Day 2 - Lima / Chiclayo

Breakfast at your hotel. Tranfer to the airport for your flight to Chiclayo. Upon arrival at the airport a host will meet and assist you in transferring to the hotel and help you in registering. Visit the complex of Huaja Rajada which comprises two huge pyramids mad of adobe mud in front of which there is a platform which is to have contained the royal mausoleum. The intact remains of an important Mochica ruler known as the Lord of Sipan were discovered here in 1987. Then continue to the Royal Tombs of Sipan Museum, a museum inaugurated in November 2002. Rated as one of the most outstanding archaeological museums in South America, the building is modeled after an ancient pyramid of the region. Here you can find a reconstruction of the tomb of Sipan, dubbed the "Tutankhamen of the Americas" because of the golden splendor of his tomb : hundreds of pieces of pottery and exquisite gold jewelry. (B)

Day 3 - Chiclayo / Trujillo

Breakfast at your hotel. Transfer in bus to Trujillo. Upon arrival a host will meet and assist you in transferring to the hotel and help you in registering. In the afternoon visit the city of Trujillo, known as "the City of the Eternal Spring", where you will visit the Main Square, the Cathedral and the beautiful residential and commercial areas which contain grandiose colonial houses and well preserved porches, balconies and churches such as the Colonial Mansions of "Casa Iturregui" and "Casa Bracamonte". Transfer to the National University of Trujillo Museum, that contains cultural expressions of Peru´s diverse Pre-hispanic epochs such as: ceramics, weavings, metal, etc. (B)

Day 4 - Trujillo / Lima

Breakfast at your hotel. Visit to Chan Chan, the former capital of Chimu Empire. This Empire reached its apogee in the 15th century, not long before falling to the Incas. The planning of this huge city, the largest in pre-Columbian America, reflects a strict political and social strategy, marked by the city's division into nine 'citadels' or 'palaces' forming autonomous units. This pre-Columbian adobe city is famous for its archaeological site in South America!. From Chan Chan you will visit the seashore village of Huanchaco, known for its totora seahorses - a typical small reed boat used for fishing. Then visit one of the most important centers of the ancient Moche. This pre-Inca civilization, a warrior culture, once dominated the valleys of the northern coast of Peru. Experience the amazing adobe engineering of the Temple of the Sun (sol), the tallest pyramid in the Americas at a height of 48 meters, which is estimated to have involved over 200,000 workers in its construction and over 140 million adobe bricks. Steps away is the temple of the Moon (Luna), the Moche political center where recently uncovered friezes of mystical images are believed to belong to a divinity of sacrifices. Transfer to the airport for your flight to Lima. Upon arrival at the airport a host will meet and assist you in transferring to the hotel and help you in registering. (B,L)

Day 5 - Lima / Puerto Maldonado / Posada Amazonas

Breakfast at your hotel. Transfer to the airport for your flight to Puerto Maldonado. Upon arrival from Lima, we will welcome you at the airport and drive you ten minutes to our Puerto Maldonado headquarters. While enjoying your first taste of the forest in our gardens we will ask you to pack only the necessary gear for your next few days, and leave the rest at our safe deposit. This helps us keep the boats and cargo light. 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 is a communal business. Boxed Lunch.
Tambopata River Port to Posada Amazonas. The forty five minute boat ride from the Tambopata Port to Posada Amazonas will take us into the Community´s Primary Forest Private Reserve. Orientation. Upon arrival, the lodge manager will welcome you and brief you with important navigation and security tips.
A twenty minute walk from Posada Amazonas leads to the 30 meter scaffolding canopy tower. A bannistered staircase running through the middle provides safe access to the platforms above. From atop you obtain spectacular views of the vast expanses of standing forest cut by the Tambopata River winding through the middle. Now and then toucans, parrots or macaws are seen flying against the horizon, or mixed species canopy flocks land in the treetop next to you. Dinner. Ecotourism Lecture. A daily presentation on the Infierno ecotourism project is available every night from a staff member. Overnight in Posada Amazonas. (B,L,D)

Day 6 - Posada Amazonas

Breakfast. Tres Chimbadas Oxbow Lake: Tres Chimbadas is thirty minutes by boat and forty five minutes hiking from Posada Amazonas. Once there you will paddle around the lake in a catamaran, searching for the resident family of nine giant river otters (seen by 60% of our lake visitors) and other lakeside wildlife such as caiman, hoatzin and horned screamers.
Parrot clay lick: This clay lick is only a twenty minute walk from Posada Amazonas. From a blind located about twenty meters away you will see dozens of parrots and parakeets descend on most clear mornings to ingest the clay on a river bank. Species such as Mealy and Yellow- headed Amazon, Blue-headed Parrot and Dusky headed Parakeet descend at this clay lick. The clay lick is most active at dawn and during the late mornings and mid-afternoons. Lunch.
Ethnobotanical Tour: A twenty minute boat drive downriver leads you to a trail designed by the staff of the Centro Ñape. The Centro Ñape is a communal organization that produces medicines out of forest plants and administers them to patients who choose their little clinic. They have produced a trail which explains the different medicinal (and other) uses of selected plants.
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 Posada Amazonas. (B,L,D)

Day 7 - Posada Amazonas / Puerto Maldonado / Cusco

Breakfast. Transfer Boat - Posada Amazonas to Tambopata River Port. Transfer Tambopata River Port to Pto Maldonado Headquarters. Transfer Pto Maldonado Headquarters - Airport. We retrace our river and road journey back to Puerto Maldonado for our flight to Cusco. Upon arrival at the airport a host will meet and assist you in transferring to the hotel and help you in registering. Tour of Cusco and its Ruins - This afternoon's tour of the oldest continuously inhabited city in the western hemisphere includes important landmarks of enchanting Cusco and also the nearby ruins of Kenko, Puca-pucara, Tambomachay as well as the Sacsayhuaman fortress. Once the center of the Inca civilization, modern Cusco is a delightful combination of Inca and colonial architecture. During the tour, you will visit Cusco's Cathedral, Santo Domingo Church and the Plaza de Armas. (B)

Day 8 - Cusco / Sacred Valley / Cusco

Full Day Excursion to the Pisac Indian Market and the Ollantaytambo Fortress
Breakfast at your hotel. Morning departure for a drive through the fertile countryside of the Urubamba Valley to the colonial village of Pisac where a unique Indian Market takes place daily. The variety of products offered is overwhelming, from pottery with reproductions of archaeological pieces, to all kinds of textiles, jewelry and Peruvian handicrafts. During your visit to this bustling marketplace you will have the opportunity to bargain with the artisans and indigenous traders. Grab the items you like, you will hardly see the same one again.

Continue to the Ollantaytambo archaeological complex, the Incas built it as a fort that included a temple, agricultural terraces, and an urban area. There are two distinct sectors: The religious and worship zone, and the residential area. Ollantaytambo was an important administrative center with probable military functions if one considers the walls and towers. There are also traces of ancient roads and aqueducts. The town of Ollantaytambo is called a "Living Inca Town" since the inhabitants maintain very old practices and customs. Lunch is at a beautiful country estate on the shores of the Urubamba River. (B,L)

Day 9 - Cusco / Machu Picchu / Cusco

Breakfast at your hotel. Full Day Excursion to Machu Picchu - Early wake up for a train ride through the sacred valley of Urubamba to the "Lost City of the Incas," Machu Picchu. Perched 8,200 feet above the valley, it was hidden by mountains and semi-tropical jungles for 400 years until discovered by Hiram Bingham of Yale University in 1911. Archaeologists believe that the Inca "Virgins of the Sun" took refuge from the Spanish Conquistadors here. Guided tour of the ruins upon arrival. All transfers are included. Lunch is at the Orient Express' Sanctuary Lodge located just a few steps from the Inca citadel. Afternoon return to Cusco. (B,L)

Day 10 - Cusco / Lima / Home

Breakfast at your hotel. Transfer from hotel to the airport for your flight to Lima and then take your connecting flight to home. (B)