Peru With Amazon Extension

Get a thorough grounding in Peru's history and culture in this fascinating museum. Exhibits trace the country from prehistoric times through the present with collections of weapons, carvings, textiles, Inca jewelry, and ancient mummies and funeral objects. Check out the interactive model of Macchu Picchu, which explains the various sectors of the mysterious city.

Colorful Cuzco was an important Inca center, and sites surrounding the town testify to the power of the empire. Begin your tour at Tambo Machay, the ritual baths probably used by nobility. Underground water bubbles up over the intricately carved stone platforms, creating a shower as it tumbles over the edge. The impressive stone at Qenko had a slightly less cleansing purpose -- each year, priests would pour llama blood over the top and watch its progress through the complicated zigzag pattern to determine the luck for the coming planting season. Puca Pucara was likely a hunting lodge or vacation home for the emperor; from its high position, you can gaze out at the glaciers in the south.

Built to resemble an ear of maize, Ollantaytambo is one of the few remaining examples of Inca urban grid architecture. Get an overhead view from the fortress, still impressive all these centuries later. Continue on through the lush Urubamba Valley before reaching Pisac, which hosts a renowned crafts market three days a week.

Get the best view of the most impressive site in South America as you arrive at Intipunko, or the "Sun Gate," overlooking Machu Picchu. Machu Picchu is a stunning complex of buildings clinging to the surrounding mountains and above the Urubamba River. Much of the extensive city is still intact, showcasing the agility and skill of Inca stone work. (Legend claims that the Inca knew of leaves that would dissolve rock, allowing them to meld stones together when building; birds in the surrounding jungle have been known to melt nesting holes in the mountains themselves, supporting the theory, but the leaves have not been identified.) Archaeologists disagree about the purpose of Machu Picchu -- many believe it was a country retreat, others think it may have been a university.

Raft through the Sacred Valley, which winds through major Inca sites and beautiful scenery. Ancient fortresses loom on cliffs high above, while the river makes its slow way into the jungle.

Take a motorized canoe to your base camp, the Posada Amazonas, a clean modern lodge in the midst of the Amazon. Just over 15% of the Amazon rainforest is in Peru, covering about half the country.

The beautiful Tres Chimbadas Lake is home to turtles, herons, osprey, black-collared hawks, and more unique animals. Look especially for the family of five giant river otters that make their home in the lake and surrounding waters.

Get ready for a mud bath -- a parrot mud bath. The Tambopata Research Center, an architecturally low-impact center for biologists and other jungle scientists, is next to the world's largest clay lick, where macaws, parakeets, and parrots come to eat the detoxifying mud.