4 nights on the Inca Trail, 4 nights
in the Amazon
12 days / 11 nights 
From $3370, double occupancy for 2009
Includes domestic air, transfers, accommodations,
guided excursions and meals as specified
Most definitely, the best way to arrive
at the ruins of Machu Picchu is via the Inca Trail Trek.
For those travelers up to it, porters will carry your
backpack, cook your meals and set up camp in the evening.
All you need carry is a daypack with your camera for the
incredible views of the Andes and smaller ruins you'll
encounter along the way. Tambopata Research Center offers
the best insight of the Amazon Jungle in Peru with opportunities
to see monkeys and birds up close.
All Lost World Adventures itineraries are
privately guided, and may be modified to suit personal
travel dates, interests and budgets.
Day 1: US – Lima
Most flights arrive in Lima late at
night. Airport reception and transfer to your hotel. Overnight
accommodations at the new (opened June 2007) Hotel Costa
del Sol Ramada Lima, with daily buffet breakfast included.
Conveniently close to the airport, this four star hotel
features 130 rooms, restaurant, bar, business center,
wireless internet, spa, and beauty salon.
Day 2: lima - Cuzco
Proceed on your own to the Lima Airport
domestic terminal (located across the street). Lima-Cuzco
flight times to be advised.
Airport reception in Cuzco and transfer
to your hotel. Overnight accommodations at the centrally-located
Sonesta
Posada del Inca Cuzco, breakfast buffet included.
(B)
Day 3: Cuzco
- Chillca - Huallabamba (Sacred Valley)
After breakfast, set off by bus into
the Sacred Valley of the Incas. Upon arrival at Chilca,
the head of the Inca Trail, meet your native “Quechua”
porters and set off along the Inca Trail. You’ll
reach your first camp at the ruins of Llactapata (7,550
feet) in the early afternoon in time for lunch and a relaxing
afternoon of exploration. (B,L,D)
Day 4: Llulluchapampa
After a hearty breakfast, start the
slow uphill climb to the Inca hamlet of Huayallabamba,
a small agricultural community. From here the trail climbs
steeply towards the first pass, cutting through dense
vegetation until reaching an open meadow, and your second
night’s camp at Llulluchapampa (11,000’). From
here you’ll enjoy breathtaking views of Mount Hayanay.
(B,L,D)
Day 5: Chakicocha
Today your uphill trek continues to
the highest pass on the trail, Warmiwañusqa pass
(13,276 feet). Pause here for a while and savor the landscape,
before heading down to the Pacamayo River. From here the
trail climbs once again past the ruins of Sayacmarca up
to a small lake, where you'll camp. (B,L,D)
Day 6: Machu Picchu
The trail continues along a buttress
past the Phuyupatamarca ruins before joining a remarkably
well preserved flagstone path built by the Incas. The
terrain and vegetation change dramatically, giving way
to dense tropical cloud forest. Afternoon arrival at Inti
Punku, the Gates of the Sun, which overlooks the magnificent
ruins of the Lost City of the Incas, Machu Picchu. Continue
to the town of Agua Caliente. Overnight accommodations
at the Machu
Picchu Pueblo Hotel, Superior room, buffet breakfast
and dinner included. (B,L,D)
Day 7: machu picchu - Cuzco
Set in the saddle of a high mountain
1000 feet above the Urubamba River, Machu Picchu remained
"lost" in jungle undergrowth until it was rediscovered
by American explorer Hiram Bingham in 1911. Consequently
the city escaped ransacking from the Spaniards and is
reasonably well preserved. This morning you'll set off
with your guide to explore the walls, stairways, temples
and terraces of Machu Picchu.
In the afternoon, you'll transfer to the
train station, and set off on a four-hour scenic ride
back up the Urubamba Valley to Cuzco. Overnight
accommodations at the Posada
del Inca. (B)
Day 8: CUZCO - Puerto Maldonado
- Refugio Amazonas
Transfer to the airport for your flight
to Puerto Maldonado. Upon arrival you will be met and
transferred to the Refugio Amazonas/Tambopata Research
Center administrative office in town. Here you will have
the opportunity to leave excess luggage before heading
into the jungle. You are encouraged to travel light.
Puerto Maldonado is situated at the confluence
of the mighty Madre de Dios and Tambopata Rivers and is
a bustling tropical frontier town. Its principal activities
are gold mining, Brazil nut collection, timber extraction,
agriculture and ecotourism. After a brief survey of the
town depart on the 2-hour boat trip by motorized canoe
to the Posada Amazonas lodge on the Bajo Tambopata River.
During the voyage look out for bird species typical of
the river or forest edge such as: Black Skimmer, Pied
Lapwing, Capped Heron, Horned Screamer, Bat Falcon, and
several species of kingfishers, swallows and flycatchers.
Upon arrival, unpack, unwind and explore
the lodge's surroundings while waiting for dinner. Refugio
Amazonas is a comfortable, unobtrusive 24-room lodge owned
jointly by Rainforest Expeditions and the Ese'eja native
Community of Tambopata. All rooms have private bathrooms
with cold water. You will receive a short orientation
and a complete briefing of the lodge and the Ese'eja Ecotourism
Project over lunch.
In the afternoon, enjoy
a 15-minute walk to the scaffolding tower for spectacular
views of the river and the surrounding forest. This is
an excellent opportunity to observe birds from the canopy
including parrots, toucans and macaws. (B,L,D)
Day 9: Refugio Amazonas -
Tambopata
Research Center
Before breakfast you may visit the
canopy tower. A thirty minute walk from Refugio Amazonas
leads to the 25 meter scaffolding canopy tower. A bannistered
staircase running through the middle provides safe access
to the platforms above. The tower has been built upon
high ground, therefore increasing your horizon of the
continuous primary forest extending out towards the Tambopata
National Reserve. From here views of mixed species canopy
flocks as well as toucans, macaws and raptors are likely.
Return to the lodge for breakfast.
After breakfast, a few minutes hike
from the lodge is a beautiful old growth patch of Brazil
Nut forest that has been harvested for decades (if not
centuries) where the precarious remains of a camp used
two months a year by Brazil Nut gatherers can still be
experienced. We will be demonstrating the whole process
of the rain forest's only sustainably harvested product
from collection through transportation to drying.
After returning to the lodge, depart for
the Tambopata Research Center. Four and half hours by
boat from Refugio Amazonas, in the pristine heart of the
reserve, lies the Tambopata Research Center. One and half
hours into our boat journey, as we cross the confluence
with the Malinowski River, we will leave the final traces
of human habitation behind. Within the 700,000 hectare
uninhabited nucleus of the reserve, sightings of capybara,
caiman, geese, macaws and other large species will become
more frequent.
After the first hour you will leave the final traces of
human habitation as you cross the northern boundary of
the 2.2 million acres, completely uninhabited, proposed
Tambopata National Park. You'll immediately notice the
increased abundance of wildlife, so keep your eyes peeled
for macaws, herons, kingfishers and cormorants, as well
as capybaras, caiman, storks, ducks and other wildlife.
You will arrive at Tambopata
Research Center, where you'll been assigned to your
accommodations. Upon arrival, the lodge manager will welcome
you and brief you with important navigation and security
tips. Tambopata Research Center is located in a one acre
clearing 50 meters from the Tambopata River and 300 meters
from the macaw clay lick. The lodge is composed of four
interconnected, thatch-roofed buildings designed in the
traditional native architecture. The main lodge has 13
double rooms, furnished with twin beds draped in mosquito
netting and simple furnishings. Each room offers an unobstructed
view of the forest. All rooms are connected by a raised
walkway to the communal bathroom, containing flush toilets
and showers.
The trails around the center offer easy
access to explore the rain forest surrounding Tambopata
Research Center, which offers a mosaic of seven distinct
rain forest habitats, including floodplain forest, terra
firme forest, bamboo forest, and palm swamps.
Overlook Trail: A three to five kilometer
hike will lead us to overlooks commanding magnificent
views of the Tambopata winding its way into the lowlands.
The forest on this trail, regenerating on old bamboo forest,
is good for Howler Monkey and Dusky Titi Monkey.
After dinner tonight, you'll be given
a slide-show presentation on Tambopata Research Center
and past and present research projects, before visiting
the light traps to identify nocturnal arthropods, principally
moths. To cap off a fulfilling day take a short nightwalk
on the beach looking for caiman and gazing at the stars.
(B,L,D)
Day 10: Tambopata Research
Center
At dawn cross the river and enjoy
the world's largest macaw clay lick where hundreds of
parrots and macaws of up to 15 species congregate daily.
During this spectacle, described by National Geographic
as "one of the world's most dazzling wildlife gatherings,"
look out for Red-and-green, Blue-and-gold, Scarlet and
Red-bellied Macaws; Mealy and Yellow-crowned Amazons;
Blue-headed, Orange-cheeked and White-bellied Parrots;
and many other species. This show will continue until
the macaws sense danger, usually in the form of an eagle,
and depart simultaneously in an explosion of sound and
color.
After breakfast set off on the Floodplain
Trail. This five kilometer trail covers the prototypical
rain forest with immense trees criss-crossed by creeks
and ponds. Amongst the figs, ceibas and shihuahuacos we
will look for Squirrel, Brown Capuchin, and Spider Monkeys
as well as peccaries. TRC is located within this habitat.
After lunch set off on for the Pond
Platform. Ten minutes upriver from the lodge is a tiny
pond with a platform in the middle. It is a great place
to spot waterfowl such as Muscovy duck, sunbittern and
hoatzin along with the woodpeckers, oropendolas, flycatchers
and parakeets that call this pond their home.
After dinner, 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 at the Tambopata Research
Center. (B,L,D)
Day 11: Tambopata Research
Center – Refugio Amazonas
After breakfast, a three and
a half hour boat ride brings you back to Refugio Amazonas.
After lunch at the lodge, a forty
minute hike takes you Condenado Lake. You paddle canoes
around the lake looking for lakeside wildlife such as
hoatzin and caiman, hoping to see the otters which are
infrequently seen here. You will also be rewarded with
overhead sightings of macaws.
After dinner, lectures prepared by
the staff of Refugio Amazonas cover conservation threats,
opportunities and projects in the Tambopata National Reserve.
Overnight at Refugio Amazonas. (B,L,D)
Day 12: Posadas Amazonas -Puerto
Maldonado - Lima
After an early breakfast, you will
depart for the return trip to Puerto Maldonado. From Puerto
Maldonado you will fly to Lima and connect with your departing
international flight. (B)
Contact
us to book this or to request
a customized itinerary of travel in Peru..
