Amazon Rainforest

Every adventurer dreams of a truly intrepid travel experience; foraging through dense rain forests, coming face-to-face with indigenous tribes, and living with the clear and present danger of horrible exotic creatures that lurk in the undergrowth. If this is your idea of excitement — perhaps toned down a little with the protection of an experienced guide at hand — then an ultimate Peruvian Amazon adventure will thrill you to the core.

Covering more than 7 million square km of South America, the Amazon basin is one of the largest and most impressive river systems in the world, and is lined on either side by deep wild jungle. Because of its enormity, the variety of Amazon tours, trips and journeys that you can experience along its mighty stretch are numerous — from trekking beneath forest canopy and canoeing along its steamy shore, to dozing in a hammock as you chug upriver.

In the Republic of Peru, many travel experiences will take you off river and into dense jungle with a local specialist. He or she will have an extensive knowledge of Amazonian food, medicine and local flora and fauna. A 5-day tour to the Tambopata Research Centre will see you canoeing to search for giant river otters, turtles, hoatzin and wading birds.

The Tambopata Research Centre is a comfortable 18-bedroom lodge situated by one of the world’s largest macaw clay-licks on the uninhabited frontier of the Tambopata National Reserve and the Bahuaja-Sonene National Park. A founding venture of Rainforest Expeditions, the Research Centre was established to contribute towards the protection of the region’s magnificent bird species, and is engaged in long-term research projects to ensure their survival. The Research Centre’s location is unrivalled in its access to pristine Amazonian forests. Having no neighbours whatsoever, it is so far from human populations that you’ll overnight in Refugio Amazonas before arriving here.

Peru’s wonderful Ocelot Trail is a 2 km hike, which will give you that genuine rainforest experience. Making you feel so small, the Amazon Rainforest is 200 to 300 years old and shelters mammals such as the saddleback tamarin, squirrel monkey, brown capuchin monkey and collared peccary. The birdlife nearby in the U-shaped oxbow lake is also remarkable, with high chances of watching varieties of woodpecker, parakeet, ibis, chachalaca and oropendola.

The Amazon River is vast, and everything about it seems to be never-ending. Its bird, insect and animal life won’t turn up on-demand, but something amazing is always happening, and minute-by-minute, your Encounters Travel experience will become more rewarding.

Ask our team about tours to Peru. Email tours@encounterstravel.com.

Machu Picchu - Peru

Dominated by the magnificent Andean mountain range, and wedged between the South Pacific and lush, humid Amazon rainforest, Peru is a country that has so much to offer travellers and trekkers. One of Peru’s most famous travel experiences is the Inca trail to Machu Picchu, a 43 km trek into the Andes. You will journey to a city that has evolved 3,400 metres up in the mountains — perfect for acclimatising to high altitudes. Your host city of Cuzco was the capital of the Inca Empire and is designated as the Historical Capital of Peru.

The Killke occupied this region from 900 to 1200 AD. But in the 12th century, the Incas — a local tribe in this area — killed off the Killke. Growing from tribe to imperial power, the Incas, under their Sapa (Emperor), transformed the Kingdom of Cuzco from a sleepy little city-state into a vast Empire.

More properly known as Tawantinsuyu, the Inca Empire was the largest force in the pre-Columbian Americas. Its centre was here in Cuzco, Tawantinsuyu (today’s Peru is part of old Tawantinsuyu). Passionate about Empire-building, the Inca civilization was on a roll in the 15th century. So it’s fairly understandable that from 1438 to 1533, the Incas used both violent and non-violent means to cram more and more of the Andean mountain range into Tawantinsuyu.

High up in the Incas’ prized mountains, you will trek through cloud forest, into subtropical jungle and up tiers of granite steps. Next you’ll negotiate some rocky tunnels and pass some Inca remains. At an altitude of 2,430 metres, here is your first astonishing view of the 15th-century ruins of the ‘Lost City of the Incas’. Discovered in 1911 by American historian, Hiram Bingham, this expansive UNESCO World Heritage site is among the most spectacular architectural relics in the world.

It is widely believed that the Incas designed and built this ‘City’ to be an Imperial estate with-a-view; a mountain ‘resort’ for the Sapa (Emperor) of Tawantinsuyu, Sapa Pachacuti, his family and other Inca high-flyers. Their prized Machu Picchu Mountain ‘resort’ could accommodate up to 750 fortunate members of their Inca class.

Construction began around 1430, and the ‘resort’ gave pleasure for 100 years. But in 1533 Spanish conquistadors invaded this massive continent and, together with conscripted local mercenaries, they began to quash and conquer the Incas and their empire of Tawantinsuyu. Remarkably, and to our huge advantage, the Spanish invaders failed to stumble upon the great Machu Picchu Mountain estate. So the ‘Lost City’-on-high continues to astound all who walk this beautiful land and trek its fabulous Inca trails.

To find out more about our tours to Peru, visit http://www.encounterstravel.com/peru.html or call us on 0800 088 6002.