Tour Itinerary

Day 1: Arrive Lima
Upon your arrival into Lima, you will be met and transferred to the Casa Andina Privatte Collection hotel in the exclusive zone of Lima in Miraflores for your overnight.

Day 2: Fly to Cusco/City Tour
After breakfast, transfer to the airport for your departure flight to Cusco, the ancient capital of the Incas. Upon your arrival in Cusco, you are greeted at the airport and transferred to the Picoaga four-star hotel. In the afternoon, take a city tour of Cusco, including the Cathedral, Qoricancha, and the Temple of the Sun, the most important of Inca ceremonial sites. Later you will continue to the most important sites of Sacsayhuaman, Tambomachay, Qenqo and Puca Pucara. Return to the hotel. (B)

Day 3: Sacred Valley & Overnight
After breakfast, leave Cusco in the rear view mirror and travel by bus over a low pass, then down into the famous Sacred Valley of the Incas. The scenery is unsurpassable, with close and distant snow peaks glistening in the sun. Visit the ancient Pisaq market, where many of the local Indians sell their hand made textiles. Lunch at the local hacienda restaurant.

Continue to Ollantaytambo, the major Inca temple/fortress. Probably built by the great Inca ruler, Pachacuti in the 1460s, it was the site of Hernando Pizzaro's defeat by Manco Inca in 1536. There is ample time to examine the complex and ponder its many mysteries. Overnight at Sol Y luna Hotel. (B/L)

Day 4: Sacred Valley to Machu Picchu
Early in the morning after breakfast, Sun God Peru picks you up at your hotel and takes you to the railway station for the tourist class train to Machu Pichu. The three-hour train journey passes through picturesque Andean scenery, passing traditional villages, Inca ruins and rushing rivers. Descend 1300 meters through the Sacred Valley of the Incas and follow the Urubamba River until the final stop at Aguas Calientes.

Afterward, take the 20-minute bus ride up to Machu Picchu, perched 600 meters above the river. Your guide will explain the history and the myths that surround the archeological wonder of MACHU PICCHU! The famous lost city of the Inca is one of the most magical and mysterious places on Earth! The natural setting on the eastern slopes of the Andes encompasses the upper Amazon basin with its rich diversity of flora and fauna. The site is frequently shrouded in misty clouds pierced by the powerful equatorial sun.

Afterwards, take the bus for your return to the Aguas Calientes for lunch. Then take the train for your return to Cusco. After your arrival to Cusco train station, transfer to the hotel. (B/L/D)

Day 5: Fly to Lima and Overnight
Transfer from hotel to the airport for your flight back to Lima. Arrival and transfer to the hotel.

Day 6: Fly to Quito, Ecuador
Transfer from the hotel to the airport for the departure flight to Quito. Reception and transfer to your hotel. (B)

Day 7: Flight to Galapagos -Baltra/Bachas
Flight to the Galapagos Island of Baltra from where you will have a short transfer to the harbor. There your ship will be ready to embark. In the morning you have the opportunity to go on a boat ride to untouched mangrove bays at the northern shore of the Island Santa Cruz and observe some of the inhabitants of this unique ecosystem. Amongst the wildlife here are sea turtles, sharks and manta rays.

Day 8: Plazas Islands - Santa Fe
Located to the east of Santa Cruz, the main characteristics on the small island South Plaza are the Opuntia cacti and the carpets of red sesuvium, a luscious plant that turns green in the rainy season. The cactus is the main food of land iguanas that are usually found resting in the shade of the cacti. The island contains one of the largest sea lion colonies of Galapagos, swallow-tailed gulls and red-billed tropicbirds nesting, and boobies roosting on the south cliff of the island.

Santa Fe has one of the most beautiful coves of all the visitor sites in the archipelago. A turquoise lagoon with two small white sand beaches are protected by a peninsula where sea lions rest. A trail runs along side the coast and then crosses through an Opuntia Forest. These prickly pear cacti are the largest ones in Galapagos. The Santa Fe species of land iguanas are larger and of a paler yellow than on the other islands. After the hike you can swim or snorkel in the bay with sea lions.

Day 9: Española Island (Punta Suarez/Gardner Bay)
Española is the southernmost island of the archipelago, and being so isolated, a high percentage of its fauna is endemic.

Punta Suarez, on the western coast of the island, is one of the most popular and attractive places in Galapagos. Sea lions, the picturesque marine iguana, blue footed and masked boobies nesting next to the trail, are found here. This is also the only place in the world where the waved albatross nests. Along the cliffs there is a spectacular view of a large blowhole.

Gardner Bay has a beautiful white sand beach that is shared with sea lions and curious mocking birds.

Day 10: Floreana Island
Floreana Island is perceived as one of the most exotic islands of the archipelago. At Punta Cormorant you land on a green olivine sand beach. Following a 100 meter long path you will soon reach a lagoon with flamingos, white-checked pintail ducks, and other shorebirds. The trail goes on to a white beach made of ground coral; it looks like flour. This is the green sea turtle's nesting place. North of Punta Cormorant an eroded volcano called the Devil's Crown is a snorkeler's delight. To the west, Post Office Bay keeps the legendary post barrel that whalers used, to send their mail.

Day 11: Santa Cruz/Charles Darwin Station - Highlands
Santa Cruz is the second largest island in the Galapagos. The small town of Puerto Ayora is the economic center of the archipelago, with the largest population of the four inhabited islands (approximately 10,000). Santa Cruz is also the only island where six different zones of vegetation can be seen: Coastal, Arid, Transition, Scalesia, Miconia, and Pampa Zones. The Charles Darwin Research Station and the Galapagos National Park offices are based here.

You will have an opportunity to visit some of the best scientists of their kind; scientists, park rangers and park managers among others, who make huge efforts to preserve this Unesco World Heritage Site conduct the conservation of the islands. The station is also a tortoise breeding and rearing center, where tortoises of different subspecies are prepared for reintroduction to their natural habitats.

Back to the mainland and back to Quito. Afternoon flight back home.

This Package Includes

• Accommodations in Four-Star Hotels
• Five-Day Galapagos Cruise Aboard Charles Darwin Yacht
• All Entry Fees
• All Tours and Transfers
• All Domestic Flights
• International Flight from Lima to Quito, Ecuador
• Vistadome Train to and from Machu Picchu

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