luxury travel Nazca Paracas Machupicchu Lake Titicaca Galapagos

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This 21 day tour of southern Peru is a wonderful opportunity to see more of its different landscapes at your pace. Travel south of Lima in comfort through the desert coast on the Pan American Highway alongside the Pacific Ocean. Visit the enigmatic Nazca Lines and the Ballestas Islands near in Paracas. Next travel to 13,000 feet above see level to the highest navigable lake in the world -Lake Titicaca and experience the floating islands of Uros just off the coast of Puno. Finally visit the capital of the Incan Empire, Cusco and the magnificent Citadel of Machu Picchu. Visit the Amazon Rainforest in Peru’s Tambopata Reserve with a 3 stay stay in luxury accommodations. Finally fly north to Quito to enjoy a Luxury 6 day Cruise to visit the Galapagos.

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Day 01: Arrive to Lima

After you arrive to Lima, pass through immigrations, retrieve your luggage, clear customs and enter the terminal your driver will be waiting with our blue & gold ILE Tours sign. You will be driven 45 min by private car to check in to your Miraflores hotel. Enjoy the nearby shopping and restaurants in Miraflores if you arrive early enough. Overnight Lima.

Day 02: PRIVATE Lima City tour

At 2PM you will be met in your hotel lobby by your guide and driver and taken on a private city tour of Lima. Visit Main Square and San Francisco Convent & catacombs which is a sprawling monastery complex containing cloisters, convent, temple, 2 churches, library, tomb of Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro and catacombs. Completed in 1674. This is a meandering, thoughtful tour to enjoy frescoes on hallway walls, sculptures and history. LOW CEILINGS IN DARK CATACOMBS! WALK SLOWLY, DON’T BANG YOUR HEAD IN LOW DOORWAYS, ARCHWAYS and LOW CEILINGS.

Next visit Museo Larco. It is a privately owned museum housed in a lovely 18th century viceroyalty mansion with gardens built over a 7th-century pre-Columbian pyramid. It contains over 5000 years of history and pre-Columbian art in chronologically laid out galleries showcasing ancient culture, textiles, sacrifices, erotic pottery, ceremonial vessels, warfare, ancestry, gold, jewelry, art and sculpture from all Peru. Museo Larco offers a a thorough and enjoyable, not boring, overview of 5000 years of history. There is a truly staggering collection with rooms of shelves and shelves of pottery depicting animals, birds, fish, plants, human faces, many with ailments, deformities, medical conditions for medical education that encompass much of the human condition. You will returned to your hotel after the tour. Overnight Lima. (B)

Day 03: PRIVATE van Lima to Paracas

Flight Pisco-Nazca-Pisco. Including Aerial Tour Nazca Lines.
05:40AM Lima hotel pickup. After breakfast and checkout you will be greeted in your hotel by your driver and driven 3.5 hrs south to Paracas along Peru’s desert Pacific Coast. If time check in to your hotel otherwise drive driectly to the Pisco airiled for your flight over the Nazca Lines. The Lines are giant figures etched in the sand that can only be seen fully by air. See the Monkey, the spider, hummingbird, spaceman and geometric birds. These mysterious huge “drawings” are possibly an astrological calendar but their construction and true intent are a mystery still. After the Aerail Tour of the Nazca Lines you will fly back to Pisco where you will be greeted and taken to enjoy the hotel, pools and fine resturants in the hotel. Beach is not suitable for bathing on. Overnight Paracas. (B, L)

Day 04: GROUP Boat tour of Ballestas Islands. Return to Lima

After breakfast check out and store your luggage with the hotel’s front desk. Transfer to the piers for a delightful GROUP boat tour of the Ballestas Island, also known as the “small Galapagos“. Although the island are off limits to people so as not disturb the wildlife, your tour boat will get close enough for you to observe its amazing wildlife inhabitants such as pelicans, penguins, cormorants, Peruvian boobies, Inca terns and walruses. Watch for sea lions, turtles, dolphins, and possible whales. You will also be treated to a site from sea of the Paracas Candelabra. This is an ancient etching in the sand that may have been a beacon to sailors from long ago. After the boat tour you will be returned to your hotel in Paracas to use the facilities and retrieve you luggage. Return to Lima by private car (3.5 hrs). (B)

Day 05: Lima-Puerto Maldonado flight. 5/4 Hacienda Concepción

Amazon Jungle lodge adventure can be 3, 4 or 5 days.
6AM hotel greeting. After breakfast and check out you will be greeted by your driver and taken to the LIM airport in time for you flight east to Puerto Maldonado, a small city in the Tambopata Reserve in the Peruvian Amazon Rainforest. You will be greeted outside the airport terminal and taken by GROUP transfer to the lodge by van and longboat. Lodge greeting and check in.

Arrive into Puerto Maldonado, coined the Capital of Biodiversity. Begin your authentic Amazon adventure with a 25-minute boat ride navigating the clay-coloured Madre de Dios River to reach hidden jungle lodge, Inkaterra Hacienda Concepcion. Settle into your stylish stilted wooden cabaña or room on our private eco-reserve then head to the palm-thatched Casa Grande dining room for a hearty buffet lunch before exploring the depths of the jungle on foot, starting from the Eco Centre.
Take a walk along the Concepcion Trails, winding through the property’s nature trails for an immersive introduction to the intricate ecosystems of the Amazon basin. Backed by the protected Tambopata National Reserve and built on the grounds of a former cacao and rubber plantation, Inkaterra Hacienda Concepcion harbours primary and secondary rainforest teeming with exotic wildlife and tropical plants.
At dusk witness the enchanting transformation of the rainforest from a diurnal to a nocturnal environment on a guided Twilight River boat ride, as animals and birds of the daytime give way to species specially adapted to the shadows of the night. See if you can spot caiman lurking on the riverbanks and stars of the southern hemisphere. In the evening enjoy à la carte dining, drawing on local Amazon ingredients for inspiration. Retreat to your cabaña or room to listen to the curious calls and croaks of the rainforest at night.(B,L,D)

Day 06: 5/4 Hacienda Concepción. (B,L,D)

This morning visit Lake Sandoval, a glassy, ox-bow lake located inside the protected Tambopata National Reserve, one of the most biodiverse regions on the planet. Reached via a sun-dappled jungle trail, Inkaterra explorer guides enjoy regaling visitors with their tales of unexpected encounters with poison frogs and camouflaged creatures. Board a dug-out wooden canoe to quietly paddle through mangroves and glide onto Lake Sandoval, flanked by picture-perfect palms. This serene lake is home to thousands of species of birds, the endangered giant river otter, red howler monkeys, red-bellied macaws, anacondas, side-neck turtles and black caimans. Return to Inkaterra Hacienda Concepcion in time for lunch. In the afternoon, take a 20-minute boat ride across the Madre de Dios River to climb the exhilarating Inkaterra Canopy Walkway and navigate the Anaconda Walk. The Inkaterra Canopy Walkway is a sophisticated and safe 344 metre (1,135 feet) network of seven ecologically constructed hanging suspension bridges, strung between eight treetop observation platforms above the forest floor. Originally constructed for our non-profit organization, ITA, to carry out conservation projects, this is an unforgettable opportunity to observe the rainforest from the rooftop and gain a sense of its colossal size. Ascend the first vertiginous tower 38 metres (124 feet) above ground, keeping an eye out for white-throated toucans, woodpeckers, trogons, squirrel monkeys and the three-toed sloth. Back at the base follow the Anaconda Walk, strolling the seasonally flooded aguajales wetlands on an elevated wooden boardwalk. Come nightfall, under the cover of darkness explore the rainforest on foot as your senses heighten to movements in the undergrowth and the raucous sounds of the rainforest. Back at the lodge, à la carte dinner is served from 19:30.

Day 07: 5/4 Hacienda Concepción. (B,L,D)

After breakfast in the lodge, discover the rainforest ́s tropical plants and their intriguing medicinal uses by local communities by visiting our organic bio-orchard. Later, continue to our 30-hectare Palmetum, a collection of 19 Amazonian palms in a plot reserved for rainforest restoration and conservation. After a tasty lunch in the Casa Grande dining room, enjoy a relaxing paddle boat ride in a dugout canoe on Inkaterra Hacienda Concepcion’s oxbow shaped lagoon, or cocha. Row out onto the caramel-coloured water to enjoy the scenery and spot hoatzins, fly catchers and graynecked woodrails, perhaps with the sounds of red howler monkeys bellowing in the distance. Get close to the surprising remains of a semi-submerged steamboat in waters that also hide caiman and piranha. Using the practice of catch and release, you can fish for piranha like the local indigenous communities do, using a simple wooden rod.

Day 08: 5/4 Hacienda Concepción. (B,L,D)

This morning walk within the lodge’s grounds to learn all about the Brazil nut tree – which can live up to 500 years – and its importance to the local economy. Brazil nut harvesting is demanding work and you will also learn the steps to produce and collect Brazil nuts with traditional tools and techniques.
After lunch, learn about another local product of the Amazon with a hands-on chocolate making workshop to see first-hand how cacao is transformed from bean to bar. Inkaterra Hacienda Concepcion sits on the site of former rubber and cacao plantations, where you can pick fresh cacao fruit before rolling up your sleeves to peel and grind toasted cacao nibs – rounded off with a delectable selection of homemade chocolate treats.
Before dinner, visit one of the lodge’s collpas, meaning ‘salty area’ in Quechua. Though wildlife watching is tricky in practice, learn how these clay walls attract fascinating mammal behaviour hidden right beside the lodge.

Day 09: 5/4 Hacienda Concepción. Puerto Maldonado-Lima-Cusco flight. (B)

Enjoy your last morning waking to the cacophony of jungle sounds in this unspoilt natural wonderland, as parakeets chatter away in the trees and monkeys swing through the treetops. Breakfast is served in the Casa Grande with check-out at 10:00. Depending on the time of your departure flight today, lunch can also be arranged (additional cost applies). Embark your ready-waiting motorized wooden boat for the 25-minute return trip along the snaking Madre de Dios River. You will make a short visit to a Butterfly House before reaching the airport. 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, which serves to showcase the variety, beauty and adaptability of these fascinating insects. After breakfast and check out be sure to leave nothing behind in your lodge room. GROUP van and longboar transfer to PEM airport in time for you flight to Cusco with a short stop in Lima. Cusco airport greeting and private transfer to your Cusco hotel to check in. Rest, breath, drink the complimentary coca tea offered by the hotel and eat lightly to better acclimate to Cusco’s 3300M elevation. Overnight Cusco.(B)

Day 10: PRIVATE Cusco City Tour

At he apponted time you will be met in your hotel by your guide and driver and taken to enjoy a 3-4 hr tour of Cusco and surrounding important sites. Visit Koricancha, The Temple of the Sun near the center of Cusco. Koricancha is an architectural marvel since it was built with ashlar masonry, which is composed of similarly sized cuboid stones. Now Koricancha is the foundation of the Santa Domingo Church. Next drive north of Cusco for 15 minutes to the magnificent site of Sacsayhuaman. It’s huge monolithic stones were perfectly cut and fit together without the use of mortar. Next drive to nearby Q’enqo – a small cave like structure used in Inca ceremonies. 10 minutes further north stop at Pucapucara, a small fortress and resting place. Finally visit the fountains and canals at Tambomachay. All of these sites are near each other and played an important part in the Inca’s ceremonies religious and civic. After completion of the tour you will be returned to your hotel before sundown. Overnight Cusco. (B)

Day 11: PRIVATE Sacred Valley Tour. Ollanta-Aguas Calientes Train

Ollantaytambo – Machu Picchu VISTADOME 603 15:37-19:00

• You cannot bring large luggage on the train
• Store the bulk of your luggage with your Cusco hotel’s bellman and get a claim check
• BRING: backpack or overnight bag, passport, train, bus & Machu Picchu entrance tickets

Machu Picchu Pueblo 5✮ Luxury reservation code: 002-30934
One of the most important tours recommended by ILE Tours is the full day Sacred Valley Tour. Here you will learn of the Incas important and impressive legacy left to us by their knowledge of building and great respect for the sun and nature.

At 9AM, after breakfast and check out you will be greeted in your hotel and driven NE out of Cusco to Pisaq. Stop periodically at scenic overlooks for pictures of the dramatic landscape before continuing on to Pisaq. Known for its indigenous craft market, Pisaq was also the easternmost fortress of the Sacred Valley. You can see Pisaq from the winding road that approaches the market town and the ruins high above the town square.

Next continue west through the picturesque Sacred Valley to enjoy an excellent Andean buffet lunch in one of the best restaurants. You will next visit the archaeological city of Ollantaytambo, the Inca’s northern fortress walled city where they guarded the Sacred Valley to the north. Here you can appreciate the complexity of this magnificent Inca construction built in accordance with the landscape. Spectacular views of the Sacred Valley from atop the wall where there are more magnificent cut stones.

Ollantaytambo still retains its original Inca style, layout, walls, houses and small mountain fed canals that brings water to the houses. Finally climb the magnificent wall of Ollantaytambo with its steep rough steps.

Afternoon Ollanta-Machu Picchu train (90 min). You will be met in the Aguas Calientes train station and escorted (walk) to your hotel. 7PM orientation with your Machu Picchu guide in your lobby to discuss tomorrow’s plan to visit the citadel and answer all questions. Overnight Aguas Calientes. (B,L)

Day 12: Private tour Machu Picchu. Train to Cusco

You cannot bring large luggage on the train. After breakfast and check out store your large luggage with the front desk and bring a small carry on or back pack for overnight in Machupicchu
After breakfast check out and store your overnight bags with your hotel. You will be met by your guide to walk to the buses for the 20 min ride up to Machu Picchu. Buses run continuously and only stop at the top and bottom. Enjoy 2 hrs with your guide then have plenty of time to hike and

explore the park on you own. Machu Picchu was probably an estate of the Inca Pachacutec, who also designed Cusco. It was a town with individual homes for nobility made in the classical Inca style with polished dry-stone walls. Its 3 three primary structures are the Intihuatana, the Temple of the Sun, and the Room of the Three Windows. The magnificence of this site is fully appreciated at sunrise. As the mist rises just after sunrise the site itself is revealed to you. Like a saddle straddling a mountaintop, Machu Picchu sits hidden amongst other spectacular surrounding mountains. When finished take one of the continuous running buses 20 min back down to Aguas Calientes, retrieve your overnight or carry on bags from the hotel and be at the Aguas Calientes train station at least 30 minutes before your departing train to Cusco and van back to your hotel (3.5 hrs). Overnight Cusco. (B)

Day 13: PRIVATE Poccoyo – Rainbow Mountain (Vinicunca).

Bring a jacket and brimmed hat today
Morning hotel greeting for leisurely drive east of Cusco to to see the Montañas de 7Colores. This route is an easier hike than the traditional Vinicunca tour with only a 2km hike but you will see three rainbow mountains instead of just one on this more remote route. This is a higher altitude at 5200M so it will be cold and sunny. Local lunch included. This is a remote site and you may see very few people. Return to your hotel around sundown. Overnight Cusco. (B,L)

Day 14: Cusco-Puno PRIVATE Van

After breakfast and check out be sure to leave nothing behind in your Cusco hotel. You will be greeted in your hotel and taken by private car from Cusco-Puno (10 hrs). Stop along the way at sites of interest on your way to Puno across Peru’s high altiplano.

Raqchi: (or the temple of the God Wiracocha) 121 kilometers from Cusco, this Inca temple is monumental: 100 meters in length, 26 meters in width and 14 meters in height. Divided in two naves, each of these still retains the base of eleven giant columns. The base of the walls consists of Imperial Inca stonework with a top section of adobe. Adjacent to the temple, we can see many storehouses, used for various purposes: military and religious.

Andahuaylillas: Referred to as the Andean Sistine Chapel because of its magnificent frescoes, the church is but one example of the mestizo baroque architecture typical of the Cusco School, which was prominent in the 17th century. You will marvel at the ceiling of carved panels covered with gold leaf.

La Raya: The highest pass on the route between Cusco and Puno, La Raya is 4335 meters above sea level. Beautiful landscapes await you, as well as the animals that are symbolic of the Andes: llamas, alpacas and vicunas. This is a region situated between two cultures, Quechua and Aymara, as well as a composite of two terrains: dry and arid altiplano and the more verdant Quechua valleys and rivers.

Pukara: This is the most important and oldest ceremonial site this side of Tiahuanaco. Characterized by a series of staired platforms, the ruins also reveal some litosculptures and tombstones, all witnesses of a pre-Inca civilization, possibly one at the origin of the Andean culture of the Altiplano. Upon arrival to Puno you will be taken to your hotel to check-in. Overnight Puno. (B,L)

Day 15: GROUP Motor Yacht Tour Lake Titicaca, Uros. Juliaca-Lima flight

After an excellent breakfast you will be taken to Lake Titicaca (10 minutes) for a visit to the floating man-made Islands of Uros on a GROUP motor yacht tour. Here you will meet, up-close the citizens who have preserved their old traditions and still live on the water. “The Aquatic Tribe” will show you how they have kept their customs, make their islands and display their crafts made of reeds. The motor yacht tour then continues to the island of Taquile, inhabited by native Quechuas. On Taquile you can appreciate and purchase some of the finest handmade crafts and basket weavings in Peru to support the very friendly and welcoming island people. Typical lunch included on Taquile of fresh lake trout or a vegetarian option. Return to Puno by motor yacht and group van back to your hotel. Brimmed hats, sunglasses, water, sunscreen and jackets are essential since it will be cold on the water with strong sun. Transfer to Juliaca airport in time for your flight to Lima. After you arrive to Lima retrieve your luggage walk across the taxi lanes to enter the Wyndham Costa del Sol LIM airport hotel to check in. Overnight LIM. (B,L)

Day 16: Lima-Guayaquil flight

After breakfast and check out be sure to leave nothing behind in your LIM hotel room. Simply proceed back in to the LIM terminal to check in to your international flight to Quito. Quito airport greeting and transfer (1 hr) to check in to your hote. Overnight Quito. (B)

Day 17: Guayaquil-Galapagos flight. 5/6 Galapagos Cruise

After breakfast and check out be sure to leave nothing behind in your Quito hotel. Hotel greeting and group transfer to Quito airport (1 hr) in time for your flight to the Galapagos via GYE. In the Galapagos airport locate your cruise ship for group shuttle to the beginning of your cruise. (B,L,D)
See separate cruise itinerary.

Day 18: 5/6 Galapagos Cruise

Day 19: 5/6 Galapagos Cruise

Day 20: 5/6 Galapagos Cruise

Day 21: 5/6 Galapagos Cruise. Galapagos-Quito flight

After the visit, passengers will be transferred to the airport for their return flight to Quito with a short stop in Guayaquil. Free airport shuttle 2 min to hotel on airport grounds. Overnight Quito. (B)

Day 22: Depart Quito

After breakfast check out and store your luggage with the front desk. You will be greeted in your hotel by your guide and driver to visit the Middle of the World Monument on the equator. Return to airport in time for your international flight home.
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What is Included

• Pisco-Nazca-Pisco airfare
• LIM-PEM airfare
• PEM-LIM-CUZ airfare
• JUL-LIM airfare
• LIM-UIO airfare
• UIO-GPS-UIO airfare
• All hotel, train, tour, port and airport in-out private transfers
• All guided tours w/ professional bi-lingual English speaking guides
• All accommodations in tourist quality hotels centrally located
• Private Lima City Tour
• Private van transfer Lima-Paracas-Lima
• Group motor yacht tour of Ballestas Islands, Paracas
• Group aerial tour of Nazca Lines
• 5/4 Luxury Amazon Lodge
• Private Cusco City Tour (Koricancha, Sacsayhuaman, Q’Enqo, Pucapucara & Tambomachay)
• Private Sacred Valley Tour (Pisaq, lunch, Ollantaytambo)
• Private tour Machu Picchcu
• Roundtrip Vistadome First Class train tickets to Aguas Calientes
• Private tour and admission to Machu Picchu & bus
• Private tour Poccoyo Rainbow Mountain
• Private van Cusco-Puno (stops: Andahuaylillas, Raqchi, lunch, La Raya & Pucara). 10 hrs
• Group motor yacht tour of Uros & Taquile Islands on Lake Titicaca w/lunch
• 6/5 MC Petrel Catamaran cruise. 06-11MAY. (see below)
• Fine breakfasts in hotels daily & Meals where listed

What is NOT Included

• International airfare
• Nazca airfield tax (S/25 or US$8 per person)
• Travel / Medical / Cancellation / Interruption Insurance
• Last minute hotel, train, air and tour changes
• Alcoholic beverages
• Baggage porter handling fees and tips in ports/airports/hotels/train stations
• Cancellation & Medical Insurance
• Missed flight, train, tour, hike, cruise Insurance
• Meals not specifically listed in itinerary
• Charges not listed specifically in itinerary
• Reimbursement for tours missed due to sickness, late flights or train
• Gratuities and Tips, Spa, hot spring and massage fees, Phone calls, Laundry service
• Hotel room service & mini-bar items & Personal expenses

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