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Locally Hosted Independent Tour Suggested Departure Day: Tuesday Add a post cruise extension to Mashpi Rainforest Biodiversity Reserve & Lodge

ITINERARY (Subject to change without notice):

Tuesday - USA-Lima: Afternoon flight from the USA to Lima, arriving in the evening.  Upon arrival, meeting and assistance with getting to the Costa del Sol Airport hotel for overnight stay. (B)

Wednesday - Lima - Cuzco: Morning transfer to the airport for your one hour flight over the Andes to Cuzco, ancient capital of the Inca empire.  Upon arrival, meeting and transfer to your hotel, the Monasterio, one of  Orient-Express Peru properties, for overnight stay.  In the afternoon, you'll explore this historic city of Cuzco, including Santo Domingo Church with the Korikancha which once had a garden filled with life-size gold and silver replicas of animals, maize and other plants. You'll also visit nearby Sacsayhuaman, once a ceremonial center and bastion with massive rocks and  spectacular vistas of Cuzco, Kenkko temple and amphitheater and Tambo Machay spring shrine. (B)

Thursday - Cuzco - Sacred Valley of the Incas:  Spend the day exploring the Sacred Valley of the Incas, the Urubamba Valley. Enroute to the valley make a stop at Awanacancha to learn about the Llama, Alpaca and Vicuna. Drive over the Andes to the small town of Pisac where you will have a chance to explore this bustling Indian market and time to explore the seldom visited but spectacularly set ruins of Pisac. Then enjoy lunch before transferring further down the valley to visit to Pablo Seminario's Ceramics Center where ancient Inca motifs and techniques are practiced today. After your visit, transfer to your hotel for overnight, the Orient Express Rio Sagrado. (B/L)

Friday - Sacred Valley of the Incas - Machu Picchu:  Morning transfer to the rail station at Ollantaytambo where you will catch the new VistaDome rail service through the most spectacular part of the valley to Machu Picchu Pueblo where you catch the shuttle up to the summit of Machu Picchu.  Check-in at the Machu Picchu Sanctuary Lodge, an Orient-Express Peru hotel property, and then set out with your guide to explore the spectacular Lost City of the Incas, Machu Picchu, never found by the Spanish Conquistadores and only rediscovered by Hiram Bingham in 1911. Enjoy lunch at the hotel and plenty of time to walk up ancient Inca steps and learn the history and legends behind this famed city. The ruins remain open until dusk. (B/L/D)

Saturday - Machu Picchu - Cuzco: Day at leisure to continue exploring the ruins. You may want to hike up to the Gate of the Sun, Machu Picchu's original entry point from the Inca Royal Highway, or climb sister peak Huayna Picchu for royal vistas of the complete city. Late afternoon descent by shuttle to Machu Picchu Pueblo for return by the luxury Hiram Bingham rail service back to Cuzco. En route you'll enjoy cocktails, entertainment and dinner, arriving at the Poroy station in the evening.  Meeting and transfer form the rail station to your hotel, the Hotel Monasterio for two night stay. (B/L)

Sunday - Cuzco: Moring visit to the colorful Indian market at nearby Chinchero. Time to shop for handicrafts and textiles, and visit the small hurch. Afternoon at leisure to explore this ancient city at your own pace.  Walk the cobbled streets, shop at a variety of shops off the Plaza de Armas and take a taxi up to the San Blas Church and then walk back down the shop lined street to the Plaza de Armas. (B)

Monday - Cuzco - Lima: Morning transfer back to the airport for short flight over the Andes to Lima. Meeting and transfer to the Orient-Express Peru Hotel Miraflores Park Plaza for overnight stay. This afternoon you'll enjoy a city tour of Lima, visiting the main points of interest including the Plaza de Armas with Cathedral and Presidential Palace and the San Francisco Convent. And you'll have a choice to visit either the museum of your choice: the Gold Museum, the private collection of the Mujica Gallo family, with pre-Columbian gold, silver and bronze, ceramics, weavings and mummies, the excellent Archaeology Museum or the Larco Herrera Museum. (B)

Tuesday - Lima - Quito: Morning transfer to the airport for your flight north to Quito, nestled at 9,000 feet high in the Andes. Upon arrival, meeting and transfer to your hotel, the charming Plaza Grande in the revuenated historic center of Quito, for two night stay.(B)

Wednesday - Quito: Today you will spend the day exploring this charming Andean capital, designated by UNESCO as a World Heritage site. Visit the m ost important points of interest in the city, including the   St. Augustine Convent, Independence Plaza, flanked by the Cathedral, the Presidential Palace, the Municipal Building and the Archbishop’s Palace and the Church of San Francisco, one the of great religious buildings of the New World. Have lunch and then drive out to the Equatorial Monument complex, with small but excellent ethnographic museum and other cultural exhibitions. (B/L)

Thursday - Quito - Otavalo area: Morning scenic 2 hour drive north  to the famed Otavalo Indian market. The Otavalo Indians are the most ambitious and prosperous craftsmen/merchants of Ecuador. Here you will have plenty of time to explore the market and bargain for textiles, weavings, handicrafts and the Panama hat, actually made in Ecuador. This is considered South America's best shopping market. In the afternoon you will explore Cotacachi, known for its leather, San Antonio de Ibarra, a woodworking center, Peguche, a weaving center, and other places of interest. Overnight at the lovely Hosteria La Mirage, with dinner and breakfast included. (B/D)

Friday - Otavalo area - Quito: Morning at leisure to enjoy the charming La Mirage, surrounded by gardens. Afternoon return drive back to Quito, for overnight at the Plaza Grande. (B)

Saturday - Quito - Galapagos:   Morning transfer for flight via Guayaquil to the Galapagos Islands and transfer to the M/V Eclipse for 7-night cruise of these Enchanted Isles. Accommodation on board is in a Boat Deck Deluxe Stateroom. Once aboard, briefing on the islands, the upcoming itinerary and hints for behavior while ashore. This afternoon you'll make your first visit ashore at Las Bachas Beach, located in the north of Santa Cruz Island. Its soft, white sand is derived from decomposed coral, making it a favorite nesting site for sea turtles. Behind the beach there is a small brackish lagoon, where it is possible to observe flamingos and other coastal birds, such as black-necked stilts and whimbrels. (B/L/D)

SPECIAL NOTE:
If you don't like animals and you don't like being an active ingredient in the wildlife experience, don't visit the Galapagos. The sole reason to go to the islands is the flora and fauna, and you have to go ashore and exert energy to experience it. The guides teach you a motto the first day you arrive: "Take nothing from the islands but memories and leave nothing behind but footprints."

Sunday - Galapagos: Morning at Puerto Egas (James Bay), located on the northwest side of Santiago Island. The landing is on a black beach with eroded rock formations in the background. The trail crosses the dry interior, where the remains of a salt mining enterprise can still be seen, and then continues along the coast. Tidal pools are home to a variety of invertebrate organisms, including sea urchins, octopus and starfish. The trail leads to the Fur Seals Grottos, one of the only places in the islands where they can be seen. After the walk, you will have time to swim or snorkel off the beach, where you will see sea lions, fish and maybe some turtles and reef sharks.
        In the afternoon explore Bartolomé, a small island that has two visitor sites. At the first site, you can snorkel around Pinnacle Rock, where penguins are usually seen. Back on board for a quick change of clothes and then it is a short dinghy ride to a dry landing for a climb to the highest point on the island. On the way up, you will encounter different volcanic formations, including spatter and tuff cones, lava flow and lava tubes. From the summit you will have a wonderful view of Sullivan Bay. For those not interested in the hike, there is the option of a panga ride.  (B/L/D)

Monday - Galapagos: Morning at Cerro Dragon (Dragon Hill). Its name stems from the fact that it was one of the few sites on Santa Cruz Island where a healthy population of land iguanas were found in 1975. After landing at a pier, a hike takes to you to a salt water lagoon behind the beach, frequented by common stilts, pintail ducks and occasionally flamingos. A short walk up the hill leads you to a land iguana nesting site, with breathtaking views of the bay. You will have the chance to go swimming after the walk.
        In the afternoon visit Rábida, a small island with red volcanic rocks surrounding a beautiful red sand beach, where there is a colony of sea lions and a pelican nesting site. The trail leads to a salt water lagoon where shore birds can be seen. Rábida is considered to be one of the best snorkeling sites in the Galapagos Islands, and you will also have the opportunity to go kayaking or on a panga ride. (B/L/D)

Tuesday - Galapagos: Early morning ashore at Tagus Cove, historically used as an anchoring place for pirates, buccaneers and whalers. Here you will see the names of hundreds of ships painted on the high ridges (a practice now forbidden). On the hike, the trail goes through an area of vegetation and the volcanic landscape of Darwin volcano. At the top of the trail, you will enjoy an incredible view of the whole cove and Darwin Lake. This early morning activity is followed by kayaking or a panga ride, where you will have the opportunity to see a large number of blue-footed boobies perched on the ledges of the cliffs, as well as marine iguanas, penguins, brown pelicans, brown noddy terns and swallow-tailed gulls. While exploring the channel between Fernandina and Isabela Islands, we sometimes encounter dolphins and whales.
        In the afternoon you'll visit Elizabeth Bay, one of the furthest points of the Galapagos that we will visit on our cruise. A panga ride around two islets called the Marielas offers a wide variety of bird life, such as flightless cormorants, herons, and blue-footed boobies. Then we will enter a sheltered cove – a wonderful mangrove ecosystem that is a refuge for sea turtles and rays. (B/L/D)

Wednesday  Galapagos: Morning visit to Punta Espinoza at Fernandina Island. La Cumbre Volcano, which last erupted in 1995, dominates the landscape, with lava fields stretching towards the ocean from its base. Punta Espinoza is a narrow piece of land where some of the most unique Galapagos species can be seen, including the flightless cormorant, Galapagos snakes, marine iguanas, penguins and the Galapagos hawk.
        Afternoon at Punta Vicente Roca, a wonderful snorkeling site, where you can usually see turtles as well as all kinds of fish. For those who do not snorkel, a panga ride will give you the opportunity to study some of the Galapagos’ spectacular geological rock formations. Nazca boobies, pelicans, swallow-tailed gulls, marine iguanas, flightless cormorants and penguins are often seen in the area. (B/L/D)

Thursday - Galapagos: Morning visit to the Charles Darwin Research Station you will gain insight into the huge efforts being made by scientists, guides, rangers and park managers to preserve this UNESCO World Heritage Site. You will see the famous Galapagos tortoises that are the islands’ namesake. After the visit you will have some free time to explore the town of Puerto Ayora.
        In the afternoon you will have a choice of activities. You might choose to go to the lush, green highlands of Santa Cruz to visit a tortoise reserve to search for giant tortoises in their natural surroundings and have the opportunity to walk through lava tunnels so take a flashlight if you have one. You might visit Tortuga Bay with a wonderful white sand beach or simply explore the town of Puerto Ayora at your own pace. (B/L/D)

Friday - Galapagos: Today you will explore Hood Island.  In the moring Gardner Bay offers the chance to enjoy a wonderful white sandy beach. It is home to one of the most important colonies of sea lions, and it is also a nesting site for sea turtles. Throughout the morning there are opportunities for swimming, snorkeling and kayaking.
        In the afternoon visit Punta Suárez is one of the most popular and attractive sites in the Galapagos. Due to its isolation from other islands, it has a high proportion of endemic fauna. A few steps inland from the landing site, groups of Española marine iguanas bask in the sun. Further inland, Nazca and blue-footed boobies nest almost on the trail, Galapagos doves peck around unaware of visitors and finches go about their business. The trail continues towards a blowhole, which is a fissure in the lava where water spurts high into the air like a geyser. The cracks in the cliffs are home to swallow-tailed gulls and red-billed tropicbirds. Further up the cliff in an area of low-lying trees you will find waved albatrosses nesting. The 10,000 to 12,000 pairs of albatrosses on Española represent the entire population of this species on the planet. They perform one of the most spectacular courtship rituals of the animal world.  (B/L/D)

Saturday - Galapagos - Quito: Early morning visit to Black Turtle Cove is one of the most beautiful marine sites in the Galapagos. It is a complex maze of tranquil salt-water inlets, surrounded by three different species of mangrove. Its waters are a resting site for sea turtles, rays and sharks. This site is only accessible by panga.
        Then back on board for breakfast and check-out procedures with mid-day transfer to the airport for your return flight to Quito. Meeting upon arrival and transfer back to the Plaza Grande for overnight stay. (B)

Sunday - Quito - USA: Morning transfer to the airport for return flight to the USA. (B)

RATES and DETAILS: