Amazon To The Andes - Lares

Itinerary

Day 1 Arrive Lima

Arrive in Lima at any time. There are no planned activities so check into our hotel and enjoy the city. A G.A.P Adventures representative will hold a general briefing, normally between 7 pm and 8pm; please look for a note posted in the arrival hotel with details.Known as the City of Kings, Peru’s capital city Lima was founded by Francisco Pizarro on the Day of the Three Kings (Epiphany) in 1535. The Plaza de Armas is the heart of old Lima, and it is here you find the Cathedral, Government Palace and Archbishop’s Palace. The Cathedral dates back to the 1700s and houses the remains of the conquistador Pizarro. To get a feel for colonial Lima, take a cab to the Plaza de Armas and watch the changing of the Palace Guard in the afternoon. Walk the streets surrounding the Jirón de la Unión for great examples of Spanish-colonial architecture and to get a taste for life in a large South American city. There are many fine museums in and around the city, including the Museo Rafael Larco Herrera, which houses an equally impressive collection of pottery, mummies and textiles from the Paracas and Nazca cultures. An optional city tour visits many of the city’s highlights. The more affluent districts of Miraflores, Barranco and San Isidro, which are on the coast, offer good nightlife and cafés all within walking distance. Limeños (Lima’s residents) are friendly, and the city is filled with excellent restaurants; seafood lovers in particular should be sure to try a ceviche, for which Lima is well known.

Day 2 Cuzco

Transfer to the airport for the flight to Cuzco (the flight usually departs early – we may leave the hotel as early as 4:00 am). In Cuzco meet your guide and transfer to the hotel. The rest of the day is free to relax and explore this fascinating city and take time to acclimatize to the altitude before our trek. There will be a short briefing in the evening.Every year Cuzco attracts thousands of travelers who come to delve into its noble but tragic past. It is the perfect base for optional explorations around the city and area as well as a range of outdoor activities. Cuzco is the continent’s oldest continuously inhabited city, and the hub of the South American travel network. The city attracts travelers who come not just to visit a unique destination but also to experience an age-old culture very different from their 20th century way of life; one could easily spend a week just in and around the area. Inca-built stone walls line most of the central streets and you don't have to go far to see other major Inca ruins. It is a city steeped in history, tradition and legend.Cuzco’s numerous colonial churches are one of the city’s most common sights. The Cathedral was started in 1559 and took 100 years to build; it is also one of the city’s greatest repositories of colonial art. Immediately in front of the entrance is a vault containing the remains of the famous Inca historian, Garcilaso de la Vega. Also worth visiting are the churches of La Compañía, La Merced and San Francisco. While most archaeological sites are just outside of the city, the main ruin within is that of the Coricancha, once the Inca Empire's richest temple. Today the ruin forms the base of the colonial church of Santo Domingo. During Inca times this temple was literally covered with gold, but within months of the arrival of the first conquistadors this incredible wealth had all been melted down. It is left to the individual imagination to envision the magnificence of the original structure. There are several good museums in Cuzco, including the Archaeological Museum, which also houses a small art museum, the Regional History Museum and the Religious Art Museum. Our best advice for exploring Cuzco is to wear a comfortable pair of shoes, arm yourself with a city map and set off to explore!Approximate Distance: 572kmEstimated Travel Time: 2.30 hours

Day 3 Ollantaytambo

An important source of food for the Inca, the Sacred Valley is a lush agricultural region that continues to supply the city of Cuzco with a lot of its produce. We tour the area with a local guide, making several stops including the picturesque town and Incan ruins of Ollantaytambo.Ollantaytambo is the perfect setting from which to prepare yourself for the trail ahead. This major ruin site is known as the best surviving example of Inca urban planning and engineering. It is admired for its huge steep terraces guarding the Inca Fortress and for being one of the few places where the Spanish lost a major battle during the conquest. We spend the night in this small town before heading out for the start of the hike the next morning. Approximate Distance: 95kmEstimated Travel Time: 2.30 hours

Day 4-6: Lares Trek (3B, 3L, 2D)

Day 4:An early morning start (6am) allows us the best possible views of our incredible mountainous surroundings, dotted with rural villages throughout. The Sacred Valley was the heart of the Inca civilization from the 14th to 15th centuries, and many people still farm in this lush, expansive valley. Our hike begins in the village Qeshwarani, from which we begin our leisurely pace through the valley of Cuncani, before the high pass of Cuncani we will eat our picnic lunch. After lunch we continue on our path to the highland village of Cuncani, our destination for tonight. From our campsite, we will have stunning views of snow-capped Colque Cruz.Day 5:After pausing to admire our surroundings in the early morning mist, we will proceed around Sondor Mountain to a high pass (an altitude of 4440m), from which we will have great photo opportunities: scenic Huacahuasi Lake and snow-capped Veronica Mountain (amongst others!) are visible from the path. After a good morning’s hike, we stop for a quick rest in a living Inca settlement, where many still farm the traditional crop of potatoes in the same way that their ancestors did. We resume our hike upstream to the second pass, Ipasayqocha (4550m), where we will celebrate by making an offering of coca leaves to the Andean Gods. We descend to our campsite near Lake Ipasayqocha for the night.Day 6:Today we will have ample photo opportunities: our gentle path is covered in Andean flora, and animals such as llamas and alpacas are fairly commonplace. If we’re lucky, we might even catch a glimpse of Andean geese, puna ibis, Andean cara caras or condor. We will feel welcomed by the warm Quechua people, whose homeland we have the rare opportunity to see firsthand. The traditional dress and lifestyle of these people is both fascinating and enticing to outsiders. Our descent takes us through the spectacular valley of Patacancha, where everything remains as it has since ancient times. After our five-hour hike, we reach the town of Patacancha, where we eat lunch and wait for our private bus to take us to Ollantaytambo, we catch the train for an incredibly scenic ride to Agua Calientes, where we will spend the night in a hotel.Ollantaytambo to Lares Trail startEstimated Travel Time: 4 hoursEnd Lares Trail to Aguas CalientesApproximate Distance: 65kmEstimated Travel Time: 2.45 hours

Day 7 Machu Picchu - Cuzco

An early start this morning assures us the opportunity to see the breathtaking sight of Machu Picchu. We will have a guided tour of this fascinating place, and even the opportunity to climb Wayna Picchu, providing the chance to see Machu Picchu and the surroundings from a more exclusive vantage point. After a full day of exploring, we head back to Cuzco via train for the evening.Approximate Distance: 118kmEstimated Travel Time: 3.15 hours

Day 8 Cuzco

Today is free to explore this beautiful colonial town.Cuzco is considered the mecca of Peru and rightly so. This beautiful colonial town offers much to the visitor with its nearby ruins, cobble-stoned streets, museums, churches and lively atmosphere. Among the more adventurous optional activities available in Cuzco are: horseback riding around archaeological sites such as Sacsayhuaman, Tambo Machay and Puca Pucara; white water rafting on the Urubamba River; and mountain biking down to the Sacred Valley, perhaps visiting an Inca ruin along the way.

Day 9-10 Amazon Jungle (2B, 2L, 2D)

A short flight takes us into the lowlands of the Amazon jungle to Puerto Maldonado where we will meet our local guide. From here we travel by motorized canoe to our lodge in the Tambopata Forest, which holds the world record for the most bird sightings in one area. From the lodge you can explore all the rainforest has to offer.About half of Peru is located within the Amazon Basin, however, due to its isolation, not a lot of it is available to the casual traveller. Puerto Maldonado is the principal city in the Amazon and is serviced by air from the capital. It is situated at the confluence of the Madre de Dios and Tambopata Rivers and is a bustling, booming tropical frontier town. Its main economic activities are gold mining, Brazil nut collecting, timber extraction, agriculture and ecotourism. After a brief stay in the town, we depart on a 2-hour trip, by motorized canoe, to our final destination. Depending on the arrival time of the plane we have a boxed lunch aboard the boats or have lunch upon arrival at the lodge. During our voyage we may see bird species typical of the river or forest edge such as: the Black Skimmer, Pied Lapwing, Capped Heron, Jabiru Stork, Roadside Hawk, and several species of kingfishers, swallows and flycatchers. The Tambopata area includes habitats ranging from the Andean highlands, around the rivers' headwaters, through some of the last remaining intact cloud forests, to the lowland rainforests of the Amazon basin. Over 1,300 bird species (including 32 parrot species—10% of the world’s total), 200 mammal species, 90 frog species, 1,200 butterfly species and 10,000 species of higher plants are protected within this reserve. The lodge we visit combines native architectural style and materials with low-impact Eco-friendly technology. Rooms are simple but comfortable, with mosquito netting for individual beds, flush toilets, showers (no hot water), and kerosene lamps for lighting (no electricity). Local community members make up the majority of the lodge staff, including multilingual naturalist guides. You will have an opportunity to learn from them not only about the area’s rich flora and fauna, but also about their extensive practical use for the medicinal plants and their use of other forest plant resources in their traditional techniques for building, fishing and hunting. The area is renowned for its profuse plant and animal populations and although these may be difficult to spot, they include the Harpy Eagle, the prehistoric looking Hoatzin, a variety of wading birds, over 32 species of parrots, 4 species of primates, a variety of frogs and butterflies, tapirs, deers, peccary, jaguars, ocelots and playful river otters, who live in the area’s oxbow lakes.Approximate Distance: 320kmEstimated Travel Time: 4 hours

Day 11 Lima

We fly to Lima via Cuzco for one final night on the town.Approximate Distance: 856kmEstimated Travel Time: 6 hours

Day 12 Depart Lima

Depart Lima