Perú

Day 1

Dinner and introduction to the Andean world. Your journey begins in Cusco, the ancient capital of the Inca Empire and cultural heritage of humanity. At the airport, a Terra Explorer guide will welcome and accompany you to your hotel in the Sacred Valley of the Incas.

On the way you will discover the Andes, the longest mountain range on the planet, inhabited by legendary indigenous communities and areas untouched by modernity. In the following days, this place will allow you to connect with different ways of seeing the world.

Share dinner at Ani’s private villa.

Meals included: Dinner
Accommodation: Hotel or private house in the Sacred Valley.

Day 2

Share with the people of Huama and learn about their customs and their traditional way of working the land.

Accompany the inhabitants of this community for a morning as they carry out their duties in the fields, which vary according to the Inca agricultural calendar. Whether harvesting, sowing, or working the land with ancestral tools, you will experience an authentic space of cultural exchange and learn more about the traditions of the Andes.

Meals included: Breakfast
Accommodation: Hotel or private house in the Sacred Valley.

Day 3

Visit the agricultural interpretation center of the Huayllafara Community, where through the use of millenary calendars, they determine planting and harvesting times.

Cook with them as they have since ancient times, outdoors and by the heat of the fire. Prepare a delicious “uchucuta”, a spicy cream made from rocoto chilis and herbs, and taste a delightful “lawa” (soup in Quechua), prepared with stone-ground corns. A healthy lunch without condiments, straight from the earth to the plate.

Meals included: Breakfast and lunch
Accommodation: Hotel or private house in the Sacred Valley

Day 4

Ceremony to mother earth.

Visit the home of a master weaver in the community of Chinchero. Share a morning with her family and learn about different types of local fibers and ancestral dyeing techniques. This craft has been passed from generation to generation since pre-Inca times.

From here, ride mountain bikes to Huaypo, a beautiful lake perched high in the Andes. Surrounded by majestic mountains and snow-capped peaks, cross impressive landscapes, farmlands and communities, while discovering one of the most beautiful places in the Sacred Valley of the Incas.

On the shores of Huaypo Lake, enjoy a luxury picnic in the outdoors.

Led by a shaman (Andean priest), you will be introduced to the Andean cosmovision by taking part in a ceremony in which the earth is revered as a source of life and prosperity. This ritual of ancestral origin links humans with their habitat, allowing you to connect your intentions and gratitude with the elements of nature surrounding you.

Take a little piece of the Andes with you in your heart.

Meals included: Breakfast and lunch
Accommodation: Hotel or private house in the Sacred Valley

Day 5

Visit to Moray and Maras.

Together with the distinguished agronomist Manuel Choque, a native of the Huatata community, discover the secrets of Andean tubers, in the country with the world’s widest variety of potatoes. Taste colorful potatoes roasted in a “Huatia”, a traditional way of cooking in the Andes with the earth’s heat. Taste wines made of oca or black mashua, exquisite experiments created by your host.

Visit the impressive salt mines of Maras, over three thousand salt wells built by the Incas on the slopes of the mountain “Qaqawiñay”, which are still used today.

Explore Moray, the circular terraces that make this center of agricultural experimentation one of the most enigmatic archaeological remains of the Peruvian Andes, and learn how far the Incas went in terms of science and technology.

Meals included: Breakfast and lunch
Accommodation: Hotel or private house in the Sacred Valley

Day 6

From the site of Pumamarca and facing a spectacular view of the Urubamba Valley, descend along an Inca trail in the middle of an impressive terraced path built on the slopes of these mountains, and walk along water channels to reach the village of Ollantaytambo.

Ollantaytambo is also known as the only living Inca village. Its ancient stone houses are still occupied by the inhabitants of this area, and in its canals water still flows as it did hundreds of years ago.

We invite you to the botanic gardens of El Albergue to taste a “Pachamanca”, a traditional meal very representative of the Peruvian Andes. It consists of cooking different ingredients underground with hot stones, earth, and herbs, a millenary technique that dates back to pre-Incan cultures in the fifth century.

Board a luxury train for an unforgettable journey through impressive landscapes to Machu Picchu town.

Meals included: Breakfast and lunch
Accommodation: Hotel in Machu Picchu town

Day 7

Calmly explore Machu Picchu and discover the history of Peru as you walk through squares, temples, fountains, monuments, and residences of what once was the most important religious, political, and cultural center of the Inca Empire.

Optionally, climb to the summit of Huayna Picchu Mountain or the top of Machu Picchu Mountain, two natural viewpoints with striking views of the entire citadel.

In the afternoon, board the train back to the Sacred Valley or to the city of Cusco.

Meals included: Breakfast
Accommodation: Hotel or private house in Cusco

Day 8

Witness Cusco’s living culture through the aroma, products, and characters that inhabit the city’s oldest market.

With a local chef, you will buy all the necessary ingredients to cook and savor delicious and traditional dishes in the kitchen of one of Cusco’s finest restaurants.

In the afternoon, Join Diego del Rio, renowned Peruvian photographer, to explore Cusco city from a different perspective. Discover details of the ancient capital of the Inca Empire through your own lens, capturing architecture, Inca stone walls, the market, and old colonial mansions.

Compare Cusco’s contemporary reality with its past, as Diego will show you the exact spots documented almost a century ago by Martin Chambi, one of the most important Latin American photographers of the early nineteenth century.

Meals included: Breakfast
Accommodation: Hotel or private house in Cusco

Day 9

Join us to discover the magic of Titicaca, the highest navigable lake in the world and the largest in South America. This adventure begins on Llachón, a beautiful peninsula on the shores of Lake Titicaca, in Puno, to where it is easy to fly from cities like Lima or Cusco.

Llachón is located in Capachica, a community that stands out for wearing very peculiar and colorful hats. The community’s entrance is through an arch in the shape of a giant hat, a picturesque detail typical of these remote communities.

Valentín’s family, natives of Llachón, will welcome you and open the doors of their home and rural lodge for the night.

Meals included: Breakfast, lunch, and dinner
Accommodation: Homestay at Llachon

Day 10

Wake up enjoying the fresh morning air. A boat will take you to a port on Taquile. From here, in expedition kayaks, skirt the western shore of the island to Kullata, a white sandy beach overlooking the snow-capped peaks of Bolivia’s Real Mountain Range that looms on the opposite shore of the lake.

At this beautiful beach, Hector Huatta will welcome you. Walk with Hector a network of pedestrian paths of pre-Inca origin that interconnect this magical island. Visit its archaeological remains, learn about the vegetation, the use of native plants, and the traditional social and political system under which its inhabitants are governed.

UNESCO has recognized the beautiful textile art of the island as Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Be introduced to this world by Hector’s wife and mother, expert weavers. Experience one of the best sunsets in the world and spend the night in this beautiful rural lodge.

Meals included: Breakfast, lunch, and dinner
Accommodation: Homestay at Taquile island

Day 11

This morning say goodbye to Hector and his family. Paddle the eastern shore of the island and observe, from its calm waters, the tranquility of the daily life of the island’s inhabitants.

Then, by boat, visit the floating islands of the Uros communities. You have probably never been on a floating island before. These islands are unique because they are handmade with a vegetable fiber called totora. Learn firsthand about the extraordinary heritage and the ancestral techniques used to keep the islands afloat.

Overnight in a hotel on the shores of Lake Titicaca.

Meals included: Breakfast and lunch
Accommodation: Hotel in Puno city

Day 12

Transfer from Puno city to Juliaca airport.

Meals included: Breakfast