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Peru: Multi-Day Side Trips

While planning your trip to Peru, the focus is usually on the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu. There are many side trips that enhance your travel, giving you a broader understanding of the culture and an awareness of the additional architectural wonders. You may have heard about the mysterious Nazca Lines, Colca Canyon condors, the floating islands in Lake Titicaca, and the Amazon rainforest.

On this page:

• Nazca Lines
• Arequipa and Colca Canyon
• Lake Titicaca
• Amazon Rainforest, Deep Amazon
• Manu Wildlife Center

Nazca Lines, Ballestas Islands and Paracas National Reserve - 2 days/1 night from Lima

A small section of the Nazca lines

Ballestas Isle

Pelicans at Paracas and Ballestas

Day 1: Leave Lima early in the morning by bus or van; drive to Ica by way of lush valleys that cut through the Atacama desert. Check in at your hotel. Early afternoon flight over the Nazca lines, an archeological wonder of lines and drawings in the rocky plains. Overnight at hotel (3-star) in Ica.

Day 2: Drive to the National Reserve of Paracas, a protected marine area with birds and historic sites. After a tour of this area, you will board a boat for a tour of Isla Ballastes, and and opportunity to observe sea lions, pelicans, penguins and possibly dolphins. After lunch, the bus/van will take us back to Lima. End of services (BL)

Includes: Transportation from Lima with driver, bi-lingual guide, transfers (Lima), 2 nights hotel, all meals listed (B=breakfast, L=lunch, D=dinner), overflight of Nazca Lines, entrance to Paracas reserve, boat tour around Ballastas Island.

Not included: Tips for guide and driver, hotel stay prior to and at the end of the trip, personal expenses.

Tour departs: Every day

2010 Prices

*The itinerary above provides a private car/van for your group. You may also take the public bus from Lima to Ica/Paracas, and return. Details and prices available upon request.

"BUDGET" NAZCA LINES FOR ONE DAY

This is an opportunity to travel by tourist bus to Ica, experience the Nazca Lines overflight and return the same day. Available any day.

2010 Prices

Includes: Transportation from your hotel to the Lima bus station and return to your hotel or the airport; tourist bus to/from Ica (about 3 hours ride one way); Nazca Lines overflight.

Not included: Tips for drivers and pilot, lunch and tour of Ica or visit to local museum, hotel stay prior to and at the end of the trip, personal expenses.

FLY TO ICA FOR THE NAZCA LINES OVERFLIGHT - ONE DAY

There is also an option to fly from Lima to Ica and have an overflight of the Nazca Lines, returning to Lima the same day. Minimum 4 passengers (in order to get the Lima/Ica airplane to operate). The price for this is US$540/person, plus transfers to/from the Lima airport. At the end of your Peru travel, if your are arriving Lima in the morning and departing Lima for home in the evening, this is a great day's adventure (and no transfers needed in Lima)!

Arequipa and Colca Canyon - 3-days/2 nights from Lima

Arequipa's Plaza de Armes

Highlands and canyons near Arequipa

Day 1: Transfer to the airport for the one hour flight to Arequipa. You will be met there and transferred to your hotel. Afternoon city tour of the "White City" (Ciudad Blanca), as it is known. This includes colonial buildings made from volcanic rock, as well as a visit to the Santa Catalina Convent. Overnight at hotel (3-star) in Arequipa.
  
[NOTE: OPTIONAL ADDED DAYS Optional full day trips can be arranged to other sites which surround Arequipa, e.g., the famous Campiña of Arequipa and the Molino of Sabandia.]

Day 2: Early morning departure by car, leaving the city behind you slowly ascend to the highland Savannah or Puna with a close-up view of Mt. Chachani and Misti and other surrounding volcanoes. On this high altitude desert, there is a chance to see small herds of vicuña, an endangered species of camelids and an impressive landscape with the back-drop of the Sabancaya Volcano. Descend into the upper Colca Canyon at Chivay and overnight in a small hostal (3-star) in the Colca Valley. In the afternoon you can visit the hot springs (BL)

Day 3: An early departure to Cruz del Condor, the viewpoint over the deepest part of this world-famous canyon will let you see Condors at their best as they leave their rocky sanctuary with the morning warm air currents, to slowly ascend over the horizon. After lunch, return to Arequipa. End services (BL)

Tour departs: Every day

2010 Prices - 3 day itinerary with private Colca Canyon tour

2010 Prices - 3 day itinerary with group** Colca Canyon tour

**Groups from two to nine passengers will join with others to form a tour group. Groups from 10 to 15 persons will be in a private group.

Includes: Airport transfers, 2 nights hotels (double occupancy), meals indicated (B=breakfast, L=lunch, D=dinner), city tour, Colca Canyon tour, bi-lingual guides, transportation and drivers, and entrance fees.

Not included: Domestic flights or transportation to/from Arequipa, optional added day trips, tips for your guide and driver, meals not listed; entrance to the hot springs (about $3/person), personal expenses.

Lake Titicaca and the Floating Isles- 3-days/2 nights

Lake Titicaca is at 12,600 feet elevation

Uros floating island homes

Sillustani ruins and “chullpas” (burial towers)

Day 1: Transfer to the airport for your flight to Juliaca (Puno) OR if starting in Cusco, transfer to bus station for Inka Express First Class Bus to Puno (full day with lunch and stops at ruins an museums with guide). Welcome and transfer to your hotel in Puno. If arriving by air, we will visit the "Chullpas" (burial towers) of Sillustani enroute, located overlooking a small lake. Overnight at hotel in Puno (3-star).
 
Day 2: Full day boat tour of Lake TIticaca and the floating isles of Uros and Taquille. Box lunch included. On route we will see and experience the Titicaca National Reserve, a wetland area formed by the lake as the rainy season increases its level The island of Taquile, in the middle of Lake Titicaca, is a paradise of peace and beauty. Dedicated to agriculture and weaving, the isolation has allowed its inhabitants to maintain their traditions almost intact. Evening cultural exchange with a family and overnight at family lodge on Taquile (BLD) 

Day 3: Board boat for your return to Puno late morning; transfer to airport for flight departure (if you arrived by bus to Puno, you will have the visit to Sillustani ruins on this day (B)

Tour departs: Every day

Inka Express Bus Schedule (From Cusco to Puno)

07:30 a.m. Depart Cusco
08:15 a.m. Stop in Andahuaylillas (3,093 meters) - guided visit to San Pedro Church.
10:45 a.m. Stop at Raqchi (3,475 meters) - guided visit to the ruins.
12:30 p.m. Stop in Sicuani for buffet lunch (3,540 meters) - one hour
14:40 p.m. Stop at La Raya (4,335 meters).
15:40 p.m. Stop in Pukara (3,879 meters) - guided visit to the museum
16:30 p.m. Arrive Puno bus station.

2010 Prices:

Includes: Airport/bus station transfers in Puno, 2 nights lodging (dbl occ, 3-star hotel and family lodge), all meals listed (B=breakfast, L=lunch, D=dinner), bi-lingual guide, car and driver, Sillustani ruins tour, boat tour of Lake Titicaca (in a group with private guide).

Not included: Domestic flights/buses, optional added day trips, tips for your guides and drivers, meals not listed, personal expenses. The tourist bus Cusco to/from Puno is US$65/person/one way and the train from Cusco to/from Puno is US$205/person/one way.

[NOTE: It is also possible to tour both Taquile and Uros Islands on Day 2 and return for an overnight at the Puno hotel; you may then have a "free" Day 3 or travel by bus to Cusco, stopping at archeological sites enroute. Please let us know if you would like to make this itinerary adjustment.]

Amazon rainforest - 3-days/2-nights from Lima or Cusco

An Amazon rainforest river

The rainforest lodge

Motoring canoes in the Amazon rainforest

Located a 30 minutes motor canoe ride down the River Madre de Dios from Puerto Maldonado, Sandoval Lake Lodge is perched above what many rainforest specialists feel is the most attractive lake in Southern Peru, if not in the entire Peruvian Amazon.

The whole complex is housed in one structure and includes 25 double occupancy rooms with private bath, hot showers, and a spacious dining room overlooking the lake.

Please note that all rainforest itineraries may vary slightly so as to maximize wildlife sightings, depending on the reports of our researchers and experienced naturalist guides.

Day 1: Transfer from Puerto Maldonado airport to the river port on the Madre de Dios River. A 30 minutes journey down the Madre de Dios River by motor canoe brings you to the riverside trailhead to Sandoval Lake Lodge. From here the trail takes you on a 2-miles (3,2-kilometers) walk through secondary forest, until we reach a small canal where we board canoes and are paddled 220 yards (201 meters) through a flooded forest of 100-foot (30-meters) tall Mauritia palms. As the canal opens onto the shimmering surface of the lake, we transfer to a catamaran and are leisurely paddled across half the lake to the lodge.

After lunch and a brief rest to avoid the early afternoon heat, we will learn about the history of the lodge and the philosophy of its founders. Then we once again board the catamaran and set off to explore the entire west end of the lake. Here, in the flooded palm forest we drift to the sounds of hundreds of Red-Bellied Macaws as they return to the palm forest for the night. This macaw species is found locally in parts of the Amazon, always living in flooded palm forests such as the beautiful palm stand at Sandoval Lake. At 500-800 birds, this flock of macaws at Sandoval Lake is currently the largest reported in the world for this highly-specialized macaw.

As night falls we will look for the large and extremely rare Black Caimans. If it is a clear starlit night, we will also be able to float in the middle of the lake to marvel at the brilliance of the sky and listen to the sounds of the forest. We return to the lodge for a short video or slide presentation and dinner. At any point, you could step out from the bar to admire the wide variety of nocturnal moths, beetles and praying mantis attracted to our black light in the lodge clearing. For those with lots of energy, our guide will take us on a short night-walk into the forest behind the lodge.(LD).

Day 2: A pre-dawn wake-up call will enable us to be on the lake for sunrise and a hopeful encounter with the family of Giant Otters who frequent the lake and are most active at this time of day. Sandoval Lake offers abundant wildlife including over 40 species of birds resident to its lake margins, most of the fish-eating water birds around the lake actively fish in the early morning as well, and this outing should provide excellent views, of the prehistoric- looking Hoatzins, These are easy to observe and also photograph from the paddled canoes or catamarans.

After returning for a late breakfast we set off into the cool under story of the tall virgin forest near the lake to see some towering wild Brazil Nut trees and a demonstration of how our hosts collect, open and commercialize this important natural product. After lunch and an hour or so to relax we once again board the catamaran to explore the eastern part of the lake, where we might see one or more of the five species of monkeys who live in the forest near the lake, such as the Brown Capuchin Monkey and Squirrel Monkey. Before dinner we will again enjoy an informative natural history video or slide presentation. We will leave after dinner to try and spot some Black Caimans on the lake, or to go on a short night walk through the primary forest. (BLD)

Day 3: After early breakfast we leave near dawn and we take a final, shorter paddle around the west end of the lake to try and glimpse the Giant Otters before returning by motor canoe for the 35 minutes return trip to the Puerto Maldonado Airport, taking advantage of valuable early morning wildlife activity along the river. From here you fly to Cusco or Lima, where your jungle adventure ends.(B).

Note: You may add an extra day for additional excursions and jungle activities, to enjoy a 4-day/3-night experience!

Tour departs: Every day

2010 Prices for 3 day/2 night itinerary:

Includes: Two nights rainforest lodge, all meals listed (B=breakfast, L=lunch, D=dinner), guides and rainforest excursion and activities listed, transportation by boat/canoe to/from lodge.

Not included: Transfers in Lima and Cusco, domestic flights to/from Puerto Maldonado (approximately US$190/person one way), tips for your guides, boat drivers and lodge staff, personal expenses.

2010 Prices for 4-day/3-night itinerary:

Includes: Three nights rainforest lodge, all meals listed (B=breakfast, L=lunch, D=dinner), guides and rainforest activities listed, transportation by boat/canoe to/from lodge. Pricing for a triple room are available.

Not included: Transfers in Lima and Cusco, domestic flights to/from Puerto Maldonado (approximately US$190/person one way), tips for your guides, boat drivers and lodge staff, personal expenses.

DEEP AMAZON EXPERIENCE - 4 days/3 nights

We now offer a more intensive, deep Amazon experience, with two nights at a lodge on the Peru/Bolivia border and one at Lake Sandoval Lodge. Our Ese Eja Indian hosts add wisdom and knowledge to this incredible jungle adventure!

Please note that all rainforest itineraries may vary slightly so as to maximize wildlife sightings, depending on the reports of our researchers and experienced naturalist guides.

Day 1: We are met by our guide at Puerto Maldonado airport and transferred to the port on the Tambopata River. Here we board a motorized canoe for a four-and-a-half hour journey to the Heath River Wildlife Center. After descending the Tambopata River for 5 minutes to the confluence with the larger Madre de Dios River, our boat heads east, downstream on the mighty Madre de Dios River, passing small gold prospecting barges before reaching the Peru-Bolivia border. This stretch of the Madre de Dios River is particularly attractive, as more than 75% of the riverbank is still covered by towering, virgin rainforest, and periods of 15-20 minutes go by without a single sign of forest cutting. Here we transfer to a smaller motorized canoe and head up the narrow, intimate Heath River, which forms the wilderness border between Peru and Bolivia, to arrive at our 100% Indian-owned lodge, the only all-Indian-owned lodge in the Tambopata region. PLEASE NOTE THAT VALID PASSPORTS MUST BE BROUGHT FOR THIS JOURNEY. In the late afternoon, our Ese Eja Indian hosts will take us to explore the forest surrounding the lodge in search for the various species of monkeys and hundreds of species of birds that make the rainforest home. After dinner we explore the forest by flashlight, including a visit to a small mammal clay lick if it is active, overnight at Heath River Lodge (LD).

Day 2: Rising before dawn we once again board the canoe for the journey up the Heath River to the Macaw and Parrot Clay Lick. Depending on the level of the river this journey can take up to one hour. During the river trip upstream, we nearly always see one or two families of Capybaras on the banks of the river At 120 pounds (55 kilograms), this simply gigantic relative of the guinea pig is the largest and most photogenic rodent in the world. Once at our specially-designed floating blind, our breakfast is served as we marvel at the medium-sized, emerald-green and electric-blue parrots and the large blazing Red-and-Green Macaws that arrive in two shifts to eat the clay. Note that in some years ALL macaw and parrot licks in southern Peru are less active in May, June, and early July than in the rest of the months of the year. Thus, bear this in mind if you are especially interested in photography of the parrots and macaws. Returning to the lodge after the a beautiful parrot display our native guides take us on an ethno-botanical walk through the forest, explaining how they use many of the forest trees and plants in their daily lives, either as medicines or for bows and arrows and in home construction.
After lunch and a short rest we go first by canoe then a short walk to a natural forest of towering, 170-foot-tall (55-meter-tall) Brazil nut trees to learn how the slight, yet surprisingly powerful, men of the village harvest these nuts, which fall from the treetops encased in rock-hard brown spheres the size of small grapefruits. Our Ese Eja Indian hosts have harvested these delicious, valuable nuts for thousands of years, and now they will show you the mystery and splendor of this wonder of the Amazon. Our hosts also feature a canopy in the top of a huge canopy emergent tree. Overnight at Heath River Lodge (BLD).

Day 3: Once again we rise before dawn and set off to have breakfast in the floating blind at the Macaw and Parrot Clay Lick. After the spectacle of the lick we return to the lodge to pack and then boat back upstream on the Madre de Dios River to Sandoval Lake Lodge, which is located on the banks of the lake that most experts consider to be the most beautiful in all the southern Amazon of Peru. A box lunch will be eaten during the journey. Arriving at the trail head to Sandoval Lake Lodge we take a 45-minute walk through the forest to a small canal where we board a canoe and then transfer to one or more hand-paddled catamarans, each of which has a capacity for 20 people. Arriving on the lake in the cool golden light of the late afternoon, we enter into a flooded palm forest and drift beneath dozens (and often hundreds) of babbling Red-bellied Macaws as they return to the palm forest for the night. This macaw species is found locally in parts of the Amazon, always living in flooded palm forests such as the beautiful palm stand at Sandoval Lake. At 500-800 birds, this flock of macaws at Sandoval Lake is currently the largest reported in the world for this highly-specialized macaw. We return to the lodge around nightfall for dinner. Overnight at Lake Sandoval Lodge (BLD).

Day 4: After a dawn breakfast we return to Puerto Maldonado for the flight back to Cusco or Lima (B).

Tour departs: Every day

2010 Prices:

Includes: Three nights rainforest lodge, all meals listed (B=breakfast, L=lunch, D=dinner), bilingual guides, rainforest activities listed, transportation by boat/canoe.

Not included: Transfers in Lima and Cusco, domestic flights to/from Puerto Maldonado (approximately US$190/person one way), tips for your guides, boat drivers and lodge staff, personal expenses.

Manu Wildlife Center (4D/3N)

This lodge is located east of the Manu River on the north bank of the Madre de Dios River. It is reached by a 45-minute flight from Cusco aboard a modern, radar-equipped, turboprop aircraft, followed by a 90-minute motorized canoe ride, and offers the Amazon’s finest short, in-depth wildlife safari. The lodge is famous for its abundant and varied wildlife, with its own Tapir clay lick, a nearby macaw and parrot clay lick, two nearby oxbow lakes and two tall canopy viewing towers among its impressive highlights.

Please note that all rainforest itineraries may vary slightly so as to maximize wildlife sightings, depending on the reports of our researchers and experienced naturalist guides.

Day 1: An early morning transfer to Cusco airport will be followed by a 45-minute flight by turboprop aircraft to Boca Manu, and then a 90-minute motorized canoe journey down the Madre de Dios river to Manu Wildlife Center, in time for lunch.
In the afternoon we make our first acquaintance with the rainforest, exploring some of the 30 miles of forest trails that surround the lodge. We have an excellent chance of encountering some of the 12 species of monkeys, including the Monk Saki and Emperor Tamarin, which inhabit the surrounding forest.
After dinner there will be an enchanting night walk along the trails, in search of the nocturnal birds and animals of the rainforest.

Day 2: Another early start (inevitable on wildlife expeditions), is followed by a short boat ride downstream. We take a 20-minute trail through palm plantations to a cut-off channel of the river, where we find the Blanquillo Macaw Lick. A spacious hide provided with individual chairs and a convenient place for cameras and binoculars is our ringside seat for what is usually a very spectacular show. We enjoy a full breakfast here while waiting for the main actors to arrive.

In groups of twos and threes the big Red-and-Green Macaws come flapping in, landing in the treetops as they eye the main stage below -- the eroded clay banks of the old channel. Meanwhile the supporting cast appears: these may included Blue-headed, Mealy, Yellow-crowned, and Orange-cheeked Parrots -- and the occasional villain, a menacing and unwelcome Great Black Hawk.

The drama plays out in first in tentative and then bolder approaches to the lick, until finally nearly all the macaws, parrots and parakeets form a colorful and noisy spectacle on the bare banks, squabbling as they scrape clay from the hard surface.

(Please note that the clay lick is most active from August to October and less so during the months of May and June.)

We return to the lodge for lunch, and then we continue to explore and discover the rainforest, its lore and plant life, on the network of trails surrounding the lodge, arriving in the late afternoon at our 34m/112ft Canopy Tower. On its platform we witness the frantic rush-hour activity of twilight in the rainforest canopy, before night closes in.

Later we set off along the “collpa trail”, which will take us to the lodge’s famous Tapir Clay lick. Here at the most active tapir lick known in all the Amazon, our research has identified from 8-12 individual 600-pound Tapirs who come to this lick to eat clay from under the tree roots around the edge. This unlikely snack absorbs and neutralizes toxins in the vegetarian diet of the Tapir, the largest land animal of Latin America. The lick features a roomy, elevated observation platform 5m/17ft above the forest floor. The platform is equipped with freshly-made-up mattresses with pillows. Each mattress is covered by a roomy mosquito net. The 50-m-long, elevated walkway to the platform is covered with sound-absorbing padding to prevent our footsteps from making noise. This Tapir Experience is unique and exciting because these normally very shy creatures are visible up close, and flash photography is not just permitted, but encouraged.

The hard part for modern city dwellers is to remain still and silent anywhere from 30 minutes to two or more hours. Many prefer to nap until the first Tapir arrives, at which point your guide gently awakens you to watch the Tapir 10-20m/33-66ft) away below the platform. Most people feel that the wait is well worth it in order to have such a high probability of observing the rare and elusive Tapir in its rainforest home.

Day 3: We set off early for Cocha Blanco, an old oxbow lake full of water lilies and sunken logs. As we circle the lake on our catamaran we might encounter the resident Giant Otter family on a fishing expedition, or troops of monkeys crashing noisily through the trees. Wattled Jacanas step lightly on the lily pads, dainty Sun Grebes paddle across the water, supple-necked Anhingas air-dry their wide, black wings, and perhaps an Osprey scans for fish from a high branch.

Among the bushes near the waterline, Hoatzins, which look like rust-colored, punk chickens, announce their presence with distinctive, bizarre wheezing and grunts. Woodpeckers, tanagers, macaws, toucans and parakeets all finally come swooping in to trees surrounding the lake. Many of them roost around the lake for the night.

After lunch at the lodge our guide is available to lead us on freewheeling expeditions in search of further wildlife encounters, or we may take one of the lodge’s many trails on private and personal excursions to commune with the spirits of the rainforest.

This evening, from late afternoon until after dinner, we can take a boat ride in search of caiman (alligator-like reptiles), and other nocturnal wildlife along the riverbank.

Day 4: After an early breakfast, we leave on the two-hour boat trip to the Boca Manu airfield, enjoying early morning wildlife activity as we go. From here we fly to Cusco, where our rainforest adventure ends with a pickup and transfer to our hotel.

Departures on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

2010 Prices:

Includes: Transfers in Cusco, three nights rainforest lodge, all meals listed (B=breakfast, L=lunch, D=dinner), bilingual guides, rainforest activities listed, transportation by boat/canoe, airfares to/from Cusco.

Not included: Tips for your guides, boat drivers and lodge staff, personal expenses.

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