Cusco to the Amazon

Wel­come to Peru!

We offer an air­port pick-up on Day 1 at 11:00 a.m. from the air­port in Cus­co (Ale­jan­dro Velas­co Astete Inter­na­tion­al Air­port CUZ). After col­lect­ing your bag­gage, head out to the main pas­sen­ger pick-up area of the air­port, and look for your shut­tle dri­ver with a Sacred Rides sign in their hand. We’ll then trans­fer you to our hotel in Cusco.

After set­tling in to your hotel in Cus­co, we’ll head out for an ear­ly lunch near the bustling main plaza of Cus­co. After lunch, we’ll head back to our hotel to build our bikes. We’ll then head out right from our hotel for a short intro ride to the upper part of the city. Once we are on top of the city, we’ll ride down an Inca trail with a few sur­pris­es thrown in. We’ll end our ride back at our hotel leav­ing enough time to explore Cus­co or catch up on a few lost Z’s from travel.

Tonight, we’ll head to one of the best restau­rants in Cus­co. At din­ner, we’ll take the time to review in detail our full itin­er­ary for the week and answer any ques­tions you may have. Tonight, we can enjoy some of the nightlife this Impe­r­i­al city has to offer.

(Please Note: the Machu Pic­chu tour is not includ­ed in the trip price. Please vis­it the Add-Ons tabs for pric­ing. The Machu Pic­chu tour includes return train ride to Aguas Calientes, bus to Machu Pic­chu, admis­sion and guide.)

We high­ly rec­om­mend you vis­it Machu Pic­chu while in Peru, con­sid­ered one of the 7 won­ders of the world! The Machu Pic­chu tour starts with a train ride from Ollan­tay­tam­bo to the town of Aguas Calientes. From there we’ll take a bus up to the Citadel. Machu Pic­chu (like most of the Quechua names of towns and dif­fer­ent sites in the region) is a com­pound word that comes from Machu = old or ancient, and Pic­chu = peak or moun­tain; therefore,

Machu Pic­chu is trans­lat­ed as “Old Moun­tain”. The famous moun­tain that appears in most of the clas­si­cal views of the site is named Way­na Pic­chu (Young Moun­tain). We’ll have the entire day to explore the remark­able Citadel and learn about its well-pre­served secrets.

Tonight, we’ll dine in Yanahuara Vil­lage and head back to our lodge for a good night of rest.

NOTE:   For those not inter­est­ed in vis­it­ing Machu Pic­chu, oth­er activ­i­ties will be avail­able to Add-On to your trip, includ­ing: a short bike ride around Ollan­tay­tam­bo, a hike on the Moun­tains of the Sacred Val­ley or raft­ing. Pric­ing for these activ­i­ties will depend on the # of par­tic­i­pants. Please con­tact us to be added to the list for those not par­tic­i­pat­ing in Machu Pic­chu and for more infor­ma­tion on pricing.

After break­fast, we’ll start our jour­ney to the Ama­zon jungle.

We’ll be trans­ferred from our hotel in the Sacred Val­ley to the vil­lage of Huan­car­ani, locat­ed at an ele­va­tion of 3,900m (12,795ft.) where we’ll start our ride.  Our descent down the val­ley will take us past sev­er­al Andean vil­lages where Quechua is still the main lan­guage. From this part of the Andes we’ll have incred­i­ble views of the Auzan­gate Moun­tain (6,372m).  As we con­tin­ue our descent, we’ll expe­ri­ence warmer weath­er as we end our ride next to an Inca Fortress.

Todays lunch will be held in a 500 year old church!

After lunch, we’ll load up our bikes on our shut­tle and climb to Tres Cruces, reach­ing the entrance to Manu Nation­al Park.

Tres Cruces is locat­ed at an alti­tude of 3,630m (11,909ft.) and it’s the last moun­tain before the Ama­zon jungle.

We’ll arrive into camp with our site ready and wait­ing!  This after­noon, high above the val­ley with views to remem­ber, we’ll enjoy a group din­ner at camp. 

Camping equipment included for Riders:

- 4 per­son tents (but not to wor­ry, there will only be 2 Rid­ers per tent!)

- Inflat­able mattresses

- Sleep­ing bag (pil­lows are not includ­ed, but your rolled up down coat will work just fine!)

Camping equipment included for the Group:

- Canopy tent

- Din­ing table

- Chairs

- Light

- Music

Please Note:   This loca­tion is very remote, and does not offer run­ning water for a flush­ing toi­let or a show­er. A pri­vate wash­room facil­i­ty is avail­able, sim­i­lar to that of an outhouse.

Regard­less of how much you like your Z’s, you can­not miss this sunrise!

We’ll brew some camp cof­fee and eat an easy camp break­fast, while we watch the sun peek over the moun­tain tops. Cam­eras ready!

After pack­ing up our gear, we’ll start our ride down to the Ama­zon jun­gle. It’s almost all descend­ing from here as we expe­ri­ence a dra­mat­ic change in the veg­e­ta­tion and weath­er.  We’ll reach our lodge in San Pedro, locat­ed at an alti­tude of 1,300m (4,265ft.).    The cab­ins are prim­i­tive  in a remote wilder­ness setting.

We’ll enjoy  lunch at San Pedro Lodge, then set out on a hike to find the Cock of the Rocks, the nation­al bird of Peru. They are found in trop­i­cal and sub­trop­i­cal rain­forests close to rocky areas, where they build their nests. The males are mag­nif­i­cent birds, not only because of their bright orange or red col­ors, but also because of their very promi­nent fan-shaped crests. They are wary ani­mals and pri­mar­i­ly feed on fruits and berries.

After spot­ting a few, and grab­bing some pho­tos, we’ll head back to San Pedro Lodge for din­ner and a good night’s rest.

After break­fast at San Pedro Lodge, our ride will start with a descent all the way to the low­er lands of the Ama­zon jungle.

You will feel the dras­tic change in ele­va­tion, tem­per­a­ture and humid­i­ty. We’ve reached the jun­gle folks!

We’ll pass through sev­er­al small vil­lages, cross big rivers and reach the vil­lage of Ata­laya where we’ll board a small boat to Pan­ti­a­col­la Lodge. The boat ride down the Alto Madre de Dios Riv­er will offer mag­nif­i­cent views of wildlife and remote riv­er-side communities.

We’ll set­tle in and enjoy lunch at Pan­ti­a­col­la Lodge. The cab­ins are prim­i­tive in a remote wilder­ness setting.

After lunch, we’ll hike a short trail through the sur­round­ing area before soak­ing in the riv­er to cool down.

Tonight, we’ll enjoy a remote din­ner at Pan­ti­a­col­la Lodge.

Ear­ly this morn­ing, we’ll enjoy a hearty break­fast at Pan­ti­a­col­la Lodge.

After break­fast, we’ll head out on a remark­able 5km wildlife hike, where we’re like­ly to spot mon­keys, frogs, tapirs, and capybaras.After lunch at Pan­ti­a­col­la Lodge, we’ll pack up the boat and start our return up the Alto Madre de Dios River.

Once we reach Ata­laya, we’ll hop on our bikes and return to San Pedro Lodge.

Tonight, we’ll enjoy din­ner at San Pedro Lodge.

After break­fast at San Pedro Lodge, we’ll shut­tle to the moun­tain pass of Pisac.

From Pisac, we’ll hop on our bikes and start the descent down the remark­able Sacred Valley.

By days end, we’ll reach Cus­co, set­tle into our hotel and head out for our final din­ner. We’ll cheers a round of Pis­co Sours to the incred­i­ble mem­o­ries this week of adven­ture has created!

We have reached the last day of our amaz­ing trip in Peru and it’s time to say good­bye to Cus­co and it’s won­der­ful Inca Trails.

We’ll arrange for your shut­tle to the air­port based on your indi­vid­ual flight times.