Upon arrival into Lima, travel to the hotel. Check-in is available at 2 pm. Since today is a travel day, no meals are included. Flights usually arrive late in the evening. We are coordinating a late start for the next morning, but if you would like to arrive a day early and rest, please contact us to assist with booking a hotel room.

Start the day with breakfast then meet your guide for a welcome orientation at in the hotel conference room. Visit the Larco Museum, which holds one of the world's largest collections of Peruvian pre-Columbian artifacts and showcases pieces from the Inca Empire as well as lesser-known cultures like the Moche, Chimú, and Nazca. Have lunch at local restaurant and then visit the ChocoMuseo to learn the history of chocolate from what the Maya offered to the Gods through to the industrial revolution. Participate in a hands-on chocolate experience from cacao pod to the final product. This evening, enjoy dinner overlooking the Huaca Pucllana ruins.

Today, travel to the airport for your flight to Iquitos. Receive a reception at the airport and a brief orientation to the city before going to the Explorama dock. Boxed lunch will be provided en route. Embark on a 25-mile journey down the Amazon River to Ceiba Tops, where rooms with air conditioning and private bathrooms provide the comforts of home in the rainforest. Take an afternoon hike in the beautiful primary rainforest reserve surrounding the lodge, which includes many huge trees festooned with epiphytes. After dinner, venture out on a short walk with your guide to a small lake where caimans can be spotted at night and where you can find some of the insects and frogs that produce the cacophony that begins after dark. Each guest may take 33 lbs of luggage with them on the boats to the lodge. If you have excess luggage, it can be stored at the office in Iquitos. A duffel bag will be provided for you. Wifi is available in the public areas of the lodge.

Take a morning boat ride to look for pink and gray river dolphins, giant otters, and more. Next, visit a small community of Indigenous Yagua people and learn about their culture and how it was affected by the arrival of Europeans and the passing of time. Enjoy the opportunity to see some of the local crafts and a demonstration of the blowgun, which some of the Yagua elders still use for hunting. Return to the loedge for lunch. In the afternoon, visit with the Ahuanari Experience to learn about Peruvian butterflies and the importance of their conservation. Next visit nearby Monkey Island to learn about their conservation initiatives and see a variety of monkey species up close. La Isla de los Monos is an island sanctuary and rescue center that takes in injured monkeys or monkeys who have been victims of illegal trafficking and rehabilitates them before releasing them back into the wild. Those that cannot live in the wild on their own become residents that live cage free, and they make the visit very interactive.

Early this morning, depart from Ceiba Tops by boat to the narrow motorcar crossing that connects the Amazon and Napo Rivers, and then continue by boat to ExplorNapo Lodge for breakfast. Hike to the spectacular Canopy Walkway, one of the best vantage points for observing Amazon wildlife and vegetation. It spans more than one-third of a mile and is connected by tree platforms spread between some of the area's largest rainforest trees, reaching a height of over 115 feet but still accessible without any type of climbing skill or equipment. After lunch, visit the "ReNuPeRu" Ethnobotanical Garden, where more than 240 medicinal plants are cultivated by a local shaman who will explain the nature of Amazonian natural healing and the uses of some of the plants. Return to Ceiba Tops in time to enjoy the pool or hammocks or to do some personal photography before dinner. The Amazon tapir often appears late in the day.
This day is very hot and difficult.

After breakfast and a leisurely morning, transfer by boat back to Iquitos and then the airport for your early afternoon flight to Cusco. Upon arrival you will travel to the Sacred Valley with dinner en route. Arrive at the hotel late this evening.

This morning, visit the ruins at Ollantaytambo to experience the engineering genius of the Inca. The town has original buildings of Inca construction where the Inca retreated for their last stand in the highlands against Spanish colonizers. Learn about the area's ancient heritage while walking the narrow streets; running water still flows through the aqueducts, terraces are still farmed, and the pinnacle above the town is a burial ground. In the afternoon, visit the Sulca textiles museum where you can view fabrics and pieces from ancient Peru using ancestral techniques from the different pre-Columbian Inca, Viceregal, and contemporary cultures.

Early this morning, travel to the Ollantaytambo train station to board the train to Aguas Calientes. The scenic train ride follows the meandering Urubamba River on a journey through the Peruvian Andes. Upon arrival, the journey continues with a short bus ride up to Machu Picchu. Known as "The Lost City of the Incas," Machu Picchu is arguably the best known and most spectacular archaeological site on the continent. The quality of the stonework and the abundance of ornamental sites indicate that Machu Picchu was an important ceremonial center, but archaeologists are still uncovering details. Have lunch at Sanctuary Lodge at the ruins and continue exploring the ruins afterward. This afternoon, take the bus back down the mountain to Aguas Calientes and then the train back to Ollantaytambo. From there board the bus and continue to Cusco with dinner en route. Please note: there is a weight limit of 11 pounds for on the train transfer to Machu Picchu. Your bag must weigh no more than 11 pounds and measure no more than 62 linear inches / 157 cm (length + height + width). Extra luggage will be stored at the hotel.

Start today with a walking tour of Cusco. The center of Cusco is a history lesson: Modern and colonial buildings are built on top of Inca foundations, and colonial churches dominate the central square. Koricancha is an important Inca temple located in downtown Cusco. Built in honor of the sun god Inti, the site was once an important religious center. The structure was built with enormous boulders and is considered one of the most outstanding examples of this type of Inca construction, but very little of the original structure remains as it was destroyed by the Spanish during their conquest of Cusco. On top of the remnants of Koricancha, colonizers built the Baroque church known as Santo Domingo to symbolize their triumph over Indigenous civilizations. Spend the afternoon exploring independently before enjoying an Andean music demonstration in the evening.

After breakfast, have time to relax or explore Cusco on your own. After lunch, travel to the airport for your flight back to Lima and then wait to board your flight home. You will wait in the airport between the Cusco flight and international departure flight so if you would like to spend the night in Lima and fly home on July 20, please contact us to assist with booking a hotel room and airport transfer.