Paracas

4* La Hacienda, Paracas

On arrival at Lima airport your private transfer will take you the 3.5 hours South along the Pacific coast to Paracas, home to one of the largest and most stunning kitesurf lagoons in the world. For your time here we would suggest the La Hacienda Hotel for its prime location over looking the lagoon and it’s friendly professional character.

We think Paracas in one of the best kitesurf location in the world but it remains very little known, this is a great time to beat the crowds that will inevitably find there way here. The lagoon is very special as it offer perfect kitesurf conditions and stunning scenery bordering the Paracas Nature reserve.

Off the water there is also some great day or half day trips to include the Ballestas Islands and Paracas Reserve:

THE BALLESTAS ISLANDS - sometime referred to as a mini Galapago, is home to more than 150 species of marine birds and colonies of hundreds of endangered Humboldt Penguins, fur seals, sealions, and endangered marine otters, all jostling for space on the rocks. From January to March the sealion population grows even greater as baby sealions are born. Occasional dolphin packs pass through the waters, and with special luck one might have the chance to see an endangered Andean Condor, the world’s largest bird of flight, or a humpback whale. 

PARACAS NATIONAL PARK - one of two Protected Natural Areas that preserves samples representing Peru's coastal marine ecosystems. The Park contains land, a large part of the Paracas desert, islands and the sea. Besides protecting great biological diversity, the Park also contains various archaeological sites from the Paracas pre-Inca culture, which existed in large part of what is now the reserve. The Park stretches over 335,000 hectares (827,803 acres), 35% of which comprises dry land and islands, and 65% of which is sea.

The Park is also ideal for bird watchers, as well as for those who enjoy walks and adventures in natural settings. The reserve contains an Interpretation Center which provides information on biodiversity, ecosystems and protecting endangered species in the zone.

5* Hotel Monasterio, Cusco and Sacred Valley

Bed & Breakfast

To get to Cusco, the staging post for Machu Picchu, we will transfer you the 3.5 hours back from Paracas to Lima Airport for a short internal flights that lands in the heart of Cusco.

Upon arrival to Cusco's airport our representative will assist you with your luggage and drive you to the hotel. For today you will relax after your journey, perhaps explore some of the streets and shops around the town or try one of the many excellent restaurant.

For your first full day in Cusco we will arrange a private city tour, including a visit to the district of San Blas, with its winding streets, the whitewashed houses, the blue balconies hung with geranium-filled flowerpots, the uneven line of the tiled rooftops and the endless stairways. In the neighborhood live the folk artists of Cusco, who for centuries have used their hands to tell the tale of their longings and frustrations working in stone and woodcarving, sculpture, doll-making, silverware, weaving and textile arts, gold-leaf, mask-making, and an array of ceramics in utilitarian, architectural, sculptural, monumental, grotesque and many other styles.  
Continue with a visit to the Cathedral and the Korikancha temple.

5* Hotel Monasterio, Cusco and Sacred Valley

Buffet breakfast at the hotel. Your private guide will meet you at your hotel very early this morning. You will be transferred to Cusco train station to board the Vistadome train, for a dramatic train ride to Machu Picchu (6180 feet), the great mountain-top city abandoned by the Inca Empire, reclaimed by the jungle and lost to humanity until its rediscovery in 1911. The legendary 'Lost City of Machu Picchu' is without a doubt the one of the world's most impressive archaeological sites. Built by the Incas on the summit of "Machu Picchu" (Old Peak), overlooking the deep canyon of the Urubamba river in a semi-tropical area 120 Km. (75 miles) from the city of Cuzco at 7,000 feet above sea level. It sits on a mountain site of extraordinary beauty, in the middle of a tropical mountain cloud forest; Machu Picchu was probably the most amazing urban creation of the Inca Empire at its height, with its giant walls, terraces and ramps, which appear as though they have been cut naturally in the continuous rock escarpments. Machu Picchu is also one of the Inca's best kept secrets, since they did not left written records and Spanish chronicles make no mention of the citadel, it remains a mystery.

Upon arrival to the ruins, you will begin a private guided tour  of the lost citadel. For the most adventurous people, we suggest to go up the Huayna Picchu (if it is not raining) from where you can appreciate the immensity of Machu Picchu, even more amazing being high and distant. Arriving at the top takes about two hours and a half and it must be before 13:00 hours. It is necessary to register in an office at the beginning of the trail.

Lunch at MachuPicchu Sanctuary Lodge and then afternoon return to Cusco by train accompanied by your private guide. Upon arrival at Cusco train station you will be met by your private driver who will transfer you to you the hotel.  Dinner and overnight.

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Depending on flight connections today you will fly back to Lima and then onward bound back home after what we hope as been a trip of a lifetime !