Machu Picchu & the Galápagos (2012)

You depart the U.S. this evening.

You arrive at the Lima airport early in the morning. An OAT representative will meet you and accompany you to your hotel, where you'll meet your fellow travelers and Trip Leader.

After some time to rest up in the morning, we’ll enjoy lunch at a local restaurant. Then we set out to explore Lima's most interesting colonial sites. A local guide will join us as we explore the city's streets and architecture—evidence of the city’s Spanish heritage—from its main square, Jiron de la Union, to the Lima Cathedral.

We'll make a guided visit to Lima’s National Museum of Archaeology, Anthropology, and history of Peru at Bolivar Square, which contains unmatched collections of Inca artifacts along with other antiquities from Peru’s many intriguing ancient cultures. The museum contains an impressive collection of ceramics, gold and silver items, and textiles from the ancient cultures of Chavin, Mochica, Chimu, Tiahuanaco, Pucara, Paracas, Nazca, and Ica. Our tour continues to the city's Miraflores and San Isidro districts.

This evening, get acquainted with your traveling companions during a Welcome Dinner at a local restaurant.

Explore Lima on your own today; your Trip Leader can provide recommendations for making your own discoveries. Or join us for an optional excursion that begins with a visit to the pre-Inca archaeological site of Pachacamac. Then we continue to the nearby Villa El Salvador District. This inspiring community grew from a desert shantytown for refugees from an earthquake in the Peruvian Andes in 1971 into a fully functioning society that became an official district of Lima in 1983. This community was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize in 1986 for its excellence in social work and community growth. We’ll visit one of the district’s markets, then meet some of its residents to learn about their ongoing community-building efforts. Afterwards, we travel to the modern seaside shopping district of Larcomar, where we’ll have time to enjoy lunch on our own.

Dinner is on your own this evening.

We have breakfast and then take an early morning flight to Cuzco. After landing in Cuzco, we travel north to Pisac, a town known for its splendid Incan ruins high on the mountain overlooking the city.

We’ll have a boxed lunch, and then explore these ruins and admire the stunning views they offer.

Afterwards, we check in to our hotel in the Sacred Valley, which is at a lower elevation than Cuzco; staying here helps us acclimatize to the altitude. Dinner is at the hotel this evening.

This morning, we visit the massive Inca fortress of Ollantaytambo. This is one of the few places where the Spanish lost a battle during the conquest of Peru.

In 1536, the army of Manco Inca held off a Spanish invasion company led by Hernando Pizarro. We can climb up the huge terraces guarding the ancient hilltop temple area.

Then we’ll share A Day in the Life of the Urubamba community in the Sacred Valley. We’ll meet students at a local school (when in session) and spend time with their teachers. Donations from Grand Circle Foundation—part of the World Classroom initiative—have helped pay for classroom construction at the school. Then we’ll visit Urubamba’s market and pick up ingredients for the Home-Hosted Lunch we’ll share as guests of a Sacred Valley family. We’ll also sample locally brewed corn beer before returning to our hotel. Dinner is at a local restaurant this evening.

After breakfast this morning, we travel by bus for about 45 minutes to Ollantaytambo, where we’ll board the train for Machu Picchu. The train ride takes a bit less than two hours and offers spectacular views into the gorge of the Urubamba River. We'll have a boxed lunch while we're riding the train.

Most travelers visit Machu Picchu on a day trip, which makes for a hectic pace and only limited time at this unique archaeological wonder. We can take a closer look, and have a more relaxed pace, during our overnight visit to Machu Picchu. The train brings us to the town of Aguas Calientes, from which we then drive to the ruins. This drive takes about a half an hour, as we must follow a zigzag route up a steep hill. (The return trip by bus takes the same amount of time; or if you prefer, you can walk downhill and along the valley floor for about an hour.) When the day-trippers leave the ruins to catch the last train of the day, we remain longer and enjoy an uncrowded experience.

Our expert OAT Trip Leader gives us a complete and compelling look at the fabled “Lost City of the Incas,” which was discovered in 1911 by Yale archaeologist (and later, U.S. Senator) Hiram Bingham. Subsequent discoveries (such as Bingham’s later unearthing of the Inca Trail and the 1941 discovery of nearby Huayna Picchu) suggest that Machu Picchu was not simply a “lost city” but part of a whole “lost region.” More than 172 tombs have been excavated, and in 2002 Peruvian archaeologists uncovered the first complete burial site, with a woman’s skeleton, bronze pins, and a clay pot. Here we can explore sites like the Ritual Baths, the Palace of the Princess, the Main Fountain, and the Temple of the Sun, quietly contemplating the achievements of this most fascinating and mysterious civilization. We then return to the town of Aguas Calientes. Dinner is on your own this evening.

We rise early to drive back to Machu Picchu after breakfast, arriving before the crowds. You can remain at the hotel if you wish, but most travelers appreciate this chance to see the ruins in a different light.

You can wander the sprawling ruins on your own, or, depending on which trails are open, choose between two excellent hikes. One brings you to the Inca Bridge, where a trail built with impressive Inca engineering crosses a cliff face. In one spot, the Incas left a deep gap, which they bridged with logs that could be removed to render the trail impassable to enemies. The second option is an ambitious hike to the Sun Gate at the Machu Picchu end of the Inca Trail, which offers a fine view over the ruins.

We descend to the valley below to have lunch. Then, in the afternoon, we return by train through the spectacular Urubamba Gorge. Back at Ollantaytambo, we get off the train and take a bus to Cuzco, making stops at points of interest along the way. When we arrive in Cuzco, we check into our hotel. Dinner is on your own this evening.

We begin this morning’s explorations at the massive Sacsayhuaman fortress set on a hilltop overlooking Cuzco. Its double-zigzag wall is said to symbolize a puma’s teeth, and at one time, there were three immense towers and a labyrinth of rooms large enough to garrison 5,000 Inca soldiers.

Today, the interior buildings are gone, having been dismantled by the Spaniards for their stone, but the imposing outer walls remain. Recent excavations have revealed this ancient stone complex to be much larger than previously thought. As we walk through, consider first that Inca workers built its walls entirely by hand, securely fitting boulders weighing as much as 125 tons without a drop of mortar. Then recall that on these ramparts in 1536, the armies of Manco Inca made their final, failed attempt to recapture their city from the Spanish in the bloodiest fighting seen in any Latin conquest. At each site, we have plenty of time to walk around on foot, and take photographs.

Then, we’ll witness a traditional healing ceremony conducted by a curandero, an Andean medicine man. This ancient healing tradition has deep roots in Incan culture and is not simply a cure for illnesses, but also a prayer for good health and well-being with an offering to Pachamama, a deity associated with fertility and Mother Earth. A curandero will often employ herbs and healing plants, and for some conditions, he may conduct a religious ritual with sacred objects and shamanic chanting (called icaros). Thought to possess a gift from God to heal the sick, the curandero also sees himself as a front-line soldier in the battle between good and evil on Earth—particularly when patients believe their physical ailments have supernatural causes.

After lunch at a local restaurant, we explore more of Cuzco, starting with a walk to the Plaza de Armas. We’ll also discover the Qoricancha Sun Temple, the city’s most important ceremonial structure during the Incan era. Historical records of the time note that its walls were once covered with 700 sheets of gold studded with emeralds and turquoise; when the sunlight streamed through the windows, the reflection off the precious metals was blinding.

In late afternoon, we return to our hotel. We enjoy our last dinner in Peru at a local restaurant this evening.

After an early breakfast at our Cuzco hotel, we bid farewell to our Peruvian Trip Leader and depart for our flight to Lima. From Lima we fly to Quito, Ecuador, arriving in the afternoon.

In Quito, we will be met by our Ecuadoran Trip Leader. Quito, Ecuador’s capital, is a city whose colonial splendor has earned it designation as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In the older part of town, hundreds of colonial-era structures remain to this day, the largest being the 16th-century Monastery of San Francisco.

This evening, after a briefing on the upcoming portion of our trip, we’ll enjoy our first dinner in Ecuador at a hotel restaurant.

After breakfast this morning, we enjoy a moving musical performance by the Sinamune Disabled Children's Orchestra, whose members are physically or mentally disabled.

Grand Circle Foundation is proud to provide Sinamune with financial assistance, helping to give these talented and dedicated musicians the support and encouragement they deserve.

After the concert, we’ll depart for downtown Quito, stopping at the Itchimbia lookout point along the way. In Quito’s historic section, we’ll see La Basilica, with its impressive 377-foot Condor Tower—notice how the gargoyles represent indigenous animals. We also enjoy a walking tour of Quito’s colonial nucleus: Independence Plaza (Plaza de La Independenzia), featuring a winged statue representing freedom. We’ll see the Presidential Palace, with its stalwart guards in traditional uniforms keeping watch. We continue with a stroll on La Ronda, a historic narrow lane where you can sample traditional candies, see work by local artists, and hear musicians. Then we finish at San Francisco Square to see its church and mingle with local people in its plaza.

Following lunch at a local restaurant, we head to the Inti Nan Museum and the Middle of the World monument. Inti Nan is the Quechua phrase for “Path of the Sun,” and the museum contains replicas of indigenous sun temples and other interesting artifacts—not to mention the fact that the equator actually runs through the museum. This is a perfect introduction to our next stop: the Middle of the World Monument (Mitad del Mundo). Here we’ll have the chance to stand at Latitude 0°0’0” and enjoy the prized photo opportunity of straddling the equator.

This evening, we join a local family for a Home-Hosted Dinner that gives us an intimate view of Ecuador’s food and culture.

After breakfast, we fly from Quito via Guayaquil to the Galápagos—an enchanted Pacific archipelago that straddles the equator some 600 miles west of Ecuador's coast, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Upon landing in mid-morning, we make a short bus transfer to the dock, where we board our boat. You can stow your gear in your cabin and orient yourself on deck. We’ll stay onboard in comfortable cabins for the next four nights, roaming the archipelago with the services of our boat crew and our expert Trip Leader, who is a certified Galápagos naturalist.

Please note: The following description is meant only as a general guide to the cruise itinerary that you are likely to follow. The selection and order of islands visited cannot be guaranteed due to the Galápagos' frequently variable weather, marine, and environmental conditions, and changes in airline schedules between the mainland and the Galápagos. This is a carefully managed park with fragile ecosystems. To safeguard them (and to ensure your own comfort), ship and park authorities have the prerogative to revise our course at a moment's notice.

During the summer and fall, the Humboldt Current moves through the Galápagos Islands, cooling sea and land temperatures, and creating a mist that covers the islands—locally known as garua (soft rain)—during the day. The Humboldt Current is strongest from July to October, delivering the choppy water that surrounds the islands.

Today we continue our exploration of the Galápagos. Our Trip Leader will give us an orientation briefing, including conservation techniques suggested by the Galápagos National Park.

He or she is a graduate of the elite certification program conducted at the Charles Darwin Research Station on Isla Santa Cruz by the Galápagos National Park Service. We file our Galápagos cruising itinerary with the conservation authorities of the Galápagos National Park. Park biologists periodically review it, and they have the authority to make changes to our plan to minimize our impact on the ecosystems of the islands. Our Trip Leader also provides the park with information on species behavior, and we are proud to work in cooperation with Park officials in preserving the priceless natural wonders of the Galápagos.

During our cruise, we'll see unique wildlife and striking geological formations. We'll make numerous landings by small motor dinghies that involve wading ashore. Once on land, we'll walk with our Trip Leader along trails that bring us close to the many indigenous species. Wildlife sightings are unpredictable, but you may see species including land and marine iguanas, and exotic birds such as blue-footed and masked boobies. When we are not viewing wildlife on shore, we can swim, sunbathe, and perhaps go snorkeling among sea lions and vividly colorful tropical fish. We'll see remote white-sand beaches, sparkling clear water, and volcanic landscapes of black and red rock.

 

Here is a preview of the islands you may call on during your Galápagos cruise.

Santiago (James)
Tidal pools reveal a profusion of octopi, starfishes, and other undersea life. Rare fur sea lions that were once on the verge of extinction cavort nearby, and we often spot oyster-catchers, blue herons, and yellow-crowned night herons.

Bartolome
One of the youngest islands, Bartolome displays a fantastic landscape of lava formations—including its famous signature, Pinnacle Rock. Penguins are often spotted on the shore.

Mosquera Beach
Mosquera Beach is a very small, white-sand islet, located between Baltra and Seymour. It is ideal for swimming and snorkeling, and sea lions often visit.

Rabida (Jervis)
A reddish beach and steep volcanic slopes give this island a distinctive look.

Santa Cruz (Indifatigable)
At the Charles Darwin Research Station, learn about pioneering ecological studies and the giant Galápagos tortoise-breeding program.

Floreana (Charles)
Like the other islands, Floreana has its coterie of remarkable creatures. But it’s the human stories that will engage you here as your guide tells of the first inhabitant, a shipwrecked Irishman, and the quirky “post office” in a barrel, where sailors since 1793 have been leaving letters for delivery. This “post office” still operates today.

Santa Fe (Barrington)
Hike through a forest of opuntia cactus where land iguana doze, and then snorkel in clear water with coral reefs, manta rays, sea turtles, and colorful schools of fish.

North Seymour
Here you’ll find the largest colony of frigatebirds in the Galápagos and a major nesting site for the blue-footed booby, depending on the season. On the beach, sea lions ride the waves.

San Cristobal (Chatham)
The town of Puerto Baquerizo Moreno on this island is the sleepy capital of the Galápagos province. Nearby is Lobos Island, home to pelicans, frigatebirds, and a sea lion colony.

Española (Hood Island)
Sea lions, marine iguanas, and many kinds of birds are found here, including Darwin’s finches, Hood mockingbirds, and blue-footed and masked boobies. Along the southern shore, spectacular cliffs rise up from the sea. From April to November, the remarkable waved albatross, which can spend years at sea without touching land, can be seen performing their unique, perfectly-choreographed mating ritual.

We continue our exploration of the Galápagos. As we take in their striking seascapes, we can consider how they have impressed great American writers in two different centuries. Herman Melville blended knowledge of the islands, gained from his days as a sailor, with fiction in his 1854 novella The Encantadas or Enchanted Isles. More than 100 years later, Kurt Vonnegut's 1985 novel Galápagos drew inspiration from the author's own visit to the archipelago. Unique and remote, the Galápagos Islands will no doubt continue to influence creative artists for centuries to come.

This morning, we disembark our ship and fly from the Galápagos via Guayaquil back to Quito, where we’ll arrive at our hotel in the late afternoon.

This evening, toast your Galápagos experience with your fellow travelers as we celebrate together over dinner at a local restaurant.

We rise early this morning for breakfast and then transfer to the airport for an early morning flight to the U.S.