SOUTH AMERICAN PEARLS

 

 

18 Days 17 Nights

Departure: Daily Valid from: 2 passengers until 15 December 2015 Highlights: Quito, Middle of the World, Otavalo Market, Cusco, Machu Picchu, Lima, Santiago, Valparaiso & Viña del Mar, Buenos Aires, Iguazu falls, Sugar Loaf & Corcovado mountain (Rio de Janeiro)

 

Day 1: OUT / QUITO

Meeting and assistance upon arrival and transfer to your hotel. Balance of the day at your leisure.

Day 2: QUITO

Breakfast.

QUITO CITY TOUR AND EQUATORIAL MONUMENT (6 hours)

We will start in the old town, with its steeply cobbled streets and elegant plazas is a pleasure to explore and this morning you will be taken on a tour to visit the many churches, cathedrals and old world buildings that line the streets. Lunch at a local restaurant. Then continue a short drive north of the city heading up to the “Middle of the World City” where the monument that divides the Northern from the Southern Hemisphere will be observed. It’s not a spectacular site in itself but you can pose for photographs with a foot in either hemisphere and there is an interesting museum nearby, as well as some wonderful views over the surrounding volcanoes. At the end, optional visit either to Intiñan or Ethnographic Museum.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

 

Day 3: QUITO

Breakfast.                                                                         

OTAVALO MARKET (Full day)

Depart from Quito through the Pan-American North Highway via Cayambe. Brief stop at Guachalá, (old equatorial monument). Passengers will have the opportunity to taste the delicious “Bizcochos de Cayambe”, a type of cracker or bread baked in a clay oven (greatly paired with local cheese or caramel sauce). Afterwards, we will make a brief stop at “Miralago”, to admire a wonderful view of Lago San Pablo, amazing views. The tour then continues to Otavalo. Visit the colourful indian market where locals sell ponchos, scarves, blankets, wall hangings, woven belts, hats, handbags and much more. Here, locals barter in silence, in marked contrast to the raucous noise of other markets.

Have lunch in one of the charming haciendas. Afterwards, continue to the nearby indigenous village of Peguche, where local artisans weave in their own homes. Return to Quito.

 

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

 

Day 4: QUITO / LIMA

Breakfast.

Transfer to the airport. Fly to Lima (2.20 hours).

Meeting and assistance upon arrival and transfer to your hotel.

Optional: Dinner with Folk dance show

Meals: Breakfast

Day 5: LIMA / CUSCO

Breakfast.

Transfer to the airport for your departure flight to Cusco (1.20 hour).

Arrival in Cusco, reception and transfer to the Hotel. Welcome Coca tea. Free time to adjust to the altitude.

CUSCO CITY TOUR & NEARBY RUINS (4 hours)

In the afternoon, enjoy a tour of Cusco, the former capital city of the four regions that formed the Inca Empire. The tour includes highlights of the Colonial city such as the Cathedral, the Q’oricancha – an amazing example of the fusion of Incan and Western cultures that was one of the most important temples in the Empire of Incas – the Plaza de Armas and visit to the Inca ruins of Tambomachay, Kenko, Puca-Pucara and Sacsayhuaman’s gigantic zigzag-walled fortress. Overnight.

Meals: Breakfast

Day 6: CUSCO / MACHU PICCHU / CUSCO

Breakfast.

MACHU PICCHU (10 hours)                                                      

Early, we set off by train for Machu Picchu. The train passes through the Sacred Valley. The single line track hugs the right side of the canyon next to the boulder-strewn, roaring Urubamba River. Arrival at the small town of Aguas Calientes, and finally a 30-minute bus ride up to Machu Picchu. Machu Picchu, an Inca city with a maze of fine stone temples, houses and fountains, is spectacularly situated on a ridge between two peaks. It was hidden by dense vegetation when Hiram Bingham discovered it in 1911. We include a guided tour. In the afternoon lunch and return to Cusco by train. Transfer to your hotel. Overnight.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Day 7: CUSCO / LIMA

Breakfast and transfer to the airport to board your flight back to Lima (1.20 hour)

Arrival and transfer to the hotel.

LIMA CITY TOUR (3 hours)

Next, you will have a guided tour that includes visits to the main Colonial attractions such as the Main Square with the Cathedral, San Francisco Convent, and many elegant buildings with their traditional wooden balconies, which are now being restored. Afterwards you will visit Lima’s residential areas: San Isidro with its Olive Grove, Country Club and Golf course and Miraflores with its Central Park, City Hall and Main shopping streets such as Larco Avenue. Return to the hotel.

 

Meals: Breakfast

 

Day 8: LIMA / SANTIAGO

Breakfast.

Transfer to the airport to board your flight to Santiago (3.30 hours)

Arrival and transfer to the hotel.

Overnight.

Meals: Breakfast

Day 9: SANTIAGO

Breakfast.

SANTIAGO CITY TOUR (3 hours)

In the morning – Discover the classic attractions of Santiago. Situated in the country’s central valley, and home to 7 million people, Santiago’s rapid economic growth has made it one of South America’s most developed cities. Its unique urban environment artfully unites classic and modern.

Experience Chile´s rich cultural heritage through the city’s monuments, including the Plaza de Armas (the main square), Santa Lucia Hill, La Moneda, the Post Office, Riding Club and the Santiago Metropolitan Cathedral. Head to Cerro San Cristobal, a hill rising nearly 1,000 feet above Santiago in the city’s largest park. Atop the hill you’ll find a church as well as a stunning 72-foot-tall statue of the Virgin Mary.

Visit the Orient Sector, the most modern part of Santiago, and see its impressive high-rise buildings and classy boulevards.

In the afternoon – free time to explore this city on your own.

Meals: Breakfast

Day 10: SANTIAGO / VALPARAISO / VIÑA DEL MAR / SANTIAGO

Breakfast.

VALPARAISO & VIÑA DEL MAR (Full day)

Departure from Santiago on this full-day excursion to the Pacific Coast. Pass through the beautifully groomed vineyards of the Curacavi and Casablanca valleys before arriving in Valparaiso. Valparaiso, Spanish for Paradise Valley, is a cultural hotspot that serves as one of the country’s most important seaports.
The entire city is recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site for its intriguing cobblestone labyrinth of streets, historic buildings, and ancient funiculars along steeply sloping hills.

From the Mirador 21 de Mayo lookout you’ll enjoy spectacular, panoramic views of the city and harbor.

Your guide will point out some of the more interesting sights and will be happy to answer any questions you may have.

Then, you’ll visit the garden city, Viña del Mar, home to the most-visited beach on Chile’s central coast. The city boasts beautiful parks and gardens, and miles of sparkling beaches. See the Presidential Castle, Liberty Avenue, the 1930s Casino, and various classic century-old mansions. As a part of the experience, you will enjoy lunch at a delightful Viña del Mar restaurant. Return to Santiago.

 

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

 

Day 11: SANTIAGO / BUENOS AIRES

Breakfast.

Transfer to the airport to board your flight to Buenos Aires (2.15 hours)

Arrival and transfer to the hotel.

Overnight.         

Optional: Dinner with Tango show

Meals: Breakfast

 

Day12: BUENOS AIRES

Breakfast.

BUENOS AIRES CITY TOUR (3 hours)

Buenos Aires is an elegant, cultured and cosmopolitan city famed for its interesting museums and the fascinating port district of La Boca, with its cobbled streets and brightly painted houses. It was here that the tango was born.

We give you a chance to see Buenos Aires from a different perspective, in a non-traditional way. It is a city tour that will allow you to discover its spirit, mystique and charm. A journey through time that will make you relive the past in a unique and unforgettable way. Throughout the tour there will be an audiovisual experience which will make you revive history. Prior to each stop, the bus will turn into a micro-cinema and you will see a series of 5 minute video-clips. You will see Evita speaking to the crowd from the Casa Rosada, and the Argentineans celebrating the return of democracy.

 

Meals: Breakfast

 

Day13: BUENOS AIRES

Breakfast.

Free day at leisure. This day we suggest you join our optional excursion:

Fiesta Gaucha (Full day) Leave Buenos Aires for pastoral countryside to enjoy traditional music, dancing and sumptuous Argentine barbecue. Following lunch, enjoy Argentine Gauchos display their extraordinary skill on horseback. 

Tigre Delta (Full or Half day) Discover what lies outside of Buenos Aires and see another way of local life. Take a boat ride on the delta to see its waterfront sights, including homes on stilts

 

Meals: Breakfast

Day 14: BUENOS AIRES / IGUAZU FALLS

Breakfast.

Transfer to the airport to board your flight to Puerto Iguazu (2 hours).

Arrival and transfer to the hotel. Free time to explore this small, pleasant town. The Iguazú Falls are unquestionably one of the most extraordinary natural phenomena in the world. A total of 275falls thunder over a rust-coloured cliff surrounded by dense tropical forest.

IGUAZU FALLS – Argentinian side (Full day)

Full day guided tour of the Argentine side of the falls. Visit the National Park Visitor Centre, where there is a display illustrating the biodiversity of the region’s tropical rainforest, and from here a little train chugs to Cataratas Station where the Upper Walk begins. This sequence of causeways and passarelles links dozens of tiny basalt islands at the top of the sheer rock face and the walkways cross the myriad of streams of the Iguazú River as they cascade over the lip of the precipice: the water thunders on to the rocks below. The train continues to Devil’s Throat Station where a 1km-long walkway leads across the river to the thunderous Garganta del Diablo, the Devil’s Throat. From this vantage point you can feel the incredible power of the water, and the flow is mesmeric as it plummets into the vortex below.

Meals: Breakfast

Day 15: IGUAZU FALLS / RIO DE JANEIRO

Breakfast.

IGUAZU FALLS – Brazilian side (4 hours)

Trip over the border to the Brazilian side of the falls from where there is a broad panorama of these magnificent cataracts, and there are some excellent opportunities to photograph the full sweep of the cascades. Before leaving the Brazilian side, you could stop off at the excellent and rather quirky bird park just outside the entrance of Iguaçu National Park. The enclosure is home to a huge variety of birds and wildlife, including toucans, trogons and the coatimundi, from the same family as the racoon.

Fly to Rio de Janeiro (2 hours) and transfer to your hotel in Copacabana.

Meals: Breakfast

Day 16: RIO DE JANEIRO

Breakfast.

CORCOVADO MOUNTAIN & SUGAR LOAF (6 hours)

Take an exhilarating guided tour by an open-topped jeep through tropical fruit-laden vegetation up the sheer-sided Corcovado Mountain to drink in the views from beside the famous Christ the Redeemer statue on the peak. Continue to Santa Teresa, the colonial heart of the city which sits on a hill close to the Cathedral in the busy centre. This is a popular residential area for artists and TV personalities who occupy the stately shaded houses lining its cobbled streets. There are plenty of old-fashioned bars, or bodegas. Lunch at local restaurant.

Then continue your excursion to Sugar Loaf Mountain. Take the cable-car up the domed granite mountain that protrudes from the ocean. This is especially magical at sunset when the twinkling lights of the city are coming on and you can enjoy the magnificent views back over Copacabana beach, Botafogo Bay and into the lush mountains beyond.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Day 17: RIO DE JANEIRO

Breakfast.

Free day at leisure

Optional: Dinner with Samba show

Meals: Breakfast

 

Day 18: RIO DE JANEIRO / OUT

Breakfast.

Transfer to the airport to board your international flight back home.

Meals: Breakfast

END OF SERVICES

PRICE IN AMERICAN DOLLARS, PER PERSONMINIMUM 2 TRAVELERS	Group service by English Speaking guides	Services by private English Speaking guides
HOTELS 3*** Quito: San Francisco Lima: Castellana Cusco: Siete Ventanas Santiago: Monte Carlo Buenos Aires: Two Iguassu: Complejo Americano Rio de Janeiro: Rio´s Nice	DBL $ 3640	DBL $ 3920
HOTELS 4**** Quito: Mercure Lima: Hacienda Miraflores Cusco: San Agustin Dorado Santiago: Torre Mayor Lyon Buenos Aires: Eurobuilding Iguassu: Grand Crucero Rio de Janeiro: Windsor Palace	DBL $ 4180	DBL $ 4460
HOTELS 5***** Quito: Hilton Colon Lima: Estelar Miraflores Cusco: Aranwa Boutique Santiago: Ritz Carlton Buenos Aires: Melia Buenos Aires Iguassu: Amerian Rio de Janeiro: Royal Tulip	DBL $ 5090	DBL $ 5370

Included in the program:

All land transport │ Accommodation as specified │ Private Transfers as specified │ Private Local English speaking guides during excursions as specified │ Daily breakfast and specified meals │ Train ticket in “Vistadome Class” to Machu Picchu │ Entrance fees to listed sightseeing in the itinerary

Not included:

Air tickets │ Airport taxes which are payable locally (if applies) │ Optional excursions │ Personal expenses │ Tips

IMPORTANT:

Package rates are not valid during International Congresses and National holidays: Catholic Easter (June 2^nd.  ; May 1 st. – Labour day (May 1^st.); June 22nd – 25th. – Inti Raymi (in Cusco); Soccer South American Championship in Santiago (June 10^th – July 05^th), Independence days; December 24th. & 25th. – Catholic Christmas.