The legacy of the Inca Empire
The Inca Empire was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America, and possibly the largest empire in the world in the early 16th century.
This trip explores the historical achievements, culture, and legacy of the Inca through visits to important archaeological sites and modern Indigenous communities. The educational adventure spans three countries and combines Machu Picchu, Lake Titicaca, the highest navigable lake in the world (12,500 ft), and the Uyuni Salt Flats, the largest salt flat in the world with a landscape reminiscent of a Dali painting. Challenging mountain passes, mysterious ancient ruins, Indigenous village home stays, brilliantly colored lakes, and floating mountain mirages combine to make this trip an incredibly unique experience.
What you will learn
History, mythology and traditions of the Incas
Customs and practices of modern-day Indigenous people in Peru and Boliva
Why the coca leaf is not a drug
The impact and of the Indigenous Movement of Bolivia
The poetry of Pablo Neruda as it relates to places on the itinerary
Amenities
Stay in comfortable hotels until you travel to Lake Titicaca, where you will stay in a homestay with an Indigenous family. On the Uyuni Jeep Tour you will stay in a rustic lodge in the middle of the salt flat.
Gallery
Itinerary
Day 1: Travel to Lima, Peru
Day 2: Travel to Cusco, Peru the historic capital of the Inca Empire.
Day 3: Explore Cusco's ancient streets, plazas, and cathedrals then travel by train to Aguascalientes, a small town near Machu Picchu.
Day 4: Take a short but steep hike to Machu Picchu with an optional accent of Huyana Picchu a mountain overlooking the Machu Picchu site. You will have ample opportunity to explore the mythical and historical site with your guide. In the evening take a train back to Cusco.
Day 5: Travel from Cusco by land to the small lake-side port of Puno, the entry to Lake Titicaca. Stop at several important archeological sites on the way.
Day 6: Visit Lake Titicaca's floating villages of the Uru people, who built islands out of reeds to escape the Incas, and Isla Taquile home to another Indigenous community known to produce some of the highest quality handicrafts in the world.
Day 7: Travel from Puno across the Bolivian border and on to Isla del Sol, the birthplace of the Sun God in Inca Mythology. Explore Isla del Sol on foot and enjoy a spectacular sunset. Stay in the village for a unique experience.
Day 8: After the sunrise on Isla del Sol travel back to the Bolivian mainland and on to the town of Oruro, where you will visit an important archeological museum.
Day 9: Travel from Oruro to the small town of Uyuni, at the edge of the largest salt flat in the world.
Day 10: Uyuni Jeep Tour 1: Start an unforgettable trip across one of the most unique parts of the world by visiting several lakes of astonishing color and natural hot spings. Stay in a rustic lodge in the middle of the salt flat.
Day 11: Uyuni Jeep Tour 2: Continue the journey with a a visit to a wind carved rock right out of a Dali painting, enjoy floating mountain mirages, and the vast flat white 360 degree emptiness of the Salt Flat.
Day 12: Uyuni Jeep Tour 3: Visit a house made entirely of salt and enjoy lunch on a table made entirely of salt, continue into to Chile and the Atacama Desert, one of the driest places on earth.
Day 13: Visit the dune covered Valley of the Moon in the Atacama for an unforgettable bike ride through the desert.
Day 14: Fly back from nearby Calama, Chile, with connection in Santiago, Chile.
This itinerary is subject to change.
“Mother of stone, spume of condors.
High reef of the human dawn.
Spade lost in the primal sand.
This was the dwelling, this is the place:
here the broad grains of maize rose up
and fell again like red hail.”
