Legacy of the Incas with Peru's Amazon & Galápagos Cruise - 2022

Welcome to Lima! Meet your Monograms representative at your hotel.

LIMA Fly to Puerto Maldonado.
PUERTO MALDONADO Motorboat ride up the Tambopata River to view the exotic wildlife. Arrive at your Amazon Jungle lodge.
POSADA AMAZONAS Nighttime nature walk with your expert Naturalist to search for nocturnal animals of the Amazon.

POSADA AMAZONAS Boat ride and nature walk around Oxbow Lake with your naturalist. Explore the rainforest on a Canopy Walkway suspended 100 feet from the ground. This afternoon, visit a local farm to learn about the various crops grown in the region.

POSADA AMAZONAS This morning, visit a clay lick to observe wildlife from a blind to see the normal routine of fauna without disrupting their environment. Visit a Brazil nut farm and camp to learn how this nut is sustainably harvested and prepared for consumption. Later, visit a mammal clay lick, where peccary and other large mammals can often be found.

PUERTO MALDONADO Return to Puerto Maldonado and fly to Lima.
LIMA Meet your Tour Director at the hotel this evening.

LIMA Guided sightseeing includes the Plaza de Armas, the Government Palace, Cathedral, and San Francisco Monastery. Visit and tastings at a [LF] Peruvian food market. Welcome dinner at Casa Garcia Alvarado (one of Lima’s finest historic homes).

LIMA Fly to Cusco.
SACRED VALLEY Lakeside lunch followed by an [LF] El Pago a la Tierra (Mother Earth Ceremony) with local shaman. Visit Pisac village and its famous market.

SACRED VALLEY Guided sightseeing with a Local Guide to the Inca fortress of Ollantaytambo. Visit a [LF] local Peruvian home. Scenic ride on the Vistadome train through the Urubamba Valley.
MACHU PICCHU Guided sightseeing with a Local Guide. Pisco Sour demonstration and dinner at your nearby hotel.

MACHU PICCHU Second included entrance to Machu Picchu. Afternoon train to the Sacred Valley. Transfer to Cusco.
CUSCO Free time this evening.

CUSCO Guided sightseeing with a Local Guide includes visits to the Cathedral and Santo Domingo Monastery. Inka King greeting and visits to Kenko Amphitheater and the Temple of Sacsayhuaman. Free time this afternoon before dinner.

CUSCO Fly to Juliaca. Scenic drive to the shores of Lake Titicaca.

PUNO Scenic boat ride to Taquile and Uros Floating Islands. Guided sightseeing of Lake Titicaca includes a local home visit and lunch.

SILLUSTANI Guided sightseeing with a Local Guide to Sillustani Pre-Incan Burial Ground and a [LF] local home.
JULIACA Fly to Lima.
LIMA Free time this evening.

LIMA Scenic drive along the Pan-American Highway to the Bay of Paracas.
PARACAS Scenic cruise to the Ballestas Islands in search of sea mammals, blue-footed boobies, sea lions, and Humboldt penguins. See the huge Candelabro etching on the Paracas Cliffside.
PISCO Flightseeing over the 500-BC Nazca Lines (mysterious drawings of animals and geometric figures etched into the desert).

PARACAS Scenic drive to Lima.
LIMA Farewell dinner at a local restaurant.

CUSCO Fly to Quito.
QUITO Free time this evening.

QUITO Guided sightseeing includes Independence Square, the Cathedral, and San Francisco Plaza Church.

QUITO Fly to San Cristobal.
SAN CRISTOBAL ISLAND Embark the Seaman Journey for a 4-night cruise. This afternoon, visit the Galápagos Darwin Interpretation Center with your expert Naturalist and learn about ongoing conservation of the archipelago, its history, ecosystems, flora, and fauna.

SAN CRISTOBAL ISLAND Visit Cerro Colorado Tortoise Reserve and learn about the island’s giant tortoise population and measures taken to help preserve and breed these endangered species. The center includes a large corral, breeding center, and interpretative trail, where it is possible to see different species of native and endemic plants as well as birds, such as the San Cristobal mockingbird, yellow warblers, many species of finch, and the Galápagos flycatcher. This afternoon, explore Cerro Brujo, offering beautiful views of Kicker Rock and famous for being the first place Charles Darwin visited in the archipelago. Visit a lagoon, home to many migratory bird species, such as black-necked stilts, ruddy turnstones, whimbrels, and whitecheeked pintails. Also, enjoy snorkeling with the sea lions and other marine life.

ESPAÑOLA ISLAND Join your Naturalist for excursions to Gardner Bay and Punta Suárez on Española Island, one of the oldest islands in the archipelago. Here, you will see the famous blowhole, as well as unique sea bird colonies, including the waved albatrosses (April-December), Nazca and blue-footed boobies, and Darwin’s finches.

FLOREANA ISLAND Visit Cormorant Point to see a brackish lagoon, which usually holds one of the largest flamingo populations in the Galápagos. The trail continues to a beautiful white-sand beach, one of the most important nesting sites of Green Pacific sea turtles. Enjoy a chance to snorkel among sea turtles, reef fish, sea lions, and even white-tipped reef sharks. This afternoon, visit Post Office Bay, named for the wooden barrel that served as an informal post office for sailors passing through. Here, you may also encounter Darwin’s finches, yellow warblers, and lava lizards, and take advantage of another chance for great snorkeling.

SANTA CRUZ Visit Charles Darwin Research Station, where the Galápagos giant tortoise breeding program helps preserve the fragile Galápagos environment. Learn how eggs are brought from the nearby Galápagos Islands, incubated artificially until the galápaguitos (little turtles) are born and then at the age of five are returned to their native areas.
BALTRA Fly to Guayaquil.
GUAYAQUIL Free time this evening.

Your vacation ends with breakfast this morning.