Peru

Ultimate Wildlife Amazon & Machu Picchu 9-Day

This shorter version of our Ultimate Wildlife itinerary is the same as our 13 day trip except for Manu Biosphere Reserve. It includes the world-famous macaw clay-licks at Tambopata, plus Cusco, the Sacred Valley, and Machu Piccu. You can extend either of these trips to include Lake Titicaca, Puno, Colca Canyon, Nazca Lines, hike the Inka Trail and more.

*Please note that the Tambopata segment is not a private segment, and that you MAY BE added to a group with more passengers for the activity section even if you are on a private tour. WPA groups never exceed 12 pax.

Detailed Itinerary

DAY 1 Arrive in Lima

Upon arrival, transfer to your hotel and overnight.

Overnight: Wyndham Costa Del Sol

DAY 2 Lima / Puerto Maldonado / Tambopata Reserve – Cultural Zone / Meet Shaman

Transfer from your hotel to the airport for your early morning flight to Puerto Maldonado, a bustling frontier town at the confluence of the mighty Madre de Dios (Mother of God) and Tambopata Rivers. The principle activities here are gold mining, Brazil nut collecting, timber, agriculture and eco-tourism. We'll enjoy a brief tour of the area during the 30-minute drive from the airport to the Tambopata River port in the community of Infierno. Here we'll board a motorized canoe for a 45-minute motorboat trip up the Tambopata River to our first lodge here in the headwaters of the Amazon. We'll enjoy a tasty lunch wrapped in banana leaves on our journey, while birdwatching and wildlife viewing. During our voyage we may see capped heron, jabiru stork, and many species of wildlife typical of the riverside forest.

After a brief welcome at the Lodge, we'll take a twenty-minute boat drive downriver leading us 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 created a trail which explains the different medicinal (and other) uses of selected plants. Meet with the local shaman, who, with the help of our translator, will answer questions about medicinal healing with the plants of the rainforest as well as his role as the spiritual leader of his community. Enjoy a presentation on the Infierno eco-tourism project after dinner. (B, L, D)

DAY 3 Tambopata Cultural Zone / Oxbow Lake / Refugio Amazonas

We will be up at dawn for a visit to the Tres Chimbadas oxbow lake. After an early breakfast we depart, thirty minutes from Posada Amazonas by boat and a 45-minute walk takes us to the lake shore. From here we take a long, easy canoe ride around it. We will look for giant river otters, turtles, hoatzin, and wading birds. Otters are most active from dawn to eight or nine AM. We then transfer by boat from Posada Amazonas to Refugio Amazonas. The 2-hour boat ride will take us past the Community of Infierno and the Tambopata National Reserve´s checkpoint into the buffer zone of this 1.3 million hectare conservation unit.

After lunch, we take a short hike to a beautiful old growth patch of Brazil Nut forest that has been harvested for decades (if not centuries) where the precarious remains of a camp used two months a year by Brazil Nut gatherers can still be seen. We will be demonstrating the whole process of the rain forest's only sustainably harvested product from collection through transportation to drying. Twenty minutes walking from Refugio Amazonas is a peccary clay lick. These wild rain forest pigs show up in herds of five to twenty individuals to eat clay in the late morning. Chances of spotting them are around 15%, but well worth the short hike. Other wildlife also shows up including deer, guan and parakeets. (Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner)

DAY 4 Tambopata-Cultural Zone/Reserved Zone / Canopy Tower / Chuncho Claylick Tambopata Research Center

A thirty-minute walk from Refugio Amazonas leads to the 25-metre scaffolding canopy tower. A bannistered staircase running through the middle provides safe access to the platforms above. The tower has been built upon high ground, therefore increasing your horizon of the continuous primary forest extending out towards the Tambopata National Reserve. From here views of mixed species canopy flocks as well as toucans, macaws and raptors are likely.

After breakfast we transfer by boat to Tambopata Research Center. The center lies four and a half hours by boat from Refugio Amazonas, in the pristine heart of the reserve. One and half hours into our boat journey, as we cross the confluence with the Malinowski River, we will leave the final traces of human habitation behind. Within the 700,000 hectare uninhabited nucleus of the reserve, sightings of capybara, caiman, geese, macaws and other large species will become more frequent.

Two hours from Refugio Amazonas, deep in the Tambopata National Reserve we will stop at the Chuncho claylick. After a brief walk (~5 minutes) we will have the chance to see dozens of large macaws feeding on the special sodium rich clays of the riverbank. The Chuncho clay lick probably attracts more large macaws than any other clay lick in the world and the sight of dozens of macaws taking flight is truly unforgettable. The details of our stopover will depend on the weather and the amount of macaw activity, as the birds don’t visit the clay lick when it is raining.

After arrival and lunch at the Center, we make a three-to-five kilometer hike to an overlook commanding magnificent views of the Tambopata winding its way into the lowlands. The forest on this trail, regenerating on old bamboo forest, is good for Howler Monkey and Dusky Titi Monkey.

After dinner scientists will provide an in depth look at the biology of macaws, their feeding habits, the theories for clay lick use, their breeding and feeding ecology, population fluctuations and the threats to their conservation.

DAY 5 Tambopata Reserve / Macaw Clay Lick / Tambopata Research Center

At dawn we will cross the river and enjoy the world's largest macaw clay lick where hundreds of parrots and macaws of up to 15 species congregate daily. The January 1994 issue of National Geographic features an article on Tambopata Research Center that describes the daily spectacle at the clay lick: "When the morning sun clears the Amazon tree line in southeastern Peru and strikes a gray-pink clay bank on the upper Tambopata River, one of the world's most dazzling wildlife gatherings is nearing its riotous peak. The steep bank has become a pulsing, 130-foot-high palette of red, blue, yellow and green as more than a thousand parrots squabble over choice perches to grab a beakful of clay, a vital but mysterious part of their diet." You can expect to see ten to twelve members of the parrot family: yellow-crowned Amazons; blue-headed, orange-cheeked and white-bellied parrots; dusky-headed, white-eyed, cobalt-winged and tui parakeets and dusky-billed parrotlets. This show will continue until the macaws sense danger, usually in the form of an eagle, and depart simultaneously in an explosion of sound and color. Around mid-morning, when the most intense clay lick activity is over for the day, we will return to TRC for breakfast.

After breakfast we will hike the 3-mile Floodplain Trail, which covers the prototypical rain forest with immense trees criss-crossed by creeks and ponds. Amongst the figs, ceibas and shihuahuacos we will look for Squirrel, Brown Capuchin, and Spider Monkeys as well as peccaries. Enjoy lunch, then ten minutes upriver from the lodge is a tiny pond with a platform in the middle. It is a great place to spot waterfowl such as Muscovy duck, sunbittern and hoatzin along with the woodpeckers, oropendolas, flycatchers and parakeets that call this pond their home. After dinner, you will have the option of hiking out at night, when most of the mammals are active but rarely seen. Search for frogs with shapes and sounds as bizarre as their natural histories.

NOTE: Although the peak activity at the clay licks is from mid-August to October, there are different degrees of macaw activity at the swamp year round. In fact, the most exciting time to visit it is from October to March, during the nesting season, when macaws will land on the nests and stand there for several minutes, interacting with other individuals at less than 20 feet from our observation tower. The scenes at the swamp, especially with late afternoon sun in our backs, make prized photo opportunities. Return to the lodge for dinner. (Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner)

DAY 6 Jaguar River Float Trip / Puerto Maldonado / Cusco / Sacred Valley

Wild Planet Adventures Exclusive!

Jaguar River Option Float down river silently at the first sign of dawn, looking for jaguars and tapirs by the riverbanks. We have seen an exceptionally high number of jaguars and tapirs as they visit the river to drink in the stillness of the morning.

We retrace our journey back to Puerto Maldonado in time for your flight to Cusco. Arrive in Cusco and immediately transfer to the Sacred Valley. On the way, enjoy a visit to the colorful Pisac Indian Market. (For families with young children we can stop at Cochahuasi Animal Sanctuary and/or a Llama farm en route.) At an elevation of 8,500 feet, the Urubamba Valley, or Sacred Valley of the Incas, is the historic heart of the Inca Empire. We'll stay the evening at Posada Yucay or similar. (Breakfast)

Day 7 Sacred Valley – Ollantaytambo Ruins / Glass Roof Train to Machu Picchu

We’ll explore the famous Ollantaytambo ruins then transfer to the Ollanta train station for a spectacular sight-seeing train to Machu Picchu, "The Lost City of the Incas". The train has ceilings made mostly of glass which allow you to gaze out at the 18,000 foot snow-capped peaks of the Andes and marvel at the Inka ruins around nearly every bend. Upon arrival at Machu Picchu, you'll enjoy a 2-3 hour fully guided tour of the marvelous citadel, with options for one of 4 circuits, to visit the main square, the royal quarters, the temple of the three windows, the circular towers and the sacred sun dial and burial grounds. #2 is the longest circuit and includes the upper terraces for the classic view of Machu Picchu.
Hotel: Aguas Calientes (a la carte dinner included at the hotel restaurant)
Note: Vistadome train service is provided if available (all trains we reserve have panoramic windows and full size seats)

Day 8 Machu Picchu / Cusco

Today choose to explore the town of Agua Calientes on your own or get up early to admire Machu Picchu at sunrise, a truly mystical experience. For hiking enthusiasts, walking up the Huayna Picchu peak overlooking the site is suggested.
Note: There is an additional entry fee to enter Machu Picchu a second time if you would like to do so on this morning, and permits must be purchased in advance.

This afternoon we'll take the train back to Cusco and enjoy the colorful sunset peeking through the snow-capped Andes.

Option: Return to Ollantaytambo on the morning train and enjoy a tour of Sacred Valley, Moray, Maras and Chinchero enroute to Cusco.
Overnight at Novotel Cusco or similar. (Breakfast)

Day 9 Cusco – City Tour / Lima / USA

Time permitting early morning walking tour of Historic Cusco city, including the Qoricancha Temple.

This afternoon, transfer from your hotel to the airport for your afternoon flight to Lima and continuing flight home.