MAGIC CUSCO, MACHU PICCHU AND THE SPLENDOR OF THE PERUVIAN AMAZON
This 6d/5n tour is designed to maximize the experience for who travel in search of culture, unique historical sites, and untouched nature. Probably, there is no other tour in Peru that will offer you such highlights such as Cusco and Machu Picchu, the Tambopata National Reserve; which surpasses any other similar in wildlife sighting in South America, and in addition you will also visit a macaw claylick. A spectacular compacted tour along the Peruvian Andes and the Amazon rainforest in short time.
Your first days will be in the Andes above 3000 m above sea level exploring Cusco, the ancient capital of the Incas that survived the architectural transformation brought right after the Spanish conquest before the mid-1500s. As you walk the narrow streets of Cusco you will pass casonas or old Spanish-style houses, monasteries, and churches built over massive and heavy Incan stone foundations that were left unchanged. This architectural contrast has given a special flavor to this historical city for nationals and international visitors. The Cusco streets offer you a great opportunity for shopping fine products from Alpaca wool, also high-quality silver jewelry. City day tours take you to the Q´oricancha Temple and the Sacsayhuaman Archaeological Park, and end your day enjoying a sunset in the main square to latter taste delicious food in several gourmet restaurants.
The next attraction will be a day visit to the beautiful Sacred Valley of the Incas, an interesting rural agricultural landscape showing crops of the season and distant views of sacred snow peaks. This will be a time to explore the Pisaq and Ollantaytambo archaeological parks, both a good introduction to the Inca history. For lunch you will be taken to a restaurant that offers a buffet lunch to sample Peruvian dishes and have a Pisco Sour. As you travel along this valley, your tour will stop at local markets where locals proudly dress traditional outfit. Your hotel will be in the Ollantaytambo (2,800 m), the only living Inca village to existence today.
The next morning after a short train trip you will be visiting the mysterious citadel of Machu Picchu (2,700 m), a truly archaeological wonder from the past. The place and surroundings are magical, so far one of the most beautiful places on Earth! Get ready for photography time as your guide will be explaining details of the origin and purpose of this citadel hidden in the cloud forest. You can also hike to the top of the towering Huayna Picchu peak to have a unique experience exploring the heights of the Urubamba Canyon. Be aware that this hike requires reservations in advance due to the limited daily availability. At the end of the day you will travel back to Cusco.
Your last three days will be incredible as you fly to Puerto Maldonado (185 m), located in the Western Amazon. There is no other more accessible rainforest in Peru like the Tambopata River. Shortly after your landing in Puerto Maldonado, you will travel by outboard motor up to the Tambopata National Reserve National (+200 m), one of the richest in biodiversity and best protected in South America where lots of wildlife could be seen along beaches, river banks, and forests.
You will observe some terrestrial mammals, monkeys, and many birds, and with luck even a Jaguar walking or sunbathing in the sand, dead logs of river levies. Nights are nice and charming in selected rainforest lodges surrounded by untouched forest where will hear rainforest sounds by sunset, night or by sunrise. Lots to see along easy walking trails under huge tall canopies as you learn about Amazonian natural history.
Trained guides will take you to hidden rainforest lakes, home of some resident families of the Giant Otter which could be observed fishing in groups, also to see more wildlife that can be photographed. Large toucans, guans, raptors, canopy bird species, and monkey troops traveling the lake margins and tree tops could be seen. Finally, you will spend time in an active macaw claylick, a place where you can see large numbers of five different species of wild macaws, many medium parrots, and parakeets, all coming to intake minerals from an exposed river bank. Experiencing all these nature spectacles will make your trip to Peru worth paying.
For more information about this tour including Cusco, Machu Picchu and the Peruvian Amazon visit: https://www.ecoamericaperu.com/package/cusco-and-peruvian-amazon-ea-114/
In addition, you can ask for extensions for the four-day or two-day Inca Trail, Lake Titicaca or the surreal Uyuni Salt Flat in Bolivia.