Explore Peru
From the Incas to the Amazon
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Believe it or not, the Amazon rainforest covers two-thirds of Peru. Limitless expanses of bright green jungle and serpentine rivers are home to thousands of species of birds, mammals, reptiles and birds—not to mention the indigenous cultures who have lived in the Amazon for thousands of years.
Because both Cusco and Machu Picchu are near the Amazon, we have designed this 14-day trip to take you to Peru’s most important cultural ruins and allow you to see highlands, cloud forest, and rainforest.
Day 1
Arrive in Lima. After dropping your bags at the hotel, spend the day with a guide spotting water birds in the coastal waters of Pucusana. End with a stroll around Miraflores and a gourmet seafood meal overlooking the Pacific Ocean.
Day 2
Catch an early morning connecting flight to Cusco. In Cusco, hop a combi to Ollantaytambo, a living Inca village in the Sacred Valley. After much travel, you’ll relax into a cozy hotel where you’ll stay for two nights and get acclimatized to the altitude.
Days 3–4
Tour the Sacred Valley, with stops at the Ollantaytambo sun temple and the market and ruins of Pisac. On day two, explore the village of Chinchero before hiking or mountain biking from the enigmatic circular Inca terraces at Moray to the crystallized salt mines near Maras. From Moray, descend to the Sacred Valley for transport back to Ollantaytambo.
Day 5
Take the early morning train to Machu Picchu, and spend the day touring the ruins and bird-watching in the cloud forest. Return on the afternoon train to Cusco, where you will spend two nights.
Day 6
Experience Cusco’s unique combination of Inca ruins, colonial architecture and museums, markets and cafés.
Day 7
It’s time to go to the Manu Biosphere Reserve, your first day will involve a mind-blowing drive from Cusco to the high altiplano and then a plunge into the misty Manu cloud forest. On the way, you’ll visit pre-Inca ruins and the colonial town of Paucartambo. Stay at a cloud forest lodge.
Day 8
Take an early morning walk to watch the impressive mating rituals of the Andean cock of the rock. Then drop farther from cloud forest to rainforest before hopping into a motorized dugout canoe for a ride down the RÃo Madre de Dios. Overnight at a lodge across from the airstrip at Boca Manu.
Day 9
Enjoy a boat ride past Manu Biosphere Reserve checkpoint and up the RÃo Manu to a tented camp or lodge. Along the way you will see an impressive display of wildlife, including birds like herons and nightjars, black-and-white caiman, and perhaps even a jaguar.
Days 10–12
Tour an oxbow lake on a platform boat equipped with a spotting scope. Manu’s oxbow lakes host a huge range of wildlife, including giant otters, 13 species of monkeys, and large mammals like tapir. Hike through different areas of local rainforest with a guide who points out wildlife along the way that you would otherwise miss. Explore the jungle canopy by climbing up to a lookout tower 20 meters above the forest floor. On your final afternoon, return to Boca Manu by boat.
Day 13
Catch the 35-minute flight from Boca Manu back to Cusco, flying over jungle, highlands, and glacier-capped mountains along the way. Final day to tour Cusco before celebration dinner.
Day 14
Catch a morning flight from Cusco to Lima, where you can visit a museum and the colonial center, shop, and indulge in a gourmet meal before the flight home.
© Ross Wehner and Renée del Gaudio from Moon Peru, 2nd Edition
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