Peru - Adventure Holidays
Description
Peru - adventure holidays is a route full of adrenaline that involves Apurimac river rafting, visiting some extraordinary Incan sites during the Maras - Moray - Salineras Tour, doing some Machu Picchu walking and biking during the Inca Jungle Trek to Machu Picchu, a perfect and great adventurous alternative to the exhausting Inca Trail to Machu Picchu!!. There you have an opportunity to continue improving your rafting techniques, this time on the Santa Teresa River as well as giving a try to ZIP-Line. Obviously, your holiday to Peru includes a guided tour of the antique Incan citadel of Machu Picchu.
What to Expect
Your "Machu Picchu vacation" starts arriving to Lima, the capital of Peru. You rest and overnight there in a comfortable hotel to get prepared for the following flight to Cusco. Once in Cusco, you are welcomed by our Representative who takes you to your hotel. The rest of the day is free to relax in order to get acclimatize to the high altitude. The next day, you visit the archaeological sites of Maras, Moray and Salineras. Then, you travel to the Apurimac river canyon where you undertake real river rafting adventure on the Apurimac River (which name means the "Oracle" or the "Speaker to the Gods"). The river is the main source of the Amazon River making it the longest river in the world! Our adventure holiday to Peru continues by returning to Cusco and after that get prepared for Machu Picchu biking and hiking when following the Inca Jungle Trek. The first day of the trek, you bike downhill through the Andean mountains until you get to a green subtropical jungle. After the biking, you can improve your rafting skills near the village of Santa Maria and then overnight in a family hostel. The next day, you begin trekking following a part of an authentic Inka´s path discovering of subtropical fauna and flora until you reach the hot springs of Santa Teresa where you refresh yourself in those medicinal baths! You overnight in another hostel in Santa Teresa. On the third day of the trek, you can enjoy ZIP-line early in the morning before continuing to the railway of “Hidroelectrica” station where you follow the trails that leads you to Aguas Calientes, the town below Machu Picchu. The last day, you climb for 2 hours to get to the gates of Machu Picchu where your Tour Guide provides you a guided visit of this antique citadel! Later,you can climb either Huayna Picchu or Machu Picchu Mountain to take some panoramic pictures of the famous "Lost City of the Incas". In the afternoon, you return back to Cusco by train and then private bus to rest. Finally, your Machu Picchu vacation finishes by going back to the airport of Cusco to take your flight.
Quick Itinerary
Day 01: Arrival to Lima
Day 02: Flight to Cusco City
Day 03: Maras - Moray - Salineras Tour
Day 04-06: Apurimac river rafting tour - The Apurimac canyon
Day 07-10: Inca Jungle Trek to Machu Picchu
Day 11: Cusco City
Day 12: Departure Day
Highlights of the Peru - Adventure Holidays:
- Visit of the Peruvian capital - Lima
- Exploration of the capital of the Incas - Cusco
- A visit of less crowded Incan sites of Maras - Moray - Salineras
- 3 days of river rafting adventure doing the Apurimac river rafting tour
- Following a more adventurous alternative to the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu
- Machu Picchu biking downhill from 4,650 m.a.s.l. to only 1,900 m.a.s.l.
- Discovery of Peruvian highlands as well as a cloud forest while trekking to Machu Picchu
- A guided tour
- A chance climbing Huayna Picchu or Machu Picchu Moutain
Crew: Tierras Vivas Representatives in Lima and Cusco and a professional Tour Guide for the Inca Jungle Trek.
Accommodation: 6x a 3* hotel, 3x a hostel, 2x a campsite.
Meals: 11x breakfast, 5x lunch, 5x dinner, 3x afternoon tea (Please allow USD 100-150 for meals not included).
Transportation: 1x domestic flight, transportation by private van, a raft, a train (Expedition Class).
Itinerary Details
Day 07-10: Inca Jungle Trek to Machu Picchu
You start your Machu Picchu vacation by early morning pick-up from your Cusco´s hotel to be taken for a four hour ride passing the Sacred Valley of the Incas on the way until you reach the innitial point at Abra Malaga (4,350 m.a.s.l.) which is the highest place of the trek too! There, you sit on a bicycle and start this Machu Picchu biking and hiking adventure! You ride down for about 4 hours towards the small town of Santa Maria. On the route, you can appreciate an Incan site, cloud forest´s birds, medicinal plants, butterflies, snakes and tropical fruits. You also can visit local families to find about their daily routine. When in Santa Maria, you accommodate yourself in a familial basic hostel where you can have a shower. After dinner, you spend the night there.
Optional tour: Rafting in the afternoon in Santa Maria, level 3-5. The price of the rafting is extra USD 30.
On the second day, you start trekking towards Machu Picchu after breakfast getting progressively steeper until you get to a restaurant where you stop for lunch. Then, you can relax in hammocks admiring surrouning coca plantations. Later, you continue hiking to reach an authentical Inca path - "Qhapaq Ñan"!! The path winds around steep hillsides and sheer gorges for approximately half a mile. Please note: This part of the Machu Picchu trail is not for people suffering from vertigo!
Later on, you descend to the famous hot springs of Cocalmayo where you enjoy a refresh in its healing water!! After that, you hike to Santa Teresa, a town located by the Santa Teresa River. There, you accommodate yourself in another familial simple hostel.
On the third day of this adventurous Inca Trail to Machu Picchu alternative, you take a private transport to Llucmabamba Town. There, you observe a stunning sunrise above a lovely landscape with Machu Picchu in its centre!! Later, you descend to bamboo groves and a cloud forest with increasingly thick vegetation and tall trees offering you some excellent birdwatching opportunities! Later in the afternoon, you get to Hidroelectrica (a hydroelectric plant) railway station and there you start following trails leading you to the Aguas Calientes Town. You spend the last night in a more comfortable hostel there with private rooms and bathrooms offering you a hot shower.
Optional tour: ZIP Line early in the morning in Santa Teresa. The price of the ZIP Line is extra USD 30.
After an early breakfast on the last day, an easy Machu Picchu walking awaits you, but you walk for 2 hours only to reach the mysterious city of Machu Picchu that you enter for the early morning best photos opportunities! Then, your Tour Guide shows you around the Incan city and explains you about its history and organization. After the guided tour, you have an opportunity to either climb up for about 45 minutes to Huayna Picchu or to Machu Picchu Mountain (1 and half an hour up), both are peaks above Machu Picchu serving to take some panoramic pictures of the Incan city! Then, you are given time off to spend and explore Machu Picchu on your own. In the afternoon, you return by train to Ollantaytambo (alternatively to Poroy), from where you are taken by van back to Cusco.
Machu Picchu is both, the best and the least known site of the Incas as it is not mentioned in any Spanish conquistador´s chronicle so that contemporary archaeologists cannot do anything more than just speculate on its functions. Local Quechuan farmers had known about Machu Picchu for centuries before an 11-year-old boy showed the American historian Hiram Bingham (who was in a search of Vilcabamba) this site on the 24th of July 1911. At that time, all the rest of the world became aware of its existence! However, the site was covered with thick vegetation so Hiram Bingham along with his team returned and within the years of 1912 and 1915 cleared its surface. Over the years, plenty of work has been done on excavating and studying the site. Despite these efforts, many unanswered questions remain!.
