Arrival to Lima and transfer to the hotel.

Afternoon city tour of Lima. The city has always been one of the most important cities in South America since it was founded by the Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro in 1535. Our sightseeing tour explores the historic center and modern districts of the city: the main square with beautiful buildings. The government palace, the city hall, the palace of the archbishop and the cathedral are still the most important places in town. We continue on to the San Francisco monastery and then the most popular place, Plaza San Martin. Our tour ends in the residential districts of San Isidro and Miraflores.

Flight to Iquitos. Your guide will wait for you at Iquitos airport to bring you to the M/V Aqua. As you settle into your over-sized suite, your vessel will start on its journey toward the Yanayacu River, deep in the heart of Amazonia. Before dinner we will perform a routine safety drill. Cruise Director and guides will give a brief orientation talk about life on board, where you will go and what you will see on your Amazon journey. Peruvian cuisine is considered one of the world’s best. For dinner it is presented with a touch of European flair. Raise a glass of fine South American wine to toast the beginning of a beautiful journey as you watch the river goes by from your window. Perhaps enjoy a nightcap on the upper deck, under the stars, before retiring.

After catching your first glimpse of the majestic Amazon River the sumptuous daily breakfast buffet awaits you and features a wide choice of traditional breakfast egg dishes, plus Peruvian specialties, and fresh-squeezed fruit juices. This morning you will board our comfortable excursion skiffs for your first adventure, we pass through the Huaysi short-cut canal to explore the Tahuayo black water river. Life jackets, ponchos, rubber boots, and plenty of cold potable water will always be available for you on board the skiffs. As we float down the Tahuayo, occasional fishermen paddling in their dug-out canoes will give us a cheerful greeting. Keep your binoculars ready to spot a vast variety of wildlife: terns, orioles, blackbirds, black collared hawks, monkeys, and sloth share this wonderful environment with us. Upon arrival at Charo Lake, you can bait your hooks to try to catch one of Amazonia’s fearsome piranhas (and other fish as well). Icy cold towels will be provided, as you transfer from your skiffs into the M/V Aqua. As the vessel continues up the Amazon River, you have some time to relax, or perhaps even take a nap, before lunch. Lunch in the air-conditioned dining room. A visit to ‘Iguana Islands’ follows. This is the habitat of a huge population of reptiles—like tiny dinosaurs—crawling over the ground and resting in the tree tops. We will pass by in the skiff, giving you a chance to snap good photos. As the sun sets, you will have the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see and photograph both gray and pink freshwater dolphins. then continue our journey upstream, toward the headwaters of the Amazon River, where the Ucayali, Marañon, and the Amazon Rivers merge. Sip a pre-dinner Pisco Camu-Camu sour on the upper deck, while you watch the sunset.

This morning you will visit a sustainable resource management project in Amazonia, where villagers plant palm to obtain oil. Your guide may also show you the artificial nests created on the sand to protect turtle eggs. Hike deep into the jungle to encounter wildlife and learn first-hand about the important medical value of jungle plants. There is a chance too to see the famous Kapok Trees (ceiba pentandra), the tallest trees in the Amazon Basin. In this late afternoon skiff excursion, you are likely to see howler and capuchin monkeys, the squirrel-sized monkeys called ‘Tamarins’, and a vast variety of birds. With some luck you may see two different kinds of freshwater dolphins—including the unusual pink ones—found in the Amazon. As the sun sets and our searchlight comes on, keep your eyes out for caimans, tree boas, tarantulas, and frogs. After this night adventure, the M/V Aqua will start sailing downstream on the Marañon River, back toward the headwaters of the Amazon.

At first we will travel by skiff along the Ucayali River to Yucuruche Lake, where we will walk a little way into the jungle to see the world’s largest aquatic plant, the giant water lilies or ‘Victoria Regias’.

This morning, the M/V Aqua skirts the edges of the vast Pacaya-Samiria Reserve, a flooded forest covering five million acres at the headwaters of the Amazon basin. Rise early and be on your skiffs at 8:00 a.m. to view one of the great spectacles of the Southern Hemisphere: the sun rising over the birthplace of the Amazon River. Your dawn excursion will be accompanied by abundant bird song, as you glide in small boats past river banks populated by large-billed terns, laughing falcons, gray tanagers, sandpipers, five kinds of parakeets, the exotic short-tailed parrot, and dozens of other birds. We will then travel by skiff to a native village, where you will meet and interact with the hospitable locals. They will share their culture, traditions, and folklore with you and have the opportunity to purchase some of their handicrafts and delightful folk art. We make a final stop on the way to Iquitos airport. We will visit the Manatee Rescue Center, where biologists and volunteers care for endangered Amazon manatees that conservation authorities have seized from local people and fishermen. You will also see how the manatees are cared for and are prepared for re-introduction into their natural habitat. Your guides will help you with check-in procedures for your flight back to Lima. Upon arrival you will be transferred to your hotel.

An early morning flight brings you to the Inca capital of Cusco. Upon arrival, proceed to the hotel to have a welcome coca tea. This should help us to relieve altitude sickness. The remaining of the morning is free to relax, and slowly acclimatize. Our comprehensive afternoon walking tour includes the beautiful church of Santo Domingo, the cathedral, the 12-angle stone as well as the San Blas artisan quarter. Our tour ends in the MAP or Museum of pre-Columbian art located in a charming ‘casona’ once residence of Count of Cabrera. The museum showcases an astounding collection of pre-Columbian art date from 1250 B.C. to 1532 A.D. The art and artefacts were made by the Huari and Nasca, as well as the Inca, cultures. On the walls is commentary from European artists on South American art. The casona hosts the MAP café, one of Cusco’s best and most elegant restaurants. We suggest you to may sample some specialties of Andean nouvelle cuisine in a special atmosphere that combines the restaurant’s minimalist architecture in a colonial setting.

This morning we drive to the charming community of Chincheros. We join there a local weaving family in their courtyard for an overview of the Andean weaving process. We watch as wool is carded, spun, and dyed and learn about the different techniques used to create belts, ponchos and shawls. After the introduction into the Andean weaving techniques we drive passing ancient farming terraces that are still in use today to grow barley, wheat, and corn to reach the town of Ollantaytambo where the Temple of the Sun (formed of six gigantic monoliths, whose total weight exceeds 50 tons) and the Terrace of the Ten Niches stand out. Ollantaytambo was the site of the only successful Inca battle against the Spanish conquerors and the only town in the area to still retain its original Inca layout.

Morning transfer to San Pedro station. Our 3 ½ hour train journey takes us through the Sacred Valley of the Incas up to the legendary ancient citadel in Machu Picchu. On arrival a small coach take us up the steep roads to the entrance of the citadel. Machu Picchu remained for centuries undiscovered by the Spaniards, only to be found in 1911 by Hiram Bingham. The uniqueness of its location and the genius that went into its construction make this Inca archaeological site truly one of the great wonders of the world. A well deserved buffet lunch will be served at the ‘Machu Picchu Sanctuary Lodge’, the only hotel located within the very sanctuary of the Machu Picchu Inca citadel. Afternoon return to Aguas Calientes to board the train back to Cusco, where we are met and transferred to the hotel.

Morning flight to Lima. Upon arrival transfer to your hotel. This afternoon we drive to Barranco, Lima’s traditional ‘belle epoch’ district. This is a pleasant suburb of Lima that has kept its character much better than most of the city and the bohemian heart of the city. Here we visit the museum for colonial art de Osma located in a century-old mansion. The ‘casona’ in neoclassical style was formerly home of the de Osma family and offers an insight of life in Peru during the Spanish viceroyalty. Paintings, sculptures, carvings and furniture of the 16th-19th centuries collected by Don Pedro de Osma in 30 years can be observed in this charming mansion. Fine pieces of silverware are on display in the former dining room. The buildings are surrounded by gardens with marble sculptures, palms and geraniums. The farewell lunch will be served in the Rosa Nautica one of Lima’s most spectacular restaurants. ‘La Rosa’ is set in a Victorian-style pink-and-green rotunda at the end of a pier, with a great view of the Pacific Ocean. The setting is simply unique. The restaurant’s four dining areas, and its sophisticated bar ‘El Espigón’, rising from the midst of the ocean, allow the visitor to enjoy a magical experience, which can only be possible in a place of fantasy, capriciously constructed in the middle of the sea. Because of this wonderful location, the horizon, especially at the crucial sunset hour, can be best appreciated through the large windows or ample terraces. The menu features both Peruvian and international cuisine; still it’s its refined seafood cuisine this restaurant is famous for.

At proper time transfer to the airport to board your international flight.

Windproof/waterproof jacket

1 light raincoat or poncho

Shirts /t-shirts

Hiking pants/track pants

1 pair of knee high rubber boots

Sport sandals

Flashlight and batteries

Hat or cap

Sunglasses

Sun block and insect repellent with DEET (diethyl-metatoluamide)

Swimsuit

Binoculars (essential)

Cash