will be welcomed by an English speaking guide.
- Transfer to the selected hotel
- In the afternoon we start our city tour in the historical center, visiting the Santa Catalina Convent, the Plaza de Armas, the Jesuit Church of La Compañia and its beautifully-painted Chapel, the Church of San Francisco, the San Lazaro District, Selva Alegre and the typical Districts of Cayma and Yanahuara for a magnificent view of the Misti Volcano.
- Return to the hotel.
DAY 2
Arequipa – Colca
- After breakfast, you will start your trip to the Colca Canyon, taking the Yura’s highway boarding the snow-capped mountain Chachani towards Pampa Cañahuas (Reserve of White Wash and Salt Mines) habitat of vicuñas. Also you will see alpacas and the flora of the area.
- In the afternoon we arrive to Chivay Town and you will be transferred to your hotel.
DAY 3
Colca - Arequipa
Today early at morning you will visit the Cross of the Condor where you will be able to observe one of the deepest Canyons of the world and where we can appreciate the impressive and majestic flight of the Condors. In the way back to Chivay we will cross little typical villages like, Pinchollo, Maca, Achoma, Yanque, etc. After that return to Arequipa.
DAY 4
Arequipa – Cusco
After breakfast, transfer to the airport to take your flight to Cusco. Upon arrival to Cusco, you will be welcomed by an English speaking guide at the airport and taken to your comfortable hotel where you are advised to rest for a while to acclimatize to the high altitude.
DAY 5
Cusco
- Morning at leisure.
- In the afternoon the half-day city tour begins. You will be shown the exact centre of the Inca empire, the Plaza de Armas. There one can find the cathedral built on the ruins of the Inca Palace. The cathedral borders on other churches on both sides. Next stop will be the old town with its magnificent renovated colonial buildings, that are being used as hotels for example. You will also visit Sacsayhuaman, a ruin located approx. 3 km above Cusco. Sacsayhuaman also offers a fabulous view of the city. After that you will then shortly stop in Tampu Machay, the bath of the Inca, Kenko, the giant rock whose niches and gaps were carved in a strange way, and Puca Pucara, the ruin of a small fort.
- Return to Cusco where you can relax, enjoy the local food and exciting nightlife.
DAY 6
Cusco – Pisac – Ollantaytambo – Cusco
- After breakfast, you will discover the Sacred Valley of the Incas; there, you will visit the Ruins of Pisac and have the opportunity to purchase local handcrafts at the special and traditional Pisac Indian market performed every Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday. This market exhibits and sells wide variety of fine crafts of various kind: Woven goods, sweaters, Alpaca rugs, tapestry, sculpture, jewellery, etc. On the way to Ollantaytambo, you will have free time to have lunch in a typical restaurant (lunch is not included). Ollantaytambo is the oldest continuously occupied settlement in the Americas, complete with canals unchanged since Inca times; a walk by the narrow streets will make you recall its ancient heritage.
- Return to Cuzco.
DAY 7
Cusco – Machu Picchu – Cusco
- After breakfast, pick up from your hotel and transfer by bus to the train station where the tour starts in a train that climbs the mountain in zigzag slopes and then rattles down into the fertile plain of the Urubamba valley, passes Ollantaytambo and goes on to Aguas Calientes. From here small busses drive up the steep mountain to the ruin town Machu Picchu called the Lost City of the Incas. You will be amazed of how the Incas were able to build this city on a mist-shrouded mountaintop.
- In the afternoon, return by train to Cuzco.
- Transfer from train station to your hotel
DAY 8
Cusco – Puerto Maldonado – Tambopata
- After breakfast, transfer to the airport to take your flight to Puerto Maldonado. Upon arrival to Puerto Maldonado, you will be welcomed by an English speaking guide at the airport and transfered to our office.
- While enjoying your first taste of the forest in our gardens, our guide will give you some instructions and advice about necessary things to bring for your excursion into the jungle and leave the rest of your luggage in our offices.
- Puerto Maldonado to Tambopata River Port. Skirting Puerto Maldonado, we drive 20 kilometers to the Tambopata River Port, entering the Native Community of Infierno. The port works a communal business port for surrounding towns.
- Tambopata River Port to Refugio Amazonas. The two and a half hour boat ride from the Tambopata Port to Refugio Amazonas will take us past the Community of Infierno and the Tambopata National Reserve´s checkpoint and into the buffer zone of this 1.3 million hectare conservation unit. Box lunch
- Orientation. Upon arrival, the lodge manager will welcome you and brief you with important navigation and security tips. Dinner.
- Caiman searches. We will be out at the river’s edge at night, scanning the shores with headlamps and flashlights to catch the red gleams of reflection from caiman eyes. Overnight at Refugio Amazonas
DAY 9
Posada Amazonas
- Sachavacayoc Oxbow Lake: A two hour hike takes you to Sachavacayoc Lake. You will then paddle around the lake in a catamaran, searching for the resident family of five giant river otters (seen by about 30% of lake visitors) and other lakeside wildlife such as caiman, hoatzin and horned screamers. We hike out at dawn - when otters are active. Dont forget the two hour return hike! For those who do not want to take the long hike Condenado Lake, thirty minutes from the lodge, is an option. Lunch.
- Farm Visit and Ethnobotanical Garden: Five minutes downriver from the lodge lies a farm owned and managed by charismatic Don Manuel from the neighboring community of Condenado. He grows a variety of popular and unknown Amazon crops - just about every plant and tree you see serves a purpose. He has also identified and cultivated many of the medicinal plants used in the region in a little backyard garden.
- Brazil nut trail and camp: A few minutes hike from the lodge is a beautiful old growth patch of Brazil Nut forest that has been harvested for decades (if not centuries) where the precarious remains of a camp used two months a year by Brazil Nut gatherers can still be experienced. We will be demonstrating the whole process of the rain forests only sustainable harvested product from collection through transportation to drying. Dinner.
- Night walk. You will have the option of hiking out at night, when most of the mammals are active but rarely seen. Much easier to find are frogs with shapes and sounds as bizarre as their natural histories. Overnight in Refugio Amazonas
DAY 10
Posada Amazonas
- Mammal clay lick: Twenty minutes walking from Refugio Amazonas is a peccary clay lick. These wild rain forest pigs show up in herds of five to twenty individuals to eat clay in the late morning. Chances of spotting them are around 15%, but well worth the short hike. Other wildlife also shows up including deer, guan and parakeets. Lunch.
- Canopy tower: A thirty minute walk from Refugio Amazonas leads to the 25 meter scaffolding canopy tower. A banister staircase running through the middle provides safe access to the platforms above. The tower has been built upon high ground, therefore increasing your horizon of the continuous primary forest extending out towards the Tambopata National Reserve. From here views of mixed species canopy flocks as well as toucans, macaws and raptors are likely. Dinner.
- Tambopata National Reserve Lecture. Nightly lectures prepared by the staff of Refugio Amazonas cover conservation threats, opportunities and projects in the Tambopata National Reserve. Overnight in Refugio Amazonas
DAY 11
Posada Amazonas – Puerto Maldonado – depart
After breakfast at lodge, we returned to Puerto Maldonado to pick up our luggage and then we will go to the airport to take your flight back to Lima
No additional services at this moment.
ABOUT CROSS THE ANDES TO THE AMAZON
[Click on map to see large version]
Live an unforgettable experience and cross the Peruvian Andes to the tropical rain forests! This package includes visits to the magnificent Colca Canyon, mystical Machu Picchu, and the lush Amazon rainforest.
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