Lima – Machu Picchu & Galapagos

Upon your international flight arrival, you’ll be met and transferred to your comfortable Lima hotel.

You’ll have the day to relax and enjoy the coastal capital of Peru including it’s museums and

restaurants.

Overnight at your comfortable Lima hotel

Upon your arrival in Cusco, you’ll be met by an Inka Experience representative and transferred to your comfortable hotel in Cusco.

Take the day to acclimatize to the altitude in Cusco

In the afternoon, after lunch, you’ll take a guided tour of the city and surrounding area. You’ll visit the cathedral, main plaza, ruins of Sachsayhuaman, Koricancha, Puca Pucara, Qenko, and Tambomachay.

You’ll also get a taste of the mixture between the Inca architecture and Spanish colonial architecture dominated by the city.

You’ll have the evening to yourselves.

Overnight in your comfortable Cusco hotel.

Your full-day Sacred Valley tour begins with a scenic drive to Pisac, where you will visit the ruins of Pisaq and its famous lively market. Hundreds of traditionally-dressed artisans and sellers journey from surrounding villages to sell their crafts and produce at this market. Ceramics, carvings, weavings, and jewelry are popular items.

You will stop in Urubamba where you will have some free time to explore the town and have lunch (included).

Continue to the ancient and serene town of Ollantaytambo, which has been continuously inhabited since the 13th century, and visit its impressive hillside fortress ruins.

After the tour will be transferred to your hotel in Ollantaytambo.

You’ll have an early morning wake up to begin this exciting day.

Your guide will pick you up from your hotel and transfer you to the train station to take the train to Aguas Calientes. Upon your arrival you will take a  short 30-minute bus ride to the citadel of Machu Picchu.

In the morning, you’ll have a 2-hour guided tour of the citadel in private.

Throughout the day, you’ll have the chance to explore the ruins on your own.

In the late afternoon you’ll take your return train to Ollantaytambo where you’ll be met and transferred to your Cusco hotel.

The train ride is to the village of Ollantaytambo and then in mobility to the city of Cusco.

After breakfast, you’ll be transferred to the  Cusco airport for your flight to Lima.

Upon your arrival, you’ll  take your connection flight to Guayaquil –  Ecuador.

Upon your arrival you will be transferred to your comfortable hotel to rest and enjoy his facilities.

Day free to explore the city.

Morning: Travel from Guayaquil to Santa Cruz Island, Galapagos.

Don’t forget to have your camera out. You will be  in the Galapagos and you can see wildlife at any time.  You don’t have to be on  an excursion to spot some amazing Galapagos animals.

The adventure starts the moment you arrive at the airport on Baltra Island. Seymour Airport is the first ecological airport in the world.

After a very short bus ride, you will head to the Itabaca Channel, a small channel with clear blue waters which divides Baltra Island from Santa Cruz Island. During your five minute crossing, watch the water and you may see some sharks, sea lions and sea turtles.

Once on Santa Cruz, you’ll travel south across the Island to Aventura Lodge. During the 45 minute drive, you’ll experience a variety of micro climates. Watch the change from desert in the lowlands to tropical forest in the highlands. The highlands represent the agricultural resource of the island.

On the south side of the island, we will pass through Santa Rosa – a very small town inhabited by the local farmers. As we near the southern coast, the climate becomes drier and hotter until we arrive inPuerto Ayora. This is the main town on the Island and where Red Mangrove is located.

Welcome to the Galapagos! 

Before lunch, you can relax on the deck of the Aventura Lodge and watch the sea lions and marine iguanas.

After lunch, you’ll take your first excursion to “Los Gemelos” (The Twins), two enormous collapsed lava chambers. This is a wonderful introduction to the majestic power of the forces of nature and the great biodiversity of the Santa Cruz Highlands. This short, easy hike to each of the twins is swarming with endemic flora and fauna. You’ll see a remnant of a Scalesia Forest, draped in liverwort, lichens and mosses. It’s easy to spot some Darwin finches and perhaps the short eared owls.

After Los Gemelos, a short bus ride will take you to a 600-acre private tortoise reserve. Here the giant Galapagos tortoises freely roam, graze and sleep. Sometimes it’s a bit muddy here, so before setting out, you can put on some rubber field boots (Wellington boots). We have a selection of sizes, including large sizes for men. Walking among the giant tortoises in the wild may be one of the your most treasured moments.

After visiting these prehistoric creatures in their natural habitat, we’ll take a 5-minute ride to the entrance of a 450-meter (1350 feet) illuminated lava tunnel. With a ceiling nearly 20 feet high, this is an incredible opportunity see lava stalagmites, stalactites, sulfur, and mineral-colored walls. Even the rippled floor was formed by lava.

Breakfast, lunch and dinner

Early in the morning If we have a good hide tide, we will begin the adventure from the hotel dock, otherwise from the municipal pier. In a water taxi we will sail for about 10 minutes to the German Beach, then take the kayaks, where we will begin to surround the mangroves home of pelicans, frigates, and blue footed boobies, then reach to Franklin Bay, where we will stop to observe sea turtles, mantarays,

Then enter to the fascinating Love Tunnel, two natural cliffs made of volcanic rocks, where we can spot endemic plants and nesting birds.

After this, you will be scorted to Las Grietas  a wonderful place to swim in cool and clear waters  between two tall cliffs, where the earth has opened like a “crack”

Lunch at Aventura Lodge.

Enjoy a guided tour to the fascinating Charles Darwin Research Station where you can learn about one of the most successful reptile breeding programs in the world and perhaps, meet the most famous giant tortoise.
Founded in 1964 the Charles Darwin Research Station is supported by over 100 scientists and researchers from around the world, with the unique purpose to study, support and instrument the conservation efforts of the islands.

The island you will visit depends on different factors such as weather, tides and National Park Regulations.)

Breakfast, lunch and dinner

You will be picked up at the hotel and taken to the Itabaca Chanel, where you will embark to your destination.

SANTA FE: 

After breakfast, you will be accompanied to the main pier, from where the boat to Santa Fe leaves.

After a boat ride of about an hour, the island of Santa Fe will be reached, offering an impressive landscape with forests of endemic cactuses, many sea birds as pelicans and gulls as well as colonies of sea lions lying in the white sand or playing around int the crystal turquoise water.

This is also where the first snorkeling activity will take place.  The bay with its calm and pristine water, home of tropical fish, manta rays and sea turtles.  You will also have the chance to swim with  playful young sea lions

The boat will move to the second  snorkeling spot.

BARTOLOME with its Pinnacle Rock that rises from the ocean’s edge and is the best-known landmark in the islands. . Here you may have the opportunity to see the Galapagos penguin, sea lions, sea turtles, flamingos, Galapagos hawks and migratory birds. You will climb the Pinacle Rock 114 meter altitude, where you will have the most spectacular views.  And then  then snorkel in the Golden beach, in front of the Pinnacle Rock. Golden beach has golden sand  with a half moon shape just at the east of Pinnacle Rock.  Snorkeling here is an amazing experience,  you will share the water with  schools of tropical fish, and see lots of marine life.

SEYMOUR    formed by uplift of a submarine lava formation, created by seismic activity, rather than being of volcanic origin. This  is an extraordinary place for breeding birds, and is home to one of the largest populations of nesting blue-footed boobies and magnificent frigate birds, depending on the time of the year you may be witness of the thrilling mating rituals of these birds, and also observe the mother and child interaction.  You will visit a small lagoon to see flamingos. There will be time for snorkeling from the beach.

This tour also stops at Bachas and snorkel in this tepid waters.

This full of life island will give you the chance to see marine iguanas and sea lions in its white and golden sands.

SOUTH PLAZA.  This  small island is full of fascinating wildlife, along its shore and along its cliffs: sea lions, land iguanas, swallow-tailed gulls.  It is flora offers you views of  Opuntia cacti and vegetation that changes colours according to the season.

You will visit one of the largest Sea Lion colonies, with  pups and also harems in the azure waters of the channel.

South Plaza is one of Galapagos’ most impressive visiting sites.

After breakfast, you’ll head to Garrapatero Beach, a 25-minute bus ride to the beach entrance. After a 15-minute hike along an easy trail, you’ll arrive at the beach. This beautiful white sandy beach is known for finches – and is a place where you can relax and enjoy the surroundings.

We will also  take you to the highlands of Santa Cruz for an encounter with a cultural site full of tradition and history.

This is one of the most peaceful and calm places on the island. The 3 kilometers (1.8 miles) of sand on Garrapatero Beach is a tropical paradise. It’s about 20 kilometers (12.5 miles) northeast of Puerto Ayora.

We will begin the journey with a ride through the towns of Santa Rosa and Bella Vista on our way to The Trapiche Sugar Cane Mill & Farm. Upon arrival, we will be greeted by the owner and founder of this farm famous for its coffee and sugar. We will be briefed about the tour by the owner who will speak and guide in Spanish (and will being translated for everyone.)

The visit will begin first with a description and demonstration of how the rudimentary sugar mill works and how it is used to extract the sugar cane nectar. Free sample of coffee beans with cheese and sugar cane honey (obtained after processing the nectar at high temperatures.) Our next stop will be at the sugar cane liquor distillery partially composed of World War II purified cylinders pieces that were left behind years ago in the islands. At the end you will enjoy complimentary shots of this famous sugar cane liquor served with tangerine and oranges as is the tradition of the owner.

Return to the lodge for lunch.

PM After Lunch we will take you for a walking tour in the town of Santa Cruz, you will visit handicraft stores; The fish market that is a place you won’t want to miss, you can see a rascally Sea Lion and a gang of pesky Pelicans.  The air is full of excitement as they vie for position in the competitive game of scraping for scraps. The Laguna de las Ninfas: One of the less-visited sites on Santa Cruz Island, Galapagos is Laguna de las Ninfas (Lagoon of the Nymphs) a beautiful place where you can see an ecosystem of mangroves, shorebirds, and fish. It’s just a stone’s throw away from the center of town.

Breakfast included. Early departure from Santa Cruz, for your flight to Guayaquil.

Once you arrive to Guayaquil you will be take your connection  back to home.

Passport requirements

• A passport valid for 6 months after the date of your arrival to Peru is necessary for all travels

INCLUDED

IN PERU

• Excellent quality hotels based on U.S. standards
•  1 night in Lima, 1 night in the sacred valley, & 3 nights in Cusco
• All breakfasts
• Buffet lunch during the sacred valley tour.
• City tour & sacred valley tour in group service
• Machu Picchu tour in private
• Private tours in Cusco
• All tours stated in the itinerary
• Multi-lingual, Professional tour guides
• All transfers and entrance fees
• Machu Picchu Expeditions train service from / to Ollantaytambo.
• Travel Insurance

NOT INCLUDED

• Domestic flight

IN ECUADOR

• 1 night in Guayaquil ( includes breakfast)
• 4 nights in Galapagos (Standard room)
• All meals in Galapagos
• All tours stated in the Itinerary
• All transfers
• Multi-lingual. Professional tour guides

NOT INCLUDED

• Domestic flight
•  Engala Card: $20.00 per person
• Entrance fee to the Galapagos national park $ 100 per person