South America Natural Adventures

PERU

 

Peru offers some of the best wildlife and nature experiences on the planet. The Amazon river starts here, and Peru has extensive rainforest from Manu in the south (see below for our Manu and Machu Picchu tour) to the Amazon on the Ecuadorian and Colombian borders and the deep Amazon near Iquitos.

 

 

But there's not only rainforest, there's the high Andes, the world's highest lake, an incredibly rich maritime province, and the dry chapparal and deserts of the coast and northwest. Along with this diverse and sometimes overwhelming natural world are numerous repositories of ancient cultures, from world famous Machu Picchu in the south, Kuelap and the Chachapoyas culture in the north, and the incredible pyramids and artisanal relics of Tucume, Chan Chan and Sipan in the northwest. There are few places that a wildlife tour can be combined with such cultural wonders.

 

In Amazona explore the Amazon River and surrounding forest by small luxury riverboat, or spend your days at an ecolodge in the rainforest, enjoying guided wildlife walks and boat rides led by expert nature guides. You have time to explore on your own the many trails radiating from the lodges, or canoe backwater tropical streams. See Pink Dolphins and fish for Piranha as you cruise the mightiest river in the world, see giant water-lilies and the strange Hoatzin. In addition to the colonial architcture, the capital Lima has the largest collection of pre-colombian art in the world; you can fly down to Ica for a flight over the mysterious and still unexplained the Nazca Lines; watch Peruvian Boobies, Inca Terns, the beautiful Red-legged Cormorant and other seabirds as you visit a Sea-lion and Humboldt Penguin colony and see the bone-filled ossuaries in one of Lima's smaller cathedral. Lima is also the center of of the world's great cuisines, with over 2,000 cevicherias in Lima alone; and ceviche is just one of the special Peruvian foods.

 

 

Southern Peru is probably the most diverse area of Peru. The adventurous can trek the Inca Trail, or several others; nature lovers can watch macaws at clay licks in Tambopata or Manu, wait for Tapirs from a rainforest hide, see hundreds of varieties of birds, watch Giant River Otters frolic and perhaps see Jaguar prowling tracks In Manu National Park. Of course amazing Machu Picchu os one of life's must-sees, and the exquisite ruins of the Ollantaytambo Valley or at Pisac would be themselves a major attractions in any other country. And this being Peru, while you're looking at the breath-taking precision of the stonework keep an eye at for the Giant Hummingbird, the world's largest; Llamas grazing between the rooms, and Viscachas sunning from 13th Century Incan stone ledges. Lake Titicaca is the highest in the world, and the south coast counts flamingoes among its many birds.

 

 

The north is much less visited by travelers. but is starting to approach the south's reputation for diversity. We can take you to see the amazing Sword-billed Hummingbird with a backdrop of the 6th Century mountain-top fortress of Kuelap, 2000ft long and occupied for a thousand years. Trees dripping with bromeliads decorate this high redoubt, with sweeping views across the valleys and mountains. Along the way visit a 2500ft waterfall, and peer down valleys as deep as the Grand Canyon with the possibility of condors sweeping by. Perhaps sit with a cup of hot chocolate and marble cake watching a dozen or so species of hummingbirds feed, including the scintillating Rainbow Starfrontlet, beautiful Greentailed Trainbearer, and the near-unbelievably tailed Marvelous Spatuletail. Just up the road is a valley with both Andean Condor and Golden-headed Quetzal. Across the road is a wonderful museum featuring the culture of the region, especially the funeral rites of the Mallqui. And that's all within a twenty-five mile radius in this diverse and surprising country.

 

 

RECENT EVENTS IN PERU

 

Machu Picchu area landslides

We and our Peruvian operators have been monitoring this situation since it occurred. According to the Peruvian Government and Peru Rail the train will be back in action on April 1. However, as a precaution we are not including Machu Picchu on any tours until April 7, on the advice of our operators. Please be aware that Machu Picchu itself has not been affected by the slides, and Machu Picchu Village (formerly Aguas Calientes) is operating as usual. And please note that despite some reports an alternative route via the Hydro station is also closed. We have not heard a projected opening date for the Inca Trail so far. As a further precaution we will likely fly down to Peru to check on the situation personally prior to re-opening sales to the area.

 

Nazca Lines air crash

The plane that recently crashed during a flyover of the Nazca Lines belongs to what is called in Peru an informal company, one of many doing Nazca overflights (and which had a similar crash two years ago). Due to the popularity of the flights many small companies offer flights in very small planes, sometimes with as few as 3 seats, some of which are over 30 years old and have questionable maintenance. We do not use these airlines, but an established and regulated one that flies Cessna Grand Caravans, a turbo-prop aircraft that is larger and safer than the pure piston smaller planes. While flights in these planes are more expensive than in the smaller ones, we feel that our clients safety is more important than finding the cheapest price.

 

 

 

 

 

Prepare now for the June 2011 Inti Raymi - Festival of the Sun - in Cusco, Machu Picchu and Ollanto - call for details. Privately guided. This period is hard to get space for, so please call to make sure you don't miss out.

See our Inti Raymi pages for our two tours, one including three days in the Amazon and one concentrating on the archeological wonders of the Incas in Cusco, Machu Picchu and the Sacred Valley.

 

 

 

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Tour to Manu Wildlife Center, Machu Picchu and the Sacred Valley, Nazca Lines and the Palomino Islands.

Fly to Peru for a 8 day exploration of the wildlife and Incan culture of southern Peru. We have crafted this tour to use up just five business days, yet have a surprisingly diverse experience in Peru. By departing from Miami at 11.30pm Friday and from Lima just after midnight the following Sunday we can spend 9 full days in Peru, including four days and nights exploring Manu, Peru's richest wildlife area. We spend a day at Machu Picchu, explore the spectacular and intricate ruins at Ollantaytambo in the Sacred Valley for an additional half day and have a full day at Cusco. Our last day in Peru is spent visiting the Palomino Islands, home to a variety of wildlife including penguins, hundreds of thousands of seabirds, and sealions. You can find a full and detailed itinerary here. By adding one day you can visit the Nazca lines. Naturally those with extra time available can explore more of Peru, and flights are also available from other cities.

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Peru offers some of the world's best birding

There are about some 1800 species of birds in Peru, yet there are still areas under-searched that make for very exciting birding, and new species continue to be discovered. Some of Peru's offerings can be seen by clicking on the Peru birding logo below (coming soon). Contact us for more information, or to put a custom birding itinerary together for you.

 

 

 

Thanks to our friends at PromPeru and Explorama Lodges for some of the photos seen on our Peru pages. We also have some photos from one of our own recent trips to Peru here (as well as the many scattered about these pages).