The famed Amazon Rainforest and mighty Madre de Dios River (which feeds into the Amazon River) are home to an stunning variety of plant life, tropical birds, piranhas and paiches, giant otters, and more. Venture with us to Monkey Island to watch the mischievous capuchins and black spider monkeys and wonder at the sounds and colors of the wall where hundreds of the bright birds congregate to feed on a clay lick rich in salt and minerals. Come discover the secrets of the jungle, and take away with you once-in-a-lifetime memories and photos.
Upon your arrival to Peru´s biodiversity capital, Puerto Maldonado, we´ll pick you up and visit the market. Whether we stop for lunch in the city of back at the Inn will depend on your arrival time.
To reach the Inn we´ll have to travel along the Madre de Dios River for around an hour. At the inn everyone will receive their bungalow assignments. Afterwards we´ll visit the river´s Monkey Island, where hundreds of monkeys reside. Among others, you´ll see black spider monkeys, capuchins, pygmy marmosets, squirrel monkeys, etc. We´ll return to the inn for dinner and in the night you will have the option to participate in nocturnal activities or not.
We´ll start the day with a hearty breakfast and then depart along the path to Sandoval Lake. We´ll need to walk for about 1½hrs through virgin jungle. At the lake we´ll see a diverse amount of flora and fauna. Plants include orchids and large (10-15ft) plantanillos, animals include wild chickens, giant otters, and Cayman alligators, and fish include the notorious piranhas and large (more than 6ft) paiches. We´ll have lunch during the trip and those who choose can take advantage of the opportunity to have a swim.
We´ll have dinner and spend the night at the Inn. There´ll be optional nighttime activities available.
On our final day we´ll get a very early start and take the boat upriver to a parrot clay lick, a wall rich in minerals and salt where, early in the day, hundreds of green parrots arrive in a feeding frenzy. We´ll have breakfast here and watch the wall come alive with tropical birds for an hour and a half before heading back to the inn and then returning to the city of Puerto Maldonado.
The 4th annual International Culinary Fair of Lima, Mistura 2011, is taking place right now at Parque de la Exposición in the center of Lima as foodies from around the world gather for good times and good food. The event will be continuing through to the 18th. Throughout the year Peru has been combed for vendors and chefs of quality and there are more than 1800 products available at the market. One of the big themes of this year's event is "fruits of the Amazon", although you'll find products native to all regions of the country.
Sacred Mt Pachatusan, whose name is quechua for "He Who Sustains the Earth", has the honor of being a preferred site for traditional pre-Columbian rites- such as offerings to the Apu (Mountain Deity) or Pachamama (Earth Mother), purifications, and Ayahuasca ceremonies- as well as the site of one of Peru's largest pilgrimages, the Lord of Huanca.
Sanctuary Garden is an area of privately-owned property within the Historic Sanctuary of Machu Picchu zone. It boasts recently discovered archeological sites including Inca terraces, irrigation canals, shrines, storehouses, towers, tunnels, and more, in an area that still has not been fully explored. Part of the Inca Trail Network crosses this area as well.