Delights of Peru 14 Days

Day1: Lima

Welcome to Peru!

Arrival at Lima´s airport, reception, and transfer to the hotel in Miraflores district,

Day 2: Full day Lima experience (B - L ) 

Here you can experience real life in Lima with a visit to 'both sides' of the city. In the morning we discover the impressive slum where you can meet the locals and children and interact with them. Afterward, we have lunch in a typical local restaurant. After lunch, your local guide will take you to the large historic center to enjoy a walking tour and visit the many famous highlights: palaces, castles, beautiful wooden balconies and mysterious underground catacombs.

Day 3: Lima - Puerto Maldonado

Welcome in Puerto Maldonado. Check-in and then reach the boarding wharf in only 15 minutes. Begin to experience the enchantment of the rainforest, as you take the 45-minute boat ride along the Madre de Dios River, to arrive at Inkaterra Reserva Amazonica lodge. After a short briefing, settle into your beautiful cabaña and enjoy your lunch in the dining room. Take a nap, followed by a refreshing tea time and get ready for the afternoon excursion. After gathering with your Inkaterra Explorer Guide, choose from the various excursions available at Inkaterra Reserva Amazónica. On your first day, we recommend a guided walk along the Trail system, into the Inkaterra Reserva Amazonica natural area, where you will discover the Amazon Basin. This trail offers an excellent introduction to the jungle environment, winding past impressive trees such as the staggeringly tall kapok, and the strangely beautiful strangler fig, offering excellent opportunities for birdwatching and observing exotic insects.

We also recommend on the first night our Twilight River excursion — a guided afternoon boat ride on the Madre de Dios river. Witness the transformation from a diurnal to a nocturnal world: animals and birds of the daytime give way to species specially adapted to the night. As you enjoy their paradise, you will learn about their habits, while you search for nightjars, owls, capybaras and up to three different caiman species.

Enjoy dinner served in the main dining room from 7:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. After dinner, you may retire early to your own cabaña, or share your experience in the rainforest with other guests and interpreters, as you listen to the intriguing sounds of the jungle at night.

Day 4: Reserva Amazonica - Rolin Island - Lake Sandoval

Wake up late or rise early — the choice is yours. Breakfast begins at 5:30 a.m., for those who want to avoid the heat, and enjoy nature at its fullest. A full buffet breakfast is served from 5:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. This morning you may visit the Lake Sandoval excursion into the Tambopata National Reserve. Glide in a wooden canoe, across a beautiful, mirror-like oxbow lake that is home to the endangered giant river otter, as well as red howler monkeys, red-bellied macaws, anacondas, side-neck turtles and black caimans. Return to the Inkaterra Reserva Amazonica for lunch.

After lunch, consider the remarkable Inkaterra Canopy Walkway. Ascending the first tower, 29 meters above the forest ground, you begin your encounter with the treetop realm. For more than a quarter of a mile, you will literally walk through the rainforest canopy on a suspension bridge network linking eight observation platforms. During this hour-and-a-half expedition, be on the lookout for colorful toucans, woodpeckers, trogons, monkeys, and sloths. If you wish you may extend your excursion and appreciate the sunset from one of the towers. The excursion finishes by returning to the lodge. Once at the lodge, enjoy the daily nature presentation in the Eco Center.

Day 5: Reserva Amazonica - Gamitana Creek

Enjoy a trip to Gamitana Creek, located 25 minutes by boat from the Inkaterra lodge. For one and a half hours, explore the rainforest along the banks of a winding, dark-water creek that is home to many piranha, caiman, turtles, and birds, until the Sanipanga landing point. Navigate your way back downstream, observing the abundant flora and fauna along the way. You will return to Gamitana Farm to do a short guided tour to see how local farmers grow fruits and vegetables. Return to the lodge for lunch. After lunch, walk along the lodge trails to the Inkaterra Reserva Amazonica Rainforest Garden just around the cabanas. This interesting native garden was started by the locals more than ten years ago showcasing native plants, trees and orchids. An in-depth explanation familiarizes you with the traditional use and highly interesting benefits of the plants and trees used for construction including those that were used for building the lodge, as well as native clothing accessories. Then consider the Rainforest by Night excursion through the Inkaterra Ecological Reserve at night for an approximately 2-hour excursion. Biological activity differs greatly between night and day in the Amazonian ecosystem. Venture into the forest and experience the mystery of the animal activity that awakens in the rainforest after dark, enhancing animal resources to create new adaptation mechanisms. Listen to nocturnal forest sounds and spot species that only emerge at night.

Return to the lodge.

Day 6: Reserva Amazonica - Cusco

Enjoy a full breakfast before departure. A 45-minute return trip by boat on the Madre de Dios River takes you to Puerto Maldonado, where you may visit Inkaterra Butterfly House. Peru boasts the greatest variety of butterflies in the world, with 3,700 known species. Many of these can be seen at the Butterfly House, as how case for the variety, beauty, and adaptability of these fascinating insects

At the appropriate time, you will be collected and transferred to the airport for your flight to Cusco.

Free afternoon to discover the cozy old town, to visit one of the many museums or to taste the delicious local cuisine

Day 7: Cusco - Aguas Calientes(B) 

We will pick you up from your hotel after breakfast and will begin the tour at the most important temple of the Inca Empire, the Sun Temple, known as the Qoricancha. Here, you can observe detailed and intact architecture, and within the temple, you will see smaller temples dedicated to the moon, rainbow, stars, lightning, and thunder, among others. Today, the Santo Domingo church stands on top of the temple. From there, we will go to an important religious site called Sacsayhuamán which features immense stones. Although the site was religious, the Spanish considered it a military fortress because of its location and the way it was built. Next, we will continue our journey to the city of Pisac. Here we will walk through the stone streets to the square to see locals selling products and souvenirs in their stands. In Pisac, you have some free time to walk around. After our visit to Pisac, we drive to the city Urubamba for lunch. After lunch, we go to Ollantaytambo. This site was an important religious and astronomical center and was also used as a military fortress in one of the biggest battles of the Incas against the Spaniards. The Spaniards took the city and built colonial buildings on the Inca houses. Later the abandoned city was rediscovered at the beginning of the 20th century. After this, we take our train to Aguas Calientes.

Day 8: Machu Picchu - Sacred Valley (B) 

Today we will visit the main destination on many travelers’ lists, the ‘lost city of the Incas’ is a man-made marvel that has become a symbol for the ingenuity and prosperity of the most expansive empires in Latin American history. Before the crowds arrive you get the early morning tour of Machupicchu. This will take about 3 hours and will lead you through the most important archaeological sites under the guidance of very capable guides. Then you have enough free time to explore the site further, take pictures or for an optional walk.

Optional walks:

   (Climb Huayna Picchu mountain (2.700 m, 50 min, steep slope)

    The Temple of the Moon (3-4 Hr)

    "Intipunku" the solar gate, where the classic Inca Trail ends (1.5 hours)

    The Inca Bridge located south of Machupicchu (1 hour)

All these walks are signposted and easy to find without a guide. In the afternoon we take the bus back to Aguas Calientes, the city where we take our train back to Ollantaytambo after which you will be brought back to your hotel by private transport.

Day 9: Maras - Moray Quad/bike ride (B)

After breakfast, we will drive to Chinchero, a picturesque town. Here we will visit the beautiful colonial temple built on the foundations of an Inca building. The city is also famous for its textile souvenir market where you can find Andean textiles made of alpaca wool. At the end of the tour, we get a demonstration of how the textiles in this area are handmade and colored. Afterward, we will continue to the nearby Inca site of Moray, where we will visit the circular terraces which are considered to be an Inca prototype of an experimental biological station. From there we descend further towards Maras (small village), where we stop for lunch. After lunch, we will visit the old salt mines "Salineras" one of nature's greatest mysteries. Deep in the mountains rises a source of extreme saltwater. Since the time of the Incas, the salt mines consist of about 3000 small fields with an average size of 4 m² and a depth of 10 centimeters. These springs were used until the present era to produce salt by evaporation. After the fields are filled with saltwater, the sun evaporates the water naturally, leaving pure natural salt. This place is spectacular to photograph.

Day 10: Cusco - Mancora (B)

Today you will leave the mountains of Peru and head to an entirely different climate on the warm shores of Peru's northern coastline. Fly from Cusco to Talara airport via Lima. On arrival in Talara, a private transfer will take you to the stylish beachfront hotel KiChic. The nine individually styled rooms are all bright and airy, filled with natural light and the fresh sea breeze. Guests can swim in the outside pool adjacent to the beach, relax in the exotic gardens or enjoy a massage or yoga class. You may also choose to dine at the a-la-carte restaurant, offering delicious vegetarian and fish dishes.

Day 11: Mancora 

Beach break

Enjoy the day lounging by the pool or on the beach. If you visit between August-November, then whale watching is not-to-be-missed.

Day 12: Mancora

Fishing for lunch! and Snorkeling excursion: Morning pick up from your hotel and trip to Los Organos beach, a great place to observe sea lions, blue legged Piqueros in their natural habitat, wonderful fauna. Later on, you will be traveling by boat to Quebrada Verde to fish, using a simple line and bait (artisanal fishing) for a delicious Ceviche lunch afterward.

The next stop will be at Ñuro Cove where you’ll swim pleasantly around green turtles and go on a snorkeling tour in the surrounding areas.  All snorkeling equipment is provided. Return to your hotel.

Evening free.

Day 13: Mancora

Enjoy another day of relaxation, soaking up the year-round sunshine on the sunny beaches of Mancora.

Day 14:Mancora - Lima - Home

Free morning to go to the beach one last time! Pick up from your hotel in the afternoon and transfer to the airport to take your flight Talara-Lima (LanPeru LA2217 departing at 15:13 and arriving at 16:48).and then the international flight to Home.

This is a sample itinerary and can be tailored to your interests and travel style.