This holiday visits the places ticked below. You can design your own itinerary by adding destinations. Select the destinations you would like and click the red button to see full details of the holiday you have chosen.
Including stay at Refugio Amazonas Jungle Lodge
This holiday includes a visit to the jungle. Llama Travel offers three jungle lodges, with different itineraries and levels of comfort. Click on a lodge for a detailed itinerary.
Refugio AmazonasA comfortable lodge located close to the Tambopata Reserve. Cold water showers only.
Reserva Amazonica - supplement £220 (£250 single)A superior lodge with hot water showers. There is a 300-metre canopy walkway.
When staying in the Reserva Amazonica, you can choose which excursions to take when you arrive. A suggested jungle itinerary is included below.
The Tambopata Research Center is located in the Tambopata National Reserve where there is no human habitation, and is surrounded by primary forest. This offers an excellent opportunity for spotting jungle wildlife. The world's largest macaw clay lick is nearby, where hundreds of parrots and macaws of up to 15 species gather on clear mornings. The best months for the lick are July to November. The jungle itinerary includes 2 nights in the Tambopata Research Center and 2 nights in the Refugio Amazonas.
Day 1 (Tuesday) Lima Fly from the UK to Lima. You are met at the airport and escorted to your hotel (2 nights).
Day 2 (Wednesday) Lima Take the optional Colonial Lima excursion to discover the city’s fascinating past.
Day 3 (Thursday) Jungle Morning flight to the jungle town of Puerto Maldonado. After a 10 mile drive to the port of Inferno, take a beautiful two and a half hour boat ride up the Tambopata River to your lodge close to the Tambopata National Reserve. After an introduction to the lodge, have dinner before taking a night trip on the river to look for caimans.
Day 4 (Friday) Jungle At dawn, take a beautiful two hour hike through the forest to Sachavacayoc oxbow lake, where you paddle to search for giant river otters, hoatzin and other lakeside wildlife. You walk back through the jungle to the lodge for lunch. In the afternoon, you have a fascinating visit to an Amazon farm in a nearby community, where every plant and tree serves a purpose. Then explore a patch of Brazil nut forest that has been harvested for decades, and visit a camp used by Brazil nut gatherers, to understand the jungle’s only sustainably harvested product. After dinner, take a night walk in the forest.
Day 5 (Saturday) Jungle An early morning boat ride to a parakeet lick, where on most clear mornings different species descend to ingest the clay. After returning to the lodge, take a 20 minute walk to a peccary clay lick, where you may see herds of wild rainforest pigs and maybe other mammals. In the afternoon, take a short walk to the 25-metre scaffolding canopy tower. From the top of the tower, you have a wonderful view over primary forest and a chance to watch the flocks of toucans and macaws.
Day 3 (Thursday) Jungle Morning flight to the jungle town of Puerto Maldonado, followed by a boat ride down the Madre de Dios River to your lodge. Afternoon visit to the canopy walkway, linking 8 observation platforms, allowing you to see the jungle from a different perspective, 30 metres above the ground. Look for giant strangler fig trees, orchids, toucans and woodpeckers. Then walk through the forest, along a 200-metre bridge over fooded marshland.
Day 4 (Friday) Jungle Walk through the forest to Lago Sandoval, where you take a canoe ride on this giant oxbow lake. This is home to river otters, macaws and other colourful birds. Then walk to Concepcion farm, where you have a picnic lunch. Here, the garden has more than 200 medicinal plants which grow in the jungle. After dinner, take a night walk through the forest, listening to the sounds of the jungle and looking for nocturnal creatures.
Day 5 (Saturday) Jungle Visit Gamitana Creek, where you have a two and a half hour walk following the stream upriver. The creek is home to piranha, caimans, turtles and varied birdlife. Observe the local wildlife and try some native fishing techniques. Take a canoe ride downstream, before a picnic lunch at Gamitana Farm, where you take a guided tour. Then take a late afternoon boat ride, looking for caimans and other nocturnal animals, as night falls.
Day 1 (Thursday) Lima Fly from the UK to Lima. You are met at the airport and escorted to your hotel (1 night).
Day 2 (Wednesday) Jungle Morning flight to the jungle town of Puerto Maldonado. After a 10 mile drive to the port of Infierno, take a beautiful two and a half hour boat ride up the Tambopata National Reserve. After and introduction to the lodge, have dinner before taking a night trip on the river to look for caimans.
Day 3 (Thursday) Jungle In the morning, climb the 25 metre canopy tower for wonderful views over primary forest and to look for clocks of toucans and macaws. Then visit a camp used by Brazil nut gatherers to understand the jungle’s only sustainably harvested product. You then take a 4 and a half hour boat ride upriver to the Tambopata Research Center. As you move away from the area of human habitation, wildlife becomes more abundant. After arriving at the lodge, take a walk through the forest, looking for howler monkeys and dusky titi monkeys. In the evening, scientists will give a lecture on the macaw project.
Day 4 (Friday) Jungle A dawn excursion to observe the macaw clay lick. Then take a walk through the rainforest, looking for monkeys and peccaries. After lunch, visit the pond platform to look for lakeside birds, including hoatzin and flycatchers. After dark, take a night walk to look for frogs.
Day 5 (Saturday) Jungle Take a 3 and a half hour ride back to the Refugio Amazonas. Then take a short afternoon hike to Condenado Lake to look for lakeside birdlife and caiman.
Day 6 (Sunday) Cusco An early boat transfer to Puerto Maldonado for your flight to Cusco. Afternoon free to help you acclimatise to the altitude (3 nights).
Day 7 (Monday) Cusco Join the optional Inca Cusco excursion to explore the Inca sites in and around this historic city.
Day 8 (Tuesday) Cusco Take the optional Sacred Valley excursion, visiting the famous market in Pisac and the incredible Inca ruins of Ollantaytambo.
Day 9 (Wednesday) Inca Trail An early morning drive to the start of the trail, which follows the Urubamba River before starting to climb. You pass several Inca sites, including Llactapata, before arriving at Huayllabamba at 3,000m, where you have dinner and camp for the night.
Day 10 (Thursday) Inca trail A tough, but rewarding, day begins with a steep climb through woodland before arriving at Dead Woman’s Pass at 4,200m, from where the views are spectacular. You descend to your camp in the Pacamayo Valley.
Day 11 (Friday) Inca Trail Today, you pass the fascinating ruins of Runkuracay, Sayacmarca and Phuyupatamarca and cross the second pass at 4,000m. The trail clings to the side of the mountain, passing through a 500-year old Inca tunnel, before emerging to views of the cloud forest below. The path drops steeply, arriving at the fabulous Inca site of Wiñay Wayna, where you spend the night. The hot showers here are particularly welcome!
Day 12 (Saturday) Cusco You set off before dawn, arriving at the Sun Gate at first light for your first view of Machu Picchu. Carrying on to the ruins, you have a guided tour before descending to the valley of Aguas Calientes, where you can then rest your weary body in the hot springs. Catch the afternoon train back to Cusco (2 nights).
Day 13 (Sunday) Cusco A free day in Cusco to unwind after the trek or further explore the area.
Day 14 (Monday) Lima Morning flight to Lima. Afternoon free (1 night).
Day 15 (Tuesday) Fly overnight to the UK.
Day 16 (Wednesday) Arrival in the UK.
Please note: jungle excursions may vary due to weather conditions.
Lima: Bed and Breakfast
Cusco: Bed and Breakfast
Jungle Lodge: Full board
Inca Trail: Full Board