Machu Picchu - Lake
Titicaca
(11
days/10 nights)
Machu Picchu - Lake
Titicaca
(12 days/11 nights)
Machu Picchu - Lake
Titicaca
(14 days/13 nights)
Colca Canyon - Machu
Picchu
Lake Titicaca
(16 days/15 nights)
Archaeological
& Ecological
Treasures
Galapagos - Machu Picchu
Lake Titicaca (or Amazon)
(18 days/17
nights)
Colca Canyon - Amazon
Machu Picchu - Lake Titicaca
(22 days/21 nights)
Machu Picchu
(10
days/9 nights)
Machu Picchu
(13 days/12 nights)
Machu Picchu - Galapagos
(15 days/14 nights)
Galapagos - Machu Picchu
(18 days/17 nights)
Manu National Park
(8 days/7 nights)
Enchanted Isles of the Galapagos
Galapagos
(11
days/10 nights)
Galapagos & the Kingdom of Quito
Galapagos - Andes
(16 days/15 nights)
Galapagos - Amazon
(16 days/15 nights)
Historic Haciendas of the Andes
Cotopaxi - Antisana
- Otavalo
(7 days/6 nights)
© 2008
Inka's Empire Corporation.
All rights reserved.
Lima - Amazon - Sacred Valley - Machu Picchu - Cuzco - Quito - Galapagos
Ritual fountains of Tambomachay, Cuzco.
Photo: Mylene d'Auriol Stoessel.
Travel back to ancient empires and the origins of nature...
-- Kimberly Fay, LuxuryLink.com, March 2003
Land & Cruise Price (22 days/21 night56
Royal US$ 15,980 Imperial US$ 14,625 De Luxe US$ 13,965
The romance of the sea is yours aboard the luxurious, 16-passenger yacht M/S Alta. The prices and itinerary shown are typical but vary by yacht. Please select a yacht to view details about each vessel and its itinerary. Also available with a 4-night Galapagos cruise, instead of 7 nights
When considering a Galapagos cruise, note that the islands are distinct in their flora and fauna. Certain islands provide a greater or unique opportunity for observing certain species. Thus, landings on more islands reveal more species and, importantly, the amazingly different adaptations each species has made to its own insular world. Accordingly, a 7-night cruise is preferable. It also offers a greater choice of luxury vessels.
The land and cruise price includes escorted transfers, private excursions with professional guides and chauffeurs except for semi-private excursions in the Galapagos Islands, entrance fees except Galapagos National Park, indicated category of accommodations, all meals except beverages, all transportation except air flights, and travel insurance for guests through the age of 59 years. Over that age, there is a supplementary fee. All prices are per person based on two people sharing a guest room. For a detailed description of our services, see About Our Tours.
Intra-Tour Air Flights & Fares
Air fares are in addition to the land and cruise price.
Lima - Cuzco - Lima, Lima - Quito & Quito - Galapagos - Quito: US$ 1,315
Select a Yacht
4-Night or 7-Night Luxury Galapagos Cruises
7-Night Luxury Galapagos Cruises
Alta
Eclipse
Grace: Elegance, Beauty & Prestige...
Scheduled to start operating in the summer of 2008
In 1951, this motor yacht was acquired by Aristotle Onassis, who later gave her as a wedding gift to Prince Rainier and Princess Grace of Monaco. It was onboard this vessel that Prince Rainier and Princess Grace spent their honeymoon getaway. She has been rechristened with a name that takes her years' back into her history, to the very best of her times. Named after her late owner, Her Serene Highness Princess Grace of Monaco, the name is a representation of her elegance, beauty and prestige. Reservations for The Grace Experience, a seven-night journey in one of her nine spacious cabins, are now being accepted. We invite you to download a brochure and a deck plan.
M/S Alta, Galapagos Islands.
Photo: Quasar Nautica.
In the imperial city of Cuzco, fabled Machu Picchu and the Sacred Valley; you will experience the glory of the Inca Empire. Archaeology, art, architecture, folklore and cuisine compose a cultural adventure to forever cherish. Before and after discovering the Empire's archaeological treasures, you'll explore its two greatest ecological treasures on an expedition to the Amazon Rainforest and a cruise of the Galapagos Islands. If you prefer, choose Lake Titicaca, instead of the Amazon.
All international flights arrive in Lima, a five-century-old Spanish colonial city and home to the country's major museums. The next morning, enter the historic district's crown jewels. After a lunch of Peruvian Criollo cuisine next to a 1,500-year-old adobe pyramid, spend the afternoon discovering the treasures of the Incas at the Museo Amano and the Museo Larco.
A morning flight into the Andes takes you to Cuzco, the ancient capital, where you'll have two days to explore its Inca and colonial monuments, two days in the "Lost City" of Machu Picchu, with a chance to hike a part of the Inca Trail, and two days for the reknowned archaeological sites and native markets of the Sacred Valley of the Incas.
During your stay in Cuzco, you'll make an Amazon expedition by charter flight and riverboat to the Manu National Park, where you'll stay in the Manu Wildlife Center for three nights, observing the world's largest tapir lick, a macaw lick, miles of monkey-rich trails through mature rain forest, two 120-foot-tall (35-meter) canopy platforms and two mature lakes complete with hoatzins and giant otters -- a marvelous place that PBS calls "A Living Eden".
Typical 7-night itinerary, Galapagos Islands.
Map: Quasar Nautica.
Fly back to Lima for your connection to Quito. Upon arrival, you'll be escorted to the Villa Colonna, a charming colonial home in the historic district, then dine at chef Rafael Osterlicht's Blu. Walking the next morning along the cobblestone streets of Ecuador's capital, founded in 1534, through centuries-old parks and plazas to churches filled with gold; you'll contemplate Gothic, baroque, Moorish and neo-classical art, all blended with the mestizo sentiment, and imagine you've gone back in time to the astonishing colonial world. In the evening, take a horse-drawn carriage past the beautifully illuminated facades of the Spanish monuments, and savor fusion cuisine at La Belle Epoque.
A flight the next morning takes you from the peaks of the Andes to the Galapagos Islands. Cruising for eight days aboard an intimate luxury yacht and making twice-daily landings with a naturalist, you'll encounter the animals that inspired Charles Darwin. On Bartolome, whose volcanic formations create a moonlike landscape you'll never forget, hike among marine iguanas and lava lizards, and have the rare opporunity to snorkel among penguins and marine tortoises. As you sail to other, unique isles in this magnificent archipelago, you'll see the adaptations of the wildlife to their differing environments that led Darwin to his theory of evolution by means of natural selection.
Returning for your last night in Quito, experience the finest in French cuisine at Chez Jerome.
What Luxury Link has to say about Archaeological & Ecological Treasures.
What You Could Add: Two or three extra days on Santa Cruz Island.
Facade, La Iglesia y Convento de San Francisco, Lima.
Photo: Mylene d'Auriol Stoessel.
Highlights
Lima
Day 1: Flight to Lima. International arrival in the afternoon or evening, reception and transfer to your hotel. Overnight in the Country Club Lima Hotel.
Day 2: Lima. Morning walking tour in the colonial quarter, visiting the Plaza de Armas and entering La Iglesia y Convento de Santo Domingo, La Catedral and La Iglesia y Convento de San Francisco. In contrast to the religious structures, the Torre Tagle Palace is the city's best surviving example of secular colonial architecture. Lunch at the Café del Museo. Afternoon at the Museo Larco and the Museo Amano. Dine on Criollo cuisine at Astrid & Gastón, one of the highest notes in the Peruvian culinary scene. Overnight in the Country Club Lima Hotel.
Cuzco
Day 3: Lima - Cuzco. Transfer to the airport. Flight to Cuzco. Reception and transfer to your hotel. Morning free to rest. Traditional lunch at Pachapapa before a visit to the Church of San Blas. Afternoon walking tour in the colonial quarter. Inca monuments include Qorikancha (Temple of the Sun), the fine Inca walls of Inti Q'ijllo, Ajlla Wasi (House of the Virgins of the Sun), the Stone of Twelve Angles and Huacaypata (Leisure Square), now dominated by the Spanish colonial Cathedral. View pre-Inca and Inca art at the Museo de Arte Precolombino, with a dinner of nouvelle Andean cuisine in the courtyard. Overnight in the Orient-Express Hotel Monasterio.
Amazon
Day 4: Cuzco - Boca Manu - Manu Wildlife Center. Early morning transfer to the Cuzco airport to begin your private expedition to the Amazon Rainforest. Flight to Boca Manu. Motor-canoe down the Madre de Dios River to the Manu Wildlife Center, with wildlife-viewing possibilities on the way. Afternoon exploring the diverse forest trails around the lodge, encountering some of the 12 species of monkeys. Short excursion to observe nocturnal life in the rainforest. Overnight in the Manu Wildlife Center.
Day 5: Manu Wildlife Center (Macaw Clay Lick & Tapir Clay Lick). Boat journey to the only large-parrot and macaw clay lick in the Manu area. After lunch, continue to explore the forest trails and spend the late afternoon up a 34-meter canopy platform. Hike through the night forest to the Amazon's largest known tapir clay lick. Overnight in the Manu Wildlife Center.
Day 6: Manu Wildlife Center (Excursion to Cocha Blanco). Visit the Blanco Oxbow Lake, with populations of a variety of aquatic life and water birds. After lunch, further explore the forest trails for more wildlife encounters. This evening, search by boat along the riverbank for caiman and other nocturnal life. Overnight in the Manu Wildlife Center.
Sacred Valley
Day 7: Manu Wildlife Center - Boca Manu - Cuzco - Sacred Valley (Chinchero - Maras - Moray). Leave by motor-canoe for the two-hour return trip to the Boca Manu landing strip. Flight to Cuzco. Reception and drive to the Sacred Valley of the Incas. Visit to the Chinchero market and church. Private weaving demonstration. Continue to the Moray archaeological site and the ancient salt pans of Maras. If you like, walk down rural paths to the Urubamba River. Gourmet lunch of fusion cuisine in the patio of chef Pio's El Huacatay. Arrival at your hotel in the Sacred Valley. Dinner and overnight in the Sol y Luna Lodge.
Day 8: Sacred Valley (Pisaq - Hacienda Huayoccari - Ollantaytambo). Hike in the Pisaq ruins. Afterward, a short visit to the Pisaq market. Typical lunch at Hacienda Huayoccari. Tour of the Ollantaytambo ruins. Return to your hotel. Dinner and overnight in the Sol y Luna Lodge.
Machu Picchu
Day 9: Sacred Valley - Orient-Express Vistadome - Machu Picchu. Transfer to the train station to meet your guide. Vistadome to Machu Picchu. Transfer to the ruins. Day entrance. Private guided tour in the morning. Buffet luncheon in the hotel. Afternoon exploration with your guide or own your own. Dinner and overnight in the Orient-Express Sanctuary Lodge.
Cuzco
Day 10: Machu Picchu - Orient-Express Vistadome - Cuzco. Day of exploration with your guide or on your own. Entrance into the ruins. Sunrise over Machu Picchu. Lunch in the hotel. Transfer to the train station. Vistadome to the Poroy Station, on the outskirts of Cuzco. Reception and transfer to your hotel. Dinner and overnight in the Orient-Express Hotel Monasterio.
Day 11: Cuzco. Follow the route and relive the sights of travelers who arrived in the imperial city of the Incas on the Collasuyu Road, from the southern quarter of the empire. Pass through the ancient gate of Rumicolca, gaze at the pre-Inca ruins of Pikillaqta, taste the traditional bread of Oropesa and admire Tipon, a royal garden of Inca Wiracocha. Lunch of Italian-Peruvian cuisine at Incanto. Afternoon excursion to the nearby Inca monuments of Saqsaywaman, the Temple of the Moon, Puka Pukara and Tambomachay. Dinner of Mediterranean cuisine at La Cicciolina. Overnight in the Orient-Express Hotel Monasterio.
Quito
Day 12: Cuzco - Lima - Quito, Ecuador. Transfer to the airport. Flight to Lima and connection to Quito. Reception and transfer to your hotel. Dine at chef Rafael Osterlicht's Blu. Overnight in the Villa Colonna.
Day 13: Quito. As you drive to the historic district, La Basílica is a striking sight to behold. Morning walking tour in the colonial quarter, highlighted by La Plaza de la Independencia, the Cathedral, La Compañia de Jesús, La Iglesia de San Francisco and La Iglesia y Convento de la Merced. At the City Museum, see what daily life was like in colonial Quito.
Lunch of Ecuadorian-European fusion cuisine at Octava de Corpus. To complete your insight into the country's archaeology, history and cultures; investigate the Central Bank Museum. Continue to El Panecillo. Return to your hotel. Early this evening, board a horse-drawn carriage for a romantic ride through the narrow streets of Old Quito. Arrive at La Belle Epoque to savor gourmet fushion cuisine. Afterward, return to your hotel. Overnight in the Villa Colonna.
Optionally, you may select the Intiñan Museum for your afternoon excursion:
Lunch of Ecuadorian cuisine at La Choza. Afterward, visit the Museo Intiñan. An Inca monument marking the Equator was discovered on the site, and is more exact than the position determined by the French Geodesic Mission in the mid-1700s. The museum features interactive exhibits on how the Incas located the "middle of the world", and science experiments. Return to your hotel. Early this evening, board a horse-drawn carriage for a romantic ride through the narrow streets of Old Quito. Arrive at La Belle Epoque to savor gourmet fushion cuisine. Afterward, return to your hotel. Overnight in the Villa Colonna.
Galapagos
Day 14: Quito - Galapagos Cruise. Transfer to the airport. Flight to the Galapagos. Entrance into the National Park, reception and transfer to your yacht. Afternoon island landing and excursion with a naturalist. Back on board. Guides' briefing on the next day's activities. Overnight on the Alta.
Days 15 - 20: Galapagos Cruise. Morning and afternoon island landings and excursions with a naturalist. Back on board. Guides' briefing on the next day's activities. Overnight on the Alta.
Quito
Day 21: Galapagos Cruise - Quito. Morning island landing and excursion with a naturalist. Transfer to the airport. Flight to Quito. Reception and transfer to your hotel. Dinner of French gourmet cuisine at Chez Jerome. Overnight in the Villa Colonna.
Home
Day 22: Quito - Home. Transfer to the airport for your flight home.
Exceptions to the itinerary:
The Galapagos cruise itinerary described and illustrated below is typical but varies by yacht. Therefore, it should be used only as a guide for learning about the different islands and their wildlife.
Royal Class travel to Machu Picchu is aboard the luxurious, 1920s style Hiram Bingham Orient-Express. This rail excursion requires a late afternoon return from the Sacred Valley to Cuzco, dinner in the Restaurante Illariy and an overnight stay in a De Luxe Suite in the Orient-Express Hotel Monasterio. In the morning, you'll board the train and depart for the "Lost City of the Incas". Royal Class accommodation in Quito is a Royal Suite in the Hotel Plaza Grande.
Wooden balcony of the Torre Tagle Palace, Lima.
Photo: Mylene d'Auriol Stoessel.
At ancient Peru's most exalted pilgrimage site, eroded adobe temples speak of the pre-Columbian cultures that flourished in the Lima Valley, worshipping the earth god Pachacamac ("he who gives life to the universe"). When the Incas arrived, they respected the temples and religion of those people, allowing them to worship that god alongside the Incas' own god, the Sun, for whom they erected a great stone temple on a cliff above the sea. When the Spaniards arrived, they destroyed the holiest place in their lust for gold but found that the only treasure it contained was spiritual.
The nearby city of Lima was founded by the conquistador Francisco Pizarro in 1535 and reached its grandest splendor in the 17th and 18th centuries, when it came to be the capital of the New World for a period of three centuries. The principal attractions are the colonial quarter and the archaeological museums, whose vast collections display gold, ceramic and textile masterpieces of Peru's ancient civilizations. The country's independence movement was led by Jose de San Martin of Argentina and Simon Bolivar of Venezuela. San Martin proclaimed Peruvian independence from Spain on July 28, 1821, marking the end of the colonial period and the beginning of the republican era.
Huaca de Huallamarca, Lima.
Photo: Mylene d'Auriol Stoessel.
Day 1: Flight to Lima
International arrival this afternoon or evening in the five-century-old colonial city of Lima, "City of the Kings" and the capital of Peru. Reception and escorted transfer to your hotel in the garden district of San Isidro or Miraflores, high above the Pacific Ocean and home to the city's grand 19th century mansions. The swanky, 1927 colonial-style Country Club Lima Hotel maintains that tradition. Overnight in the Country Club Lima Hotel.
Entry door of the Casa Aliaga, Lima.
Photo: Mylene d'Auriol Stoessel.
Day 2: Lima
Breakfast. This morning, walk with your guide in the heart of the city, which preserves its Spanish colonial heritage of the 16th-18th centuries. It was Francisco Pizarro, the founder of Lima, who determined the area for the Plaza de Armas as well as the location of the structures around it. In the center of the plaza is a splendid bronze fountain of 1650. Around the plaza and originally dating back to the city's beginnings in 1535 are the Cathedral, destroyed in the earthquake of 1746 and rebuilt in 1758; the Archbishop's Palace, rebuilt in 1924; the Government Palace, rebuilt in 1937; and, surviving intact from the beginning, the 1535 Casa Aliaga, built by Don Jeronimo de Aliaga, a member of Pizarro's conquering forces and co-founder of the city.
17th century library, La Iglesia y Convento de San Francisco, Lima.
Photo: Mylene d'Auriol Stoessel.
On your walking tour, enter the 1599 La Iglesia y Convento de Santo Domingo, Lima's oldest convent; the 1758 La Catedral; and the 1674 La Iglesia y Convento de San Francisco, the most spectacular of Lima's colonial-era churches. It features cloisters and interiors of Spanish tiles; Moorish-style, carved-wood ceilings; a fine museum of religious art; a 17th century library of twenty-thousand books, many dating from the first years of the city's founding; and catacombs begun in 1546. In contrast to the religious structures, the 1735 Torre Tagle Palace, with its gorgeous baroque stone doorway and carved-wood balconies, is the city's best surviving example of secular colonial architecture.
"Huaco" depicting a fisherman in a reed boat.
Lambayeque culture, c. 500 AD, Museo Larco, Lima.
Photo: Mylene d'Auriol Stoessel.
Lunch of traditional Peruvian cuisine at the Café del Museo, directed by Peru's most prestigious chef, Gastón Acurio, and located in the gardens of the Museo Larco. Founded in 1926, the Museo Larco is the world's largest private collection of pre-Columbian art; with an astonishing array of gold, silver, semi-precious stones and textiles. The collection's predominant strength is in Mochica ceramics, of which the erotic ones are the most famous. Their notariety ought not to obscure the fact that the museum presents a complete view of the cultural development of ancient Peru through a selection of its 45,000 pieces, housed in a colonial building of the 18th century. For a preview, see Inka's exclusive online exhibition, Art of the Ancient Peruvians, courtesy of the Museo Larco.
Museo Amano, Lima.
Photo: Mylene d'Auriol Stoessel.
Spend the rest of the afternoon at the Museo Amano, which features a collection of artifacts belonging to a single collector, representing some of Peru's most important coastal civilizations, including the Chimú, Chancay and Nazca. The textiles and ceramics are among the best displayed in Lima. A donation to the museum will be made in your name.
Return to your hotel to relax. This evening, dine at Astrid & Gastón. When the restaurant was founded a decade ago by Gastón Acurio and Astrid Gutsche, the restaurant's cuisine was largely French. Both chefs had studied in Paris' Le Cordon Bleu. Gradually, though, as they rediscovered Peruvian flavors and culinary traditions, the kitchen began to incorporate local dishes and ingredients, moving towards the current sophisticated Criollo concept that characterizes the restaurant today and makes it one of the highest notes in the Peruvian culinary scene. Overnight in the Country Club Lima Hotel.
The Stone of Twelve Angles, Cuzco.
Photo: Mylene d'Auriol Stoessel.
... the most renowned of the Peruvian temples,
the pride of the capital, and the wonder of the empire, was at Cuzco,
where, under the munificence of successive sovereigns,
it had become so enriched, that it received the name of Coricancha,
or "the Place of Gold."
-- William H. Prescott, The History of the Conquest of Peru, 1847
Day 3: Lima - Cuzco (A Walk in the Colonial Quarter)
Breakfast. Early transfer to the airport for the flight to Cuzco, the capital of the ancient Inca Empire, called Tawantinsuyo. The name of Cuzco is a Spanish version of the native word Q'osqo, which means the "Navel of the Universe". Arrival, reception and transfer to your hotel. Morning free to rest. A lunch of traditional Andean cuisine in the patio of Pachapapa. Just across the street, visit the Church of San Blas (built in 1562). It houses an imposing pulpit from the late 17th century that, for many, is the finest example of a carved wooden structure in the world. Chiseled from a single cedar trunk, the pulpit features angels, demons, saints, virgins and beasts. A native artist, Juan Thomas Tuirutupa, is believed to have been the sculptor. The main altarpiece is Baroque and exceptionally beautiful.
Afternoon walking tour of the imperial city of the Incas to their ancient monuments of Qorikancha (the Temple of the Sun); the fine Inca walls of Inti Q'ijllo; the Ajlla Wasi (the House of the Virgins of the Sun); the Stone of Twelve Angles; and Huacaypata (Leisure Square). All of these constructions date from the era of 1440 A.D., when Inca Pachakuteq, desiring a capital befitting his great empire, pulled down the adobe city and rebuilt Cuzco in stone.
The Inca palaces were in the form of "canchas", or enclosures, formed by massive stone walls with living quarters, temples and courtyards within. Throughout Cuzco, you will see the Inca walls, built upon by the Spaniards in colonial style. The Cathedral was built over the Inca Wiracocha's palace. The Palacio del Arzobispo, or Archbishop's Palace, was erected in the 16th century in an Arabesque style on the walls of Hatunrumiyoc, the palace of Inca Sinchi Roca, which contains the Stone of Twelve Angles. The Church of Santo Domingo (begun in 1534), was built over Qorikancha, the most important religious structure in the Inca Empire. When the earthquake of 1950 collapsed much of the superimposed colonial architecture, it revealed the ancient temples of the Sun, the Moon, the Stars, Thunder and Lightning, and the Rainbow.
At the Museo de Arte Precolombino, you will see 450 pre-Inca and Inca masterpieces dating from 1250 B.C. to 1532 A.D. Afterward, dinner of nouvelle Andean cuisine at the MAP Café, in the museum's courtyard. Overnight in the Orient-Express Hotel Monasterio.
The interior of the temple was the most worthy of admiration. It was literally a mine of gold. On the western wall was emblazoned a representation of the deity, consisting of a human countenance, looking forth from amidst innumerable rays of light, which emanated from it in every direction, in the same manner as the sun is often personified with us. The figure was engraved on a massive plate of gold of enormous dimensions, thickly powdered with emeralds and precious stones. It was so situated in front of the great eastern portal, that the rays of the morning sun fell directly upon it at its rising, lighting up the whole apartment with an effulgence that seemed more than natural, and which was reflected back from the golden ornaments with which the walls and ceiling were everywhere incrusted. Gold, in the figurative language of the people, was "the tears wept by the sun," and every part of the interior of the temple glowed with burnished plates and studs of the precious metal. The cornices, which surrounded the walls of the sanctuary, were of the same costly material; and a broad belt or frieze of gold, let into the stonework, encompassed the whole exterior of the edifice.
Adjoining the principal structure were several chapels of smaller dimensions. One of them was consecrated to the Moon, the deity held next in reverence, as the mother of the Incas. Her effigy was delineated in the same manner as that of the Sun, on a vast plate that nearly covered one side of the apartment. But this plate, as well as all the decorations of the building, was of silver, as suited to the pale, silvery light of the beautiful planet. There were three other chapels, one of which was dedicated to the host of Stars, who formed the bright court of the Sister of the Sun; another was consecrated to his dread ministers of vengeance, the Thunder and the Lightning; and a third, to the Rainbow, whose many-colored arch spanned the walls of the edifice with hues almost as radiant as its own...
All the plate, the ornaments, the utensils of every description, appropriated to the uses of religion, were of gold or silver. Twelve immense vases of the latter metal stood on the floor of the great saloon, filled with grain of the Indian corn; the censers for the perfumes, the ewers which held the water for sacrifice, the pipes which conducted it through subterraneous channels into the buildings, the reservoirs that received it, even the agricultural implements used in the gardens of the temple, were all of the same rich materials. The gardens, like those described, belonging to the royal palaces, sparkled with flowers of gold and silver, and various imitations of the vegetable kingdom. Animals, also, were to be found there --among which the llama, with its golden fleece, was most conspicuous-- executed in the same style, and with a degree of skill, which, in this instance, probably, did not surpass the excellence of the material.
-- William H. Prescott, The History of the Conquest of Peru, 1847
Qorikancha, the Temple
of the Sun, Cuzco.
Photo: Mylene d'Auriol Stoessel.
In the time of the Incas, this garden... was entirely made of gold and silver; and there were similar gardens about all the royal mansions. Here could be seen all sorts of plants, flowers, trees, animals, both small and large, wild and tame, tiny, crawling creatures such as snakes, lizards, and snails, as well as butterflies and birds of every size; each one of these marvels being placed at the spot that best suited the nature of what it represented.
There were a tall corn stalk and another stalk from the grain they call quinoa, as well as other vegetables and fruit trees, the fruits of which were all very faithfully reproduced in gold and silver. There were also, in the house of the Sun, as well as in that of the king, piles of wool made of gold and silver, and large statues of men, women, and children made of the same materials, in addition to storerooms and recipients for storing the grain they called pirua, all of which, together, tended to lend greater splendor and majesty to the house of their god the Sun.
All of these valuable works were made by the goldsmiths attached to the Temple, from the tribute of gold and silver that arrived every year from all the provinces of the Empire, and which was so great that the most modest utensils used in the temple, such as pots and pans, or pitchers, were also made of precious metals. For this reason, the temple and its service quarters were called Coricancha, which means the place of gold.
-- Garcilaso de la Vega, The Royal Commentaries of the Inca, 1609
A walk on the forest trails, Manu National Park.
Photo: Mylene d'Auriol Stoessel.
Day 4: Cuzco - Boca Manu - Manu Wildlife Center
Breakfast. Early in the morning, we will pick you up at your hotel for the transfer to the Cuzco airport. A thirty-five minute flight in a Cessna Grand Caravan takes you to Boca Manu. Here, you take a motor-canoe for the 90-minute journey down the Madre de Dios River to the Manu Wildlife Center, one of the top 10 wildlife lodges in the world.
The afternoon will be spent exploring some of the 30 miles of diverse forest trails around the lodge. On these trails, you have an excellent chance of encountering some of the 11 species of monkeys, including the Monk Saki and Emperor Tamarin, which inhabit the surrounding forest. After dinner, you will have a short excursion to observe nocturnal life in the rainforest. Overnight in the Manu Wildlife Center.
Red-and-Green Macaws at the clay lick, Manu National Park.
Photo: Mylene d'Auriol Stoessel.
One of the world's most dazzling wildlife spectacles...
When the morning sun clears the Amazon tree line in southeastern Peru and strikes a gray-pink clay bank on the upper Tambopata River, one of the world's most dazzling wildlife spectacles is nearing its riotous peak. The steep bank has become a pulsing, 130 foot high palette of red, blue, yellow and green as more than a thousand parrots squabble over choice perches to grab a beakful of clay, a vital but mysterious part of their diet. More than a dozen parrot species will visit the clay lick throughout the day, but this midmorning crush belongs to the giants of the parrot world, the macaws.
-- Franz Lanting, Macaws: Winged Rainbows, National Geographic, January, 1994
Giant Otter, Manu National Park.
Photo: Mylene d'Auriol Stoessel.
Day 5: Manu Wildlife Center (Macaw Clay Lick & Tapir Clay Lick)
Breakfast. Rising before dawn, we take a 25-minute boat journey downstream to the only large parrot and macaw clay lick in the Manu area. From a floating catamaran blind, we are afforded excellent views and photo opportunities of hundreds of medium-sized and large parrots arriving first at the lick, followed by the large Red-and-Green Macaws arriving to eat the clay. The clay lick is not as active in May, June and July.
After lunch at the Center, we continue to explore the forest trails around the lodge, and spend the late afternoon up a 34-meter canopy platform. Here, we watch the last, frantic activity in the rainforest canopy, or rush hour, before night settles.
We can return for dinner back at the Center, or pack our meal for the leisurely hike about 60-75 minutes through the night forest to the Amazon's largest known Tapir clay lick. We climb up a 17 by 17 foot observation platform, perched 17 feet above the lick itself, where we wait for the lumbering Tapirs to arrive. Then, using powerful flashlights, we hope to observe and photograph them in action. Overnight in the Manu Wildlife Center.
Choro Monkey, Manu National Park.
Photo: Mylene d'Auriol Stoessel.
Day 6: Manu Wildlife Center (Excursion to Cocha Blanco)
Breakfast. After another early morning departure by boat and a short hike from the river, you have what promises to be an exciting visit to the Blanco Oxbow Lake. This lake has populations of a variety of aquatic life and water birds, including the prehistoric-looking Hoatzins and a resident family of Giant Otters.
After lunch, your guide is available to further explore the forest trails for more wildlife encounters. Alternatively, independently practice your abilities and experience this expanse of rainforest habitats on your own.
This evening, from the late afternoon until after dinner, search by boat along the riverbank for caiman and other nocturnal life. Overnight in the Manu Wildlife Center.
Terraces of Pisaq, Sacred Valley.
Photo: Mylene d'Auriol Stoessel.
But the favorite residence of the Incas was at Yucay, about four leagues distant from the capital. In this delicious valley, locked up within the friendly arms of the sierra, which sheltered it from the rude breezes of the east, and refreshed by gushing fountains and streams of running water, they built the most beautiful of their palaces. Here, when wearied with the dust and toil of the city, they loved to retreat, and solace themselves with the society of their favorite concubines, wandering amidst groves and airy gardens, that shed around their soft, intoxicating odors, and lulled the senses to voluptuous repose. Here, too, they loved to indulge in the luxury of their baths, replenished by streams of crystal water which were conducted through subterraneous silver channels into basins of gold. The spacious gardens were stocked with numerous varieties of plants and flowers that grew without effort in this temperate region of the tropics, while parterres of a more extraordinary kind were planted by their side, glowing with the various forms of vegetable life skilfully imitated in gold and silver! Among them the Indian corn, the most beautiful of American grains, is particularly commemorated, and the curious workmanship is noticed with which the golden ear was half disclosed amidst the broad leaves of silver, and the light tassel of the same material that floated gracefully from its top.
-- William H. Prescott, The History of the Conquest of Peru, 1847
Weaver of Chinchero, Sacred Valley.
Photo: Mylene d'Auriol Stoessel.
Day 7: Manu Wildlife Center - Boca Manu - Cuzco - Sacred Valley (Chinchero - Maras - Moray)
Breakfast. We leave near dawn by motor-canoe for the two-hour return trip to the Boca Manu landing strip, taking advantage of valuable early morning wildlife activity along the river. Flight back to Cuzco. Arrival, reception and drive to the Sacred Valley of the Incas. On the way, visit Chinchero, the birthplace of the rainbow, according to Inca legend. The village is on the altiplano, or highlands, above Cuzco and the Sacred Valley, at an elevation of 12,340 feet, and rises against a superb Andean landscape dominated by eternally snow-capped peaks. This late 15th century agricultural center maintains its Inca traditions, one being its composition of "ayllus", or groups of indigenous, related families that work communally in the cultivation of their fields.
Sunken agricultural terraces of Moray, Sacred Valley.
Photo: Mylene d'Auriol Stoessel.
Traditional weaving is preserved, in part, through the efforts of The Center for Traditional Textiles of Cusco, which has arranged a private demonstration by one of the finest weavers. Another tradition that traces it roots back to the Incas is the barter, or "trueque", market. In Chinchero, people still meet to trade good for goods, just as in ancient times, when money did not exist. The market, noted for its textiles, takes place in the main square, at the foot of an Inca wall. Such traditions are not unique to Chinchero; they still exist throughout the altiplano of Peru. The pueblo exhibits a peculiar Andean-Hispanic architectural style, and paintings by the famous native artist Chiwantito hang in a beautiful colonial church. The canvases are in the Cuzqueña style, dating back to the early Spanish period.
Yucay Church, Sacred Valley.
Photo: Mylene d'Auriol Stoessel.
Afterward, visit the impressive archaeological site of Moray. These circular terraces were built by the Incas in natural sinkholes on a limestone plateau overlooking the Sacred Valley and, according to experts, were used to grow crops in different microclimates. Nearby, below the colonial town of Maras, are age-old, terraced salt mines. If you like, take a three-quarter-hour walk down rural paths to the Urubamba River, where your driver and car will be waiting.
Linger over a gourmet lunch of Mediterranean-Asian-Peruvian fusion cuisine in the patio of El Huacatay, a country restaurant with big-city sophistication. Indeed, Pio Vazquez de Velasco Jimenez (known simply as chef Pio) is making a name for himself throughout Peru after mastering his skills in the kitchen of Lima's culinary landmark, Astrid & Gaston. Arrival at your hotel. Dinner and overnight in the Sol y Luna Lodge.
Ruins of Pisaq surrounding the solar calendar, Sacred Valley.
Photo: Mylene d'Auriol Stoessel.
Day 8: Sacred Valley (Pisaq - Hacienda Huayoccari - Ollantaytambo)
Breakfast. Private car this morning to Pisaq. High on a mountain above the Sacred Valley and the Urubamba River, tower the imposing remains of an ancient settlement. The Pisaq ruins take up the entire mountain and are made up of different neighborhoods, or squares, the main one being Intihuatana, which is admired for the architectural skill of its constructions. Its central feature is a monumental solar calendar on a promontory from which there are spectacular outlooks. At the same time, the pre-Hispanic cemetery is of great interest, as it is the largest found in this part of the continent, containing thousands of tombs, some of them looted. The complex is also famous for the colossal terraces that circle the mountains and the fabulous watchtowers, which were used as observation points as well as for control and military defense.
Girl of Pisaq adorned in traditional attire and cantuta flowers, Sacred Valley.
Photo: Mylene d'Auriol Stoessel.
Far below, in the colonial town of Pisaq, a popular handicraft fair take place under the main square's century-old tree, with wares displayed on vividly patterned and colored textiles. On Sundays, the traditional mass is held in Quechua, the Inca language, at the local church, which is attended by the village leaders from the surrounding communities. They wear their typical costumes and carry their traditional scepter of authority, or vara, that gives origin to their name of Varayoc.
Fortress of Ollantaytambo, Sacred Valley.
Photo: Mylene d'Auriol Stoessel.
The Lambarri-Orihuela family, inhabitants of the Sacred Valley for over 350 years, are your hosts at their Hacienda Huayoccari, where you will experience their warmth, together with a flavor of the past, the history of the haciendas of Cuzco, and an impressive view of the Sacred Valley from beneath the shade of an ancient pisonay tree. After admiring the family's vast collection of folk art, savor a traditional meal prepared with fresh produce from the plantation and served in the garden.
Continue to the Ollantaytambo archeological site, a gigantic agricultural, administrative, social, religious and military center in the era of Tawantinsuyo. The Spaniards called it the Fortress of Ollantaytambo. The architectural style of its streets and squares reflects Inca town planning, with enormous polyhedral stones forming the walls and trapezoidal doorways of temples and palaces set along rectilinear and narrow streets, which have been inhabited continuously since Inca times.
Agricultural terraces, Fortress of Ollantaytambo, Sacred Valley.
Photo: Mylene d'Auriol Stoessel.
Above the city, a mountain rises which houses innumerable Inca constructions, such as magnificently-crafted temples and terraces. One striking construction is the partially-destroyed main temple, believed to be the temple of the Sun, whose carved-stone facade is made up of six perfectly-sculpted, red monoliths. The mountainside on which this enormous fortress is built is strategic: it dominates three valleys that come together at this point. Across one valley, tremendous blocks of stone lie abandoned along the route from the quarry site to Ollantaytambo, their uncompleted journey marking the arrival of the "Conquistadores". According to a legend that inspired the Quechua drama Apu-Ollanta, the fortress belonged to a powerful lord who fell in love with Princess Cusi Coillor, daughter of Inca Pachakuteq. It later served Manco Inca after his defeat by the Spaniards at Saqsaywaman. Return to your hotel. Dinner and overnight in the Sol y Luna Lodge.
Citadel of Machu Picchu.
Photo: Mylene d'Auriol Stoessel.
Arrive like the Inca!
Consider our optional itinerary with an unforgettable arrival on the Royal Inca Trail.
Day 9: Sacred Valley - Orient-Express Vistadome - Machu Picchu
Breakfast. Early transfer to the station to meet your guide and board the train for a descent into the Urubamba Valley to reach Machu Picchu (Old Peak), the "Lost City of the Incas". The Orient-Express Vistadome's recently renovated carriages have panoramic windows, offering enhanced photographic opportunities. Refreshments will be served. Upon arrival, your guide will accompany you to the Orient-Express Sanctuary Lodge, near the top of Machu Picchu and next to the ruins.
Agricultural terraces,
Machu Picchu.
Photo:
Mylene d'Auriol Stoessel.
On your private tour this morning, you'll ponder the many theories about this mysterious citadel, including the latest -- that it was Inca Pachacuti's winter palace. The word "ruins" is misleading, as the site is actually in a remarkable state of preservation -- only the wood and palm-frond roofs have decomposed over the centuries. Surprisingly, the Spaniards never discovered the sanctuary, and it remained unknown to the outside world until Hiram Bingham's expedition of 1911. Its discovery captured the world's imagination, and its allure has never diminished.
Sumptuous buffet luncheon in the Sanctuary Lodge and an afternoon of exploration with your guide or on your own. One memorable possibility is the steep trail to the top of Huayna Picchu (Young Peak), a strenuous, two-hour round-trip. Other trails lead to the Temple of the Moon (a moderate, four-hour round-trip), the Inca Drawbridge (an easy, one-hour round-trip) or Machu Picchu's multitude of hidden nooks and crannies.
Walk back to the hotel. From its terrace and nearby lookouts, you'll be able to watch the sunset, southern constellations and sunrise over the citadel, from high above the canyon of the Urubamaba River. Dinner and overnight in the Orient-Express Sanctuary Lodge.
Trapezoidal windows, Machu Picchu.
Photo: Mylene d'Auriol Stoessel.
The temples and royal chambers, throughout the Empire, were lined with gold, and, in preparing the stone, they left niches and empty spaces in which to put all sorts of human or animal figures: birds, or wild beasts, such as tigers, bears, lions, wolves, dogs and wildcats, deer, guanacos, vicuñas and even domestic ewes, all of which were made of gold and silver...
Imitation of nature was so consummate that they even reproduced the leaves and little plants that grow on walls; they also scattered here and there, gold or silver lizards, butterflies, mice and snakes, which were so well made and so cunningly placed, that one had the impression of seeing them run about in all directions...
In all the royal mansions there were gardens and orchards given over to the Inca's moments of relaxation. Here were planted the finest trees and the most beautiful flowers and sweet-smelling herbs in the kingdom, while quantities of others were reproduced in gold and silver, at every stage of their growth, from the sprout that hardly shows above the earth, to the full-blown plant, in complete maturity. There were also fields of corn with silver stalks and gold ears, on which the leaves, grains, and even the corn silk were shown.
In addition to all this, there were all kinds of gold and silver animals in these gardens, such as rabbits, mice, lizards, snakes, butterflies, foxes, and wildcats... Then there were birds set in the trees, as though they were about to sing, and others bent over the flowers, breathing in their nectar. There were roe deer and deer, lions and tigers, all the animals in creation, in fact, each placed just where it should be.
-- Garcilaso de la Vega, The Royal Commentaries of the Inca, 1609
Machu Picchu, the Lost City of the Incas.
Photo: Mylene d'Auriol Stoessel.
Day 10: Machu Picchu - Orient-Express Vistadome - Cuzco
Breakfast. Day of exploration with your guide or on your own. Start by ascending Machu Picchu for sunrise, which due to the high, surrounding mountains does not occur until around 7:00 am. It takes an hour to hike up to Intipunku (Sun Gate), the end of the Inca Trail and the ancient entrance into the sanctuary. Its majestic panorama of the citadel, seen from on high, is the first view the Incas had upon arriving from Cuzco. Lunch in the hotel's restaurant.
Early afternoon for further exploration. Descend from Machu Picchu at mid-afternoon and walk to the station for the train departure. Evening arrival at the Poroy Station, on the outskirts of Cuzco, reception and transfer to your hotel. Dinner and overnight in the Orient-Express Hotel Monasterio.
Fountains of Tipon, the water garden of Inca Wiracocha.
Photo: Mylene d'Auriol Stoessel.
Day 11: Cuzco (The Collasuyu Road & Nearby Inca Monuments)
Breakfast. Morning excursion beyond the ancient fortress that guarded the Valley of Cuzco. Coming back from the colonial village of Andahuaylillas, we'll follow the route and relive the sights of travelers who arrived in the imperial city of the Incas on the Collasuyu Road, from the southern quarter of the empire. We'll pass through the ancient gate of Rumicolca, gaze at the pre-Inca ruins of Pikillaqta, taste the traditional bread of Oropesa and admire Tipon, a royal garden of Inca Wiracocha. Finally, we'll enter the sacred city, centered around the once gold-encrusted Temple of the Sun, called the Koricancha, and defended by the monolithic fortress of Saqsaywaman.
In Inca times, the name of Andahuaylillas was Antawaylla (anta = copper and waylla = field). Its lands are fertile; its people quiet and friendly. Andahuaylillas has two attractions -- the Church of San Pedro de Andahuaylillas and the huge main square it faces. The square, considered one of the most beautiful in the region, is surrounded by pisonay and palm trees. The church, built in 1580 and known as the Sistine Chapel of the Americas, features a simple facade in marked contrast to its rich Baroque interior of gilded altars, wall paintings and polychromatic ceilings.
Rumicolca, pre-Inca gateway to the Valley of Cuzco.
Photo: Mylene d'Auriol Stoessel.
Departing toward Cuzco, we first encounter Rumicolca, an immense stone fortress at the southeastern entrance to the Valley of Cuzco. It originally served as an entry point into the pre-Inca Huari empire and defended nearby Pikillaqta, their largest city. Centuries later, the Incas fortified and refined the rough construction of the original structure with massive blocks of polished andesite. The fortress became the gateway to their imperial city, guarding the road from Collasuyu, the southern quarter of their "Land of Four Quarters". The southern quarter was the largest, stretching to Lake Titicaca, Bolivia, Chile and Argentina.
The pre-Inca ruins of Pikillaqta.
Photo: Mylene d'Auriol Stoessel.
Pikillaqta, the largest Huari city and the major pre-Inca city in the region, reached its cultural height between 800 AD and 1100 AD, in the period corresponding to the Huari regional confederation. A massive hilltop complex of stone structures overlooking Lake Lucre, its long, straight streets and big, rectangular city blocks full of buildings are surrounded by high, flagstone and mud-mortared walls, which taper as they rise. In some of the rooms, little idols made of turquoise were found and now can be seen in the Inca Museum, of Cuzco. "Pikillaqta" translates as the "City of Fleas". The name comes from the presence of many tiny rooms, only four square meters in area, that seem to be part of a military garrison.
Plaza and La Iglesia de Oropesa.
Photo: Mylene d'Auriol Stoessel.
Oropesa has long been known as the "Land of Bread". Locals keep numerous domestic ovens for the production of delicious peasant bread. People from Oropesa still use the traditional ovens, fired with eucalyptus leaves, which give the town its peculiar and pleasant aroma. Near the main square, you can recognize the bread stores because each has a big basket outside. Inside, you will be able to see the bread makers in action and even make your own bread.
Tipon, the water garden of Inca Wiracocha.
Photo: Mylene d'Auriol Stoessel.
Tipon is exceptional for the harmony achieved in the movement of water through its fine stone structures. This beautiful complex is composed of twelve enormous agriculturual terraces, walls of perfectly polished stone, long stairways, aqueducts (some subterranean) and ornamental waterfalls. According to legend, Tipon was one of the royal gardens ordered by the 8th Inca, Wiracocha. It is believed that the site was earlier the royal farm of his father, the 7th Inca Inca Yawar Huacac, at which time it was dedicated to a religious cult and agricultural experimentation. Return to Cuzco.
Temple and fortress of Saqsaywaman, Cuzco.
Photo: Mylene d'Auriol Stoessel.
Lunch of Italian-Peruvian cuisine at Incanto. Afternoon drive to the fortress of Saqsaywaman. To truly appreciate Saqsaywaman, one must realize that what may now be seen is only the base of a colossal construction of a series of three successively-higher, defensive structures made from enormous blocks of stone, joined together with great precision.
Inside this triple enclosure, three tall towers were erected on a large narrow ground. The largest of them was called Mayac Marca, which means the round tower. It was built over a clear, abundant spring, fed by underground canalizations, concerning which nobody knew from where or how they came... This round tower contained rooms with gold and silver paneled walls, on which animals, birds, and plants figured in relief, as though in a tapestry. It was here that the king lived when he came for a rest in the fortress...
The two other towers, which were round, not square, in shape, were called Paucar Marca and Sacllac Marca, and were used to house soldiers of the garrison, which was composed only of Incas by privilege, ordinary men, even combatants, not being allowed inside this fortress, which was the house of the Sun, both its arsenal and its temple...
An underground network of passages, which was as vast as the towers themselves, connected them with one another. This was composed of a quantity of streets and alleyways which ran in every direction, and so many doors, all of them identical, that the most experienced men dared not venture into this labyrinth without a guide, consisting of a long thread tied to the first door, which unwound as they advanced....
It would have been in the interest of the Spaniards to maintain this fortress, and even to repair it at their own expense, because, quite alone, it gave proof of the grandeur of their victory and would have served as a witness to it for all eternity. And yet, not only did they not keep it up, but they hastened its ruin, demolishing its hewn stones, in order to construct their own Cuzco homes at less cost.
They made their portals and thresholds with the big flat stones that formed the ceilings, and to make their stairways, they did not hesitate to tear down entire walls, provided they were based on a few stones that could be used for steps.
And so, that is how the Spaniards destroyed the Cuzco fortress.
-- Garcilaso de la Vega, The Royal Commentaries of the Inca, 1609
Campesina at Saqsaywaman, Cuzco.
Photo: Mylene d'Auriol Stoessel.
Saqsaywaman was considered a fortress by the Spaniards, since it was a place of defense, weapons and war. It was considered the House of the Sun by the Incas because, at the same time, it was a place of worship and sacrifice. Notably, it was the site of the most important ceremony of the empire, Inti Raymi, the festival of the Sun. Its name means "Satiated Hawk" and it was built in approximately 77 years (1431-1508), during the reign of Inca Yupanqui and Wayna Qhapaj. It began being destroyed from 1537 until 1561, becoming the base for the building of the Spanish Cathedral, churches and homes. "Neither the bridge of Segovia, nor the buildings built by Hercules or the Romans, are so worthy of being admired, as this" says the Spanish chronicler and soldier Pedro Sancho de la Hoz, who saw Inca Cuzco intact, along with Pizarro in 1533.
Ritual fountains of Tambomachay, Cuzco.
Photo: Mylene d'Auriol Stoessel.
Further up the hill is the Temple of the Moon; one of the few sites preserving its sculptures of pumas, serpents, condors, llamas and female genitalia, carved into the stone. It is located in a rocky outcropping with natural caves that have been sculpted to a minor extent to create ceremonial platforms and symbols, such as an immense snake. The site is in a singularly beautiful landscape and overlooks the Valley of Cuzco. In contrast to the animal sculptures at this temple, those at Q'enqo, a religious sanctuary devoted to fertility, were obliterated by the Spaniards.
Puka Pukara (red fortress) is located at a strategic point along the road to Antisuyo (the jungle quarter of the Inca Empire). It served as a checkpoint and was a military and administrative center. The Inca's retinue received food and lodging here when he stopped at nearby Tambomachay, on his way to the Sacred Valley. Tambomachay is believed to have been dedicated to the worship of water and its aqueducts are fed by springs all year long. The site includes a liturgical fountain and three terraces with structures made from polyhedral blocks of stone, joined without mortar. The setting is bucolic and the spring water is cold, pure and delicious. After drinking of it and making your devotions, return to Cuzco. This evening, enjoy a dinner of Mediterranean cuisine at La Cicciolina. Overnight in the Orient-Express Hotel Monasterio.
The 1535 La Iglesia
de San Francisco, Quito, Ecuador.
Photo: David Bate.
Day 12: Cuzco - Lima - Quito
Breakfast. Early transfer to the airport for the flight to Lima. Arrival in the five-century-old colonial "City of the Kings" and the capital of Peru. Assistance in making the connection to your flight to Quito. Arrival, reception and escorted transfer to the Villa Colonna, a charming colonial home in the historic district. Dine at Blu, where chef Rafael Osterlicht creates a fusion of Peruvian and Mediterranean cuisine. Overnight in the Villa Colonna.
Colonial Quito with
El Panecillo in the distance, Ecuador.
Photo: Dan Heller.
Day 13: Quito
Breakfast. Quito, the capital of Ecuador and a world heritage site, is located at an elevation of over 9,000 feet in the Andes mountains. Founded by Spaniards in 1534, it is one of the oldest cities in South America and has the largest colonial quarter. Walking along its cobblestone streets through centuries-old parks and plazas to churches filled with gold, you'll imagine you've gone back in time to that astonishing world.
As you drive to the historic district, the neo-Gothic La Basílica is a striking sight to behold. Though not of colonial vintage, it's the place to see bizarre and fascinating gargoyles in the form of giant tortoises, iguanas, anteaters, monkeys, pumas, condors and other Ecuadorian fauna. Begin in La Plaza de la Independencia, where the country's history was written. On one side is the Cathedral (begun in 1640), considered to be the oldest in South America. Down the Calle de las Siete Cruces (Street of the Seven Crosses) is La Compañia de Jesús (begun in 1605), one of the great baroque masterpieces of the continent. The oldest of Quito's and South America's colonial churches is the baroque La Iglesia de San Francisco (begun in 1535). It was constructed over an Inca temple and decorated with images of the sun to lure in the native people to their conquerors' religion. The Moorish style of La Iglesia y Convento de la Merced (begun in 1538 and rebuilt in 1737) is most likely explained by artists seeking refuge in South America after the expulson of the Moors from Spain in 1492. At the City Museum, see what daily life was like in colonial Quito.
La Plaza de la Independencia, Quito, Ecuador.
Photo: Mylene d'Auriol Stoessel.
This afternoon at Octava de Corpus, a lunch of Ecuadorian-European fusion cuisine served in a colonial home. To complete your insight into the country's archaeology, history and cultures; investigate Ecuador's ancient past in the pre-Inca, Inca and colonial galleries of the Central Bank Museum. Continue to El Panecillo, overlooking the colonial quarter. The significance of this hill dates back to Inca times, when it was known as Shungoloma ("hill of the heart"). Before the Spanish arrived, the local people used it as a place to worship the sun. Now, its summit is crowned by a graceful statue of the Virgin. Return to your hotel.
Early this evening, drive to La Basílica for a magnificent view of the colonial quarter. Continue along ancient Calle de las Siete Cruces (Street of the Seven Crosses) to La Plaza de la Independencia, admiring the beautifully illuminated Spanish monuments. Enjoy the night view of the historic plaza and the Cathedral, before boarding a horse-drawn carriage for a romantic ride through the narrow streets of Old Quito, past the splendid facades of La Compañia de Jesús, La Iglesia de San Francisco, La Iglesia y Convento de la Merced and traditional Calle Cuenca. Arrive at La Belle Epoque to savor gourmet fushion cuisine. Afterward, return to your hotel. Overnight in the Villa Colonna.
Traditional, horse-drawn carriage, Quito, Ecuador.
Photo: Hotel Plaza Grande.
Optionally, you may select the Museo Intiñan for your afternoon excursion.
Lunch of Ecuadorian cuisine at La Choza. Afterward, visit the Museo Intiñan ("Path of the Sun"), which presents the cosmic vision and customs of Ecuador's indigenous people. An Inca monument marking the Equator was discovered on the site, and is more exact than the position determined by the French Geodesic Mission in the mid-1700s. The museum features interactive exhibits on how the Incas located the "middle of the world", and science experiments, such as balancing an egg on a point and seeing the effects of the Coriolis force. Return to your hotel.
Early this evening, drive to La Basílica for a magnificent view of the colonial quarter. Continue along ancient Calle de las Siete Cruces (Street of the Seven Crosses) to La Plaza de la Independencia, admiring the beautifully illuminated Spanish monuments. Enjoy the night view of the historic plaza and the Cathedral, before boarding a horse-drawn carriage for a romantic ride through the narrow streets of Old Quito, past the splendid facades of La Compañia de Jesús, La Iglesia de San Francisco, La Iglesia y Convento de la Merced and traditional Calle Cuenca. Arrive at La Belle Epoque to savor gourmet fushion cuisine. Afterward, return to your hotel. Overnight in the Villa Colonna.
Land iguana and opuntia cacti, Galapagos Islands.
Photo: Ron Dahlquist.
... we seem to be brought somewhat near to that great fact
-- that mystery of mysteries --
the first appearance of new beings on this earth.
The natural history of these islands is eminently curious, and well deserves attention. Most of the organic productions are aboriginal creations, found nowhere else; there is even a difference between the inhabitants of the different islands; yet all show a marked relationship with those of America, though separated from that continent by an open space of ocean, between 500 and 600 miles in width. The archipelago is a little world within itself, or rather a satellite attached to America, whence it has derived a few stray colonists, and has received the general character of its indigenous productions. Considering the small size of the islands, we feel the more astonished at the number of their aboriginal beings, and at their confined range. Seeing every height crowned with its crater, and the boundaries of most of the lava-streams still distinct, we are led to believe that within a period geologically recent the unbroken ocean was here spread out. Hence, both in space and time, we seem to be brought somewhat near to that great fact -- that mystery of mysteries -- the first appearance of new beings on this earth.
-- Charles Darwin, Voyage of the Beagle, 1845
Male frigate bird displaying,
Galapagos Islands.
Photo: Marco Robalino.
... from so simple a beginning
endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful
have been, and are being evolved.
Thus, from the war of nature, from famine and death, the most exalted object which we are capable of conceiving, namely, the production of higher animals, directly follows. There is grandeur in this view of life, with its several powers, having been originally breathed by the Creator into a few forms or into one; and that, whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being evolved.
-- Charles Darwin, On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, 1859
Sea turtle, Galapagos Islands.
Photo: Bonnie Pelnar.
Northern & Southern Islands
Day 14: Quito - Galapagos Cruise (San Cristóbal Island)
Breakfast. Early morning transfer to the airport for the flight to the Galapapagos Islands. San Cristóbal Island (558 sq. km.) is the fifth largest in the archipelago and the second most populated. The town of Puerto Baquerizo Moreno is the capital of the Galapagos Islands and its oldest settlement. Fauna include giant tortoises and red- blue- and masked- boobies. The native flora include candelabra cactus, palo santo (the "incense tree") and saltbrush.
The Interpretation Center, donated by Spain, focuses on the natural and cultural history of the archipelago, from its volcanic origins to the present. From the Interpretation Center, a short trail leads to Frigate Bird Hill, where both magnificent frigates and great frigates can be seen in the same colony -- ideal for learning to distinguish between the two species. Below, you'll see the harbor, where your yacht awaits. Before long, you'll be crossing from shore to the Alta, your home for the next week. Your captain and crew will be waiting to welcome you aboard.
We head northeast along the coast of San Cristóbal toward our first landing at Playa Ochoa, a turquoise bay with a white powder beach inhabited by a small colony of sea lions. A tidal lagoon sitting behind the beach is frequented by flamingos, Darwin finches and the endemic San Cristóbal Mockingbird. Playa Ochoa is a great introduction to the islands -- it offers your first opportunity to go snorkeling with sea turtles and the archipelago's playful sea lions. Overnight on the Alta.
Red-footed booby, Galapagos
Islands.
Photo:
David Bate.
Day 15: Galapagos Cruise (Genovesa Island)
Genovesa Island (14 sq. km.) is one of the smallest in the archipelago but has a big reputation as "the bird island". It is the best place to see a colony of red-footed boobies, the only one of the three species present in the Galapagos that nests in trees rather than on the ground. A natural formation called Prince Philip's Steps is a bird watcher's delight. The trail leads to a plateau inhabited by red-footed boobies, masked boobies and frigate birds. At the end of this trail are thousands of band-rumped storm petrels at the cliff's edge, where they nest in crevices. Short-eared owls can sometimes be seen here, hunting the storm petrels during daylight hours. Other birds include red-billed tropic birds, Galapagos doves, white-cheeked pintail ducks and