Peru Explorer

The First Taste

Plan to fly into Lima’s Jorge Chavez International Airport (LIM) anytime before the 6 p.m. rendezvous time. Once you collect your luggage, head outside to the Arrivals area and look for a private shuttle driver holding a Wild Women Expeditions sign.

At the rendezvous, we will meet our Wild Women guide for a thorough debrief on what to expect over the next few days. We swap stories over dinner at Huaca Pucllana, one of the top restaurants in Lima. It has a cool setting overlooking the pre-Incan ruins that served as a ceremonial center centuries ago. Huaca Pucllana offers a classic Peruvian menu of hyperlocal products from the sea and land. 

Today’s first big bite out of Peru is a filling one!

Included Meals

Dinner

Accommodations

Antigua Miraflores Boutique Hotel

Macaws and Monkeys

In the morning, we fly to Puerto Maldonado, where a Sandoval Lake Lodge representative will welcome us. A shuttle takes us to the boat dock on the Tambopata River, where we board a motorized canoe to the confluence of the Madre de Dios River, the source of the Amazon tributary. Thirty minutes downriver, we continue our journey on foot to Sandoval Lake.

A narrow canal boat allows us to navigate the flooded forest of palms to the open waters of Sandoval Lake; motorboats are prohibited here. En route we may see the enormous paiche, an Amazonian fish that can weigh up to 220 pounds (100 kg) or hear the unsettling screams of the giant otter! We should see hundreds of blue-and-yellow and red-breasted macaws and capuchin monkeys.

We return to the lodge at dusk for dinner before an evening boat ride in search of the rare caimans.

Included Meals

Breakfast, boxed lunch and dinner

Accommodations

Sandoval Lake Lodge

The Hike

2 miles (3 km)

A Giant Otter Odyssey

Just before dawn we will be on the lake looking for giant otters and, hopefully, a spectacular sunrise. The close-knit otter families are most active at this time.

From the boat we observe the fishing skills of birds and an up close opportunity to see the strange and primitive hoatzin. This Neotropical bird is saddled with a poor digestive system: it can take up to 45 hours for them to digest fermenting leaves. 

After a late breakfast, we follow the trail through the understory of the immense primary rainforest and giant chestnut trees that surround the lake. In the afternoon we’ll strike off to the west side of the lake to explore capuchin monkey territory.

In the evening, we gather for a presentation on the dynamic Peruvian jungle. After dinner, we have the opportunity to search for caimans seeking out their own menu in the lake.

Included Meals

Breakfast, lunch and dinner

Accommodations

Sandoval Lake Lodge

The Rainforest’s Pharmacy

For the mad birders, we can start early, seeking out new species and giant otters at play. After a late breakfast and some free time, we have an interpretive medical plant walk. We learn about the pamicho (a vital plant used to construct thatched roofs in local houses), the ginger candle that is touted for its anti-inflammatory properties and the cinchona tree. The bark of the latter has saved generations from the dire symptoms of malaria. The path slices through both the untamed jungle and a small botanical garden dedicated to the careful cultivation of native species. 

After lunch, we walk through the north shore forest, the quietest and most secluded part of the forest. In the evening, we can look for black caimans along the shore or take a short walk through the woods to see who goes bump in the night!

Included Meals

Breakfast, lunch and dinner

Accommodations

Sandoval Lake Lodge

Bites of Culture

After breakfast, we travel through the palm swamps on the west end of the lake and return to the Madre de Dios river to Puerto Maldonado for flights back to Cusco.  

Upon arrival in Cusco we transfer to our hotel before a walking tour that includes all the urban must-sees in Cusco. The fusion of Inca and Spanish influences in the Stone of Twelve Angles at Inca Roca Palace is an impressive sight. We also experience the nerve center of the city, the Plaza de Armas, which is surrounded by colonial arcades and four formidable churches. Tonight we dine at Mamá Seledonia’s, a truly feel-good restaurant that supports young mothers and teens in rural areas with industry training and employment. The restaurant’s spectacular menu offers traditional fare like baked guinea pig, grilled chicken with elderberry sauce, trout ceviche, yuyo (sea algae) and grilled alpaca steak in pepper sauce.

Included Meals

Breakfast, boxed lunch and dinner

Accommodations

Novotel Cusco Hotel

Bean to Bar

After breakfast, we visit the façade of the sacred Qoricancha temple, which was built over an Incan palace dedicated to worship of the sun. 

A two-hour bean-to-bar chocolate workshop at Choco Museo sweetens the day. We learn the scratch chocolate making process and how to make a tisane (tea) from the roasted husks of cacao nuts. 

Note: Lunch is independent today (nothing like having dessert first!). There are several tempting options within walking distance to choose from.

At 3 p.m., we join a Peruvian cooking class and learn the generational secrets of traditional recipes. We visit a local market for an introduction to local staples and spices before a practical class led by a professional Peruvian chef. For visual learners, this class is a cinch! At the end of our lesson, we pull up seats to a three-course tasting menu and a quenching local drink.

Included Meals

Breakfast and dinner

Accommodations

Novotel Cusco Hotel

The Moon Temple

After breakfast we explore the Inca Ceremonial Center of Sacsayhuaman. The rocks are impossibly pieced together like a puzzle—rumor has it that over 10,000 workers labored for 50 years to build it.

At the Moon Temple, we make a ceremonial offering to Pachamama (Mother Earth) under the guidance of a Shaman by leaving a gift of coca leaves, chicha and seeds that contain magical power.

Later, we travel through the Sacred Valley, patchwork maize crops and terraces thoughtfully stacked into the valley walls. We arrive at our hotel smack-dab-in-middle of the Sacred Valley in the early afternoon to take advantage of the property.

Before dinner, those who are eager for a deep stretch can enjoy a one-hour yoga session at the hotel. Dinner will be convenient—it’s at our hotel!

Included Meals

Breakfast and dinner

Accommodations

Taypikala Sacred Valley Hotel

The Awamaki Community

After breakfast, we follow the Urubamba River to Ollantaytambo. The Inca-era cobblestones and adobe buildings are a magnificent example of Inca urban planning. The upper terraces of this site offer extraordinary photo opps of the tidy square-grid town below. 

After exploring the ruins, we make our way to the Awamaki community to learn about traditional Andean life and have lunch in one of the community member’s homes. The women share the historical connection of their weaving and heritage. There will be an opportunity to purchase expertly woven items too!

Late in the afternoon, we take the train to Aguas Calientes. It’s known for its thermal baths. The rail journey is one of the most tranquil ways to visit Machu Picchu as the train passes along the Urubamba River and disappears into the cloud forest.

Once refreshed, we hit the town for dinner at a local restaurant.

Included Meals

Breakfast, lunch and dinner

Accommodations

El Mapi Boutique Hotel by Inkaterra

Travel

Train (1 hour, 45 minutes)

Lost City of the Incas

In the morning, we take a short bus ride up the steep, serpentine road to Machu Picchu. The Lost City of the Incas is an ancient marvel of stone palaces, towers, temples and staircases. Located 7,972 feet (2,430 m) above sea level in the middle of a tropical mountain forest.

Upon arrival, we will explore the upper terrace with our guide and tour the ruins of more than 200 houses, temples, the Intihuatana (solar clock), Sun Temple and the urban and agricultural sector.

Star-struck and mesmerized by Machu, we will return to the town by bus for lunch and wandering. In the afternoon, we take the tourist train back to Ollantaytambo town, followed by a two-hour private transfer to our hotel in Cusco.

Refreshed, we will gather for a farewell dinner at Nuna Raymi, a restaurant deeply committed to a sustainable, organic menu and supporting local producers.

Included Meals

Breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Accommodations

Novotel Cusco Hotel

Travel

Train (1 hour, 45 minutes), private shuttle (2 hours)

Soul Satisfied

After breakfast, there will be a group transfer to the airport. Sigh. With the hypnotic charm of Peru and Pachamama and the arresting wonder of Machu Picchu firmly etched on our hearts, we have to determine where to go next before departing. 

Hug your fellow Wild Women goodbye, for now, at least. What a soul-enriching time it’s been.

Included Meals

Breakfast

The First Taste

Plan to fly into Lima’s Jorge Chavez International Airport (LIM) anytime before the 6 p.m. rendezvous time. Once you collect your luggage, head outside to the Arrivals area and look for a private shuttle driver holding a Wild Women Expeditions sign.

At the rendezvous, we will meet our Wild Women guide for a thorough debrief on what to expect over the next few days. We swap stories over dinner at Huaca Pucllana, one of the top restaurants in Lima. It has a cool setting overlooking the pre-Incan ruins that served as a ceremonial center centuries ago. Huaca Pucllana offers a classic Peruvian menu of hyperlocal products from the sea and land.

Today’s first big bite out of Peru is a filling one! Before falling into dreamland, we must repack our gear into the provided duffel bags with the essential items we will need for the next three nights in the Amazon. The rest of our luggage will be safely kept at the ecolodge’s head office in Puerto Maldonado after our flight tomorrow morning.

Included Meals

Dinner

Accommodations

Antigua Miraflores Boutique Hotel (*You may check in at 2 p.m.)

Macaws and Monkeys

In the morning, we transfer to the airport for our flight to Puerto Maldonado, the “Capital of Biodiversity.”

Our Amazon adventure kickstarts with a 25-minute boat ride navigating the chocolate milk-colored Madre de Dios River to reach our remote jungle lodge, Inkaterra Hacienda Concepcion. Backed by the protected wild space of the Tambopata National Reserve, Inakaterra was built on the grounds of a former cacao and rubber plantation. We have time to explore the amenities and rustic luxury of our stylish stilted wooden cabaña before an a la carte lunch in the open-air palm-thatched Casa Grande dining room. Here, low-impact architectural design embraces traditional Indigenous style.

Satiated, we head into the depths of the jungle on foot from the Eco Centre, following the spaghetti lines of the Concepcion trails through primary and secondary rainforest teeming with wildlife and tropical flora. This is an immediate, immersive introduction to the delicate ecosystems of the Amazon basin and unique species like breadfruit and rubber trees.

At dusk, we witness the not-so-silent transformation of the rainforest from a diurnal to a nocturnal environment on a guided twilight river boat ride in search of species adapted to life under the stars of the southern hemisphere like the caiman.

In the evening, we gather for an  à la carte dinner inspired by hyperlocal Amazonian ingredients. Our first night in the Amazon comes with its own memorable and unpredictable soundtrack of curious croaks and calls.

*Please note that the order and schedules of the activities in the Amazon may be modified according to weather and the wellbeing of the group.

Included Meals

Breakfast, lunch and dinner

Accommodations

Inkaterra Hacienda Concepción

Please note: Rooms are simple but comfortable, with flush toilets (en suite), showers (hot water) and mosquito nets. Usually, there is limited or no electricity in the rooms but it will be available (in addition to limited, intermittent wifi) at designated times in the common areas, but not all day.

The WALK

2 hours

THE FLIGHT

1 hour and 40 minutes

The Canopy and Anaconda Walk

This morning we visit Lake Sandoval, a glassy, oxbow lake located inside the protected Tambopata National Reserve, one of the most biodiverse regions on the planet. Following a sun-spackled jungle trail, our Inkaterra explorer guides will share tall tales of unexpected encounters with poisonous frogs and camouflage creatures on a one-hour interpretive walk.

We travel by traditional dugout wooden canoe through the mangroves before entering the palm-fringed Lake Sandoval. This lake is home to countless species of birds like the red-bellied macaw. Above and below, life lurks! We will search for the endangered giant river otter, red howler monkeys, anacondas, side-neck turtles and black caimans before returning to Inkaterra Hacienda Concepcion in time for lunch.

In the afternoon, we take a 20-minute boat ride across the muddy Madre de Dios River to climb the nerve-jangling Inkaterra Canopy Walkway and navigate the Anaconda Walk. The Inkaterra Canopy Walkway is an innovative 344 meter (1,135 foot) network of seven ecologically sensitive hanging suspension bridges strung between eight treetop observation platforms above the forest floor. The enormous size of the rainforest boggles the mind from the rooftop of the first vertiginous tower that offers a true bird’s eye view from 38 meters (124 feet) above ground. Here, we look for white-throated toucans, woodpeckers, trogons, squirrel monkeys and the three-toed sloth. Back on terra firma we follow the snaking Anaconda Walk to see the seasonally flooded aguajales wetlands on an elevated wooden boardwalk.

Tonight, we’ll see what goes bump in the night. We strike off on a total sensory walk, our senses tingling with unseen movements in the undergrowth and the raucous sounds of the rainforest. Back at the lodge, we’ll chat about our flora and fauna-filled day over an à la carte dinner.

Included Meals

Breakfast, lunch and dinner

Accommodations

Inkaterra Hacienda Concepcion

THE WALK

45 minutes to one hour (depending on wildlife and bird sightings)

The Rainforest’s Pharmacy

After a bright breakfast full of bird song, we visit an organic bio-orchard to learn more about the rainforest´s tropical plants and their genius medicinal uses by local communities. At the 30-hectare Palmetum, we see a collection of 19 Amazonian palms in a plot designated for rainforest restoration and conservation initiatives.

Following lunch in the Casa Grande dining room, we have a 30-minute motorboat ride across Inkaterra Hacienda Concepcion’s oxbow-shaped cocha (lagoon). Hopefully we spot hoatzins (a peculiar tropical bird), flycatchers and the dashing grey-cowled wood rail. Bellowing red howler monkeys may be part of our soundtrack today!

Today’s strange surprise is seeing the remains of a semi-submerged steamboat. In these same waters that swallowed the steamboat, caimans also wallow. Here we can practice the eco-sensitive method of catch and release and fish for piranha using  a simple wooden rod as the Indigenous communities still do.

This evening we will walk to the four clay licks (known as “collpas”) at Hacienda Concepcion to observe the wildlife of the Inland Collpa. Blinds are strategically located so we can observe the behavior of mammals and the difference between collpas according to their location. We will look for footprints and animal activity on the clay lick’s salted walls. Agoutis (a giant rodent), monkeys and peccaries (a pig-like ungulate) are all attracted to the licks!

Included Meals

Breakfast, lunch and dinner

Accommodations

Inkaterra Hacienda Concepción

Bites of Culture

After breakfast, we travel back along the clay ribbon of the Madre de Dios river by outboard motorized canoe to Puerto Maldonado for flights back to Cusco. 

Upon arrival in Cusco we transfer to our hotel before a walking tour that includes all the urban must-sees in Cusco. The fusion of Inca and Spanish influences in the Stone of Twelve Angles at Inca Roca Palace is an impressive sight. We also experience the nerve center of the city, the Plaza de Armas, which is surrounded by colonial arcades and four formidable churches.

Tonight we dine at Mamá Seledonia’s, a truly feel-good restaurant that supports young mothers and teens in rural areas with industry training and employment. The restaurant’s spectacular menu offers traditional fare like baked guinea pig, grilled chicken with elderberry sauce, trout ceviche, yuyo (sea algae) and grilled alpaca steak in pepper sauce.

Included Meals

Breakfast, boxed lunch and dinner

Accommodations

Casa Andina Premium Cusco Hotel

THE FLIGHT

4–7 hours (including a layover, dependent on flight schedules)

Bean to Bar

After breakfast, we visit the façade of the sacred Qoricancha temple, which was built over an Incan palace dedicated to worship of the sun. A two-hour bean-to-bar chocolate workshop at Choco Museo sweetens the day. We learn the scratch chocolate making process and how to make a tisane (tea) from the roasted husks of cacao nuts. The sweet end-product is  custom dark or milk chocolates peppered with 15 different flavors.

Note: Lunch is independent today (nothing like having dessert first!). There are several tempting options within walking distance to choose from.

At 3 p.m., we have a private Peruvian cooking class and learn the generational secrets of traditional recipes. We visit a local market for an introduction to local staples and spices before a practical hands-on class led by a professional Peruvian chef. For visual learners, this class is a cinch! At the end of our lesson, we pull up seats to a three-course tasting menu and a quenching local drink.

Included Meals

Breakfast and dinner (three-course cooking class menu)

Accommodations

Casa Andina Premium Cusco Hotel

The Moon Temple

After breakfast we explore the Inca Ceremonial Center of Sacsayhuaman. The rocks are impossibly pieced together like a puzzle—rumor has it that over 10,000 workers labored for 50 years to build it.

At the Moon Temple, we make a ceremonial “payment” to Pachamama (Mother Earth) under the guidance of a Shaman by leaving a gift of coca leaves, chicha and seeds that contain magical power.

Later, we travel through the Sacred Valley, patchwork maize crops and terraces thoughtfully stacked into the valley walls. We stop for a buffet lunch at Tunupa Valle Sagrado, an old hacienda colonial house located smack-dab-in-middle of the Sacred Valley (Yucay village). In the early afternoon we arrive at our hotel to take advantage of the property. Time for a pisco sour or Sacred Valley gin-based cocktail at the hotel’s Wayra Wasi Bar?

Before dinner, those who are eager for a deep stretch can enjoy a one-hour yoga session at the hotel. Dinner will be convenient—it’s at our hotel!

Included Meals

Breakfast, lunch and dinner

Accommodations

Sonesta Posada del Inca Yucay Hotel (standard twin rooms)

The Awamaki Community

After breakfast, we follow the Urubamba River to Ollantaytambo. The Inca-era cobblestones and adobe buildings are a magnificent example of Inca urban planning. The upper terraces of this site offer extraordinary photo opps of the tidy square-grid town below. 

After exploring the ruins, we make our way to the Awamaki community to learn about traditional Andean life and have lunch in one of the community member’s homes. The women share the historical connection of their weaving and heritage. There will be an opportunity to purchase expertly woven items too!

Late in the afternoon, we take the train to Aguas Calientes. It’s known for its thermal baths. The rail journey is one of the most tranquil ways to visit Machu Picchu as the train passes along the Urubamba River and disappears into the cloud forest.

Tonight’s dinner is convenient as it will be at our hotel and we should arrive at El Mapi around 6:30 p.m.

Included Meals

Breakfast, lunch and dinner

Accommodations

El Mapi Boutique Hotel by Inkaterra

Travel

Train (1 hour 45 minutes)

Lost City of the Incas

In the morning, we take a short bus ride up the steep, serpentine road to Machu Picchu. The Lost City of the Incas is an ancient marvel of stone palaces, towers, temples and staircases. Located 7,972 feet (2,430 m) above sea level in the middle of a tropical mountain forest, it wasn’t until 1911 that American academic and explorer Hiram Bingham stumbled upon its remains.

Upon arrival, we will explore the upper terrace with our guide and tour the ruins of more than 200 houses, temples, the Intihuatana (solar clock), Sun Temple and the urban and agricultural sector. We have four hours access to the site.

Star-struck and mesmerized by Machu, we will return to the town by bus and for lunch in Aguas Calientes at the vibey el Indio Feliz before we take the tourist train back to Ollantaytambo town. We then have a two-hour private transfer to our hotel in Cusco and will arrive around 6:30 p.m.

Refreshed, we will gather for a farewell dinner at Nuna Raymi, a restaurant deeply committed to a sustainable, organic menu and supporting local producers. 

Included Meals

Breakfast, lunch and dinner

Accommodations

Casa Andina Premium Cusco Hotel

Travel

Train (1 hour 45 minutes), private shuttle (2 hours)

Soul Satisfied

After breakfast, there will be a group transfer to the airport. Sigh. With the hypnotic charm of Peru, Pachamama, and the arresting wonder of Machu Picchu firmly etched on our hearts, we have to determine where to go next before departing. 

Hug your fellow Wild Women goodbye, for now, at least. What a soul-enriching time it’s been.

Head’s up: Hotel check-out is 10 a.m.

Included Meals

Breakfast