Day 3 Wednesday - Lima / Arequipa
Breakfast at your hotel. Transfer to the airport for your flight to Arequipa. Upon arrival at the airport a host will meet and assist you in transferring to the hotel and help you in registering. Arequipa City Tour and Santa Catalina Convent - Your half day sightseeing of this beautiful city, placed on the World Cultural Heritage list by UNESCO, features Mixed Baroque churches and mansions from the Colonial Period like the Monastery of Santa Catalina, called "a city within a city", a Spanish city in miniature with stone streets, beautiful patios, and plaza. It is a masterpiece of colonial architecture, and houses some of the finest examples of Spanish American religious art. Since 1970 visitors have been able to stroll through the streets and cloisters that during colonial times were the refuge of female nobility who had decided to shut themselves away from the world and dedicate entirely to prayer. (B)

Day 4 Thursday - Arequipa / Colca Canyon
Breakfast at your hotel. Early departure towards the highlands passing through Yura-Pampa Cañahuas and La Pulpera with good possibility of observing groups of wild vicuñas and fighting cattle. Stop en route to see petrogliphs in the Caves of Mollepunco and in the town of Callali to see natural hill formations with the appearance of enchanted castles. Continue to La Calera to enjoy the thermal baths under the stars. (B,L,D)

Day 5 Friday - Colca Canyon / Puno
Breakfast at your hotel. To maximize your probability of seeing condors we depart very early towards the "Cross of the Condor" at about an altitude of 15,000 feet, which grants visitors spectacular views of condors wheeling across the Colca Canyon, the world's deepest. Drive a little further in to the canyon to see some pre-Inca ruins, pre-Inca burial grounds, to watch the way of life in this remote land and to admire the impressive irrigation system and the fertile mountains terraced for farming of the Colca valley. The afternoon ride to Puno features unique natural scenery of the Peruvian Highlands. (B,L)

Day 6 Saturday - Puno
Breakfast at your hotel. Visit to the Uros Indian and Taquile Island at Lake Titikaka - This full day excursion will take you to the highest navigable lake in the world, to visit the floating islands of the Uros Indians, considered themselves Lords of the Lake, and they were convinced they had black blood because they did not feel the cold of the lake and the winter. Continuing to Taquile where a native community of about 400 families still lives with the traditions of the XIV century that respect the principals of an Incan way life. Taquile is a very important site on Lake Titikaka for its a archeological remains, the sacred and ceremonial sites, the festive activities, their rituals and for the daily life of the inhabitants which is dedicated to farming, textile production and fishing. (B,L)

Day 7 Sunday - Puno / Cusco
Breakfast at your hotel. Bus journey through the Peruvian Andes from Puno - Today one of South America's most extraordinary overland trips takes you by bus to Cusco passing through striking highland scenery and picturesque Andean villages. Upon your arrival in Cusco, the former capital of the Inca Empire, a host will meet and assist you in transferring to the hotel and help you to register. (B,L)

Day 8 Monday - Cusco
Breakfast at your hotel. Free morning. 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 9 Tuesday - Cusco / Sacred Valley / Cusco
Breakfast at your hotel. Full Day Excursion to the Pisac Indian Market and the Ollantaytambo Fortress (Daily) -Morning departure for a drive through the fertile countryside to the colonial village of Pisac. During your visit to the bustling marketplace you will have the opportunity to bargain with the natives for many different types of Peruvian handicrafts and jewelry. After lunch the tour continues to the village of Ollantaytambo for a visit to its impressive Incan fortress. In the afternoon return to Cusco. (B,L)

Day 10 Wednesday - 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 11 Thursday - Cusco / Puerto Maldonado / Posada Amazonas
Breakfast at your hotel. Transfer to the airport for your flight to Puerto Maldonado. Upon arrival from Cusco, 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 12 Friday - 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 13 Saturday - Posada Amazonas / Puerto Maldonado / Lima / Home
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 Lima and then take your connecting flight to home. (B)

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