Peru
Peru is made up of three distinct regions with the coastal desert strip, the snow-capped Andean mountains at the heart of the ancient Inca civilisation, and in stark contrast, the green, humid eastern slopes that run into the lush tropical plains of the Amazon basin.
Peru is a very unique country, and it's many wonderful sights and features to explore attract visitors from all over the world. Must-do highlights for a visit to Peru include...
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Lake Titicaca - the world's highest navigable lake at 3,856 metres above sea level
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Cusco - the sacred city of the Incas and archaeological capital of the Americas. It is a magical city of excitement and bustling nightlife.
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Inca Trail - the route to Machu Picchu is Peru's most popular trekking trail and possibly one of the most spectacular walks in the Americas. Every year, over 25,000 hikers from all over the world walk the 27 mile stone-paved trail, built by the Incas to get to Machu Picchu, deep in the cloud forest.
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Machu Picchu - the ancient Inca citadel was elected one of the new Seven wonders of the World. Translated as "Old Mountain" in Quechua, the ancient language of the Incas, Machu Picchu nestles on top of a mountain high above the Urubamba River in the middle of the cloud forest.
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Huascaran - standing at 6,768 metres, it is not only Peru's highest mountain but also the highest peak in the tropics anywhere in the world. It lies in the Cordillera Blanca, which was established as a National Park in 1975.
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The Amazon River - the world's mightiest River, originating in Peru. It's namesake rainforest also makes up much of the country.
- Colca's Canyon - the globe's deepest canyon lies in the department of Arequipa, and is twice as deep as the Grand Canyon in the United States.
Peru harbours some of the richest rainforests in the world, and its most southern Amazonian state, Madre de Dios, boasts many biodiversity world records. In Puerto Maldonado, the capital of Madre de Dios, the river Las Piedras is well known for its abundant fauna and has recently been scientifically proven to harbour over double the mammal densities of surrounding rainforest reserves.
In 2002 the Alto Purus Indigenous Reserve was extended to protect the entire upper Las Piedras basin 220 miles from the mouth of the river. The locally owned and comfortable Amazon Rainforest Conservation Centre, ARCC for short, was built in 2002 to protect 17,000 acres of the pristine rainforest surrounding the wildlife-rich Lake Soledad. Tours are based here from where you can follow the naturalist guides on a variety of exciting excursions.
Whilst ARCC offers some of the best rainforest mammal and bird watching in the Amazon Rainforest, mammals can still prove to be difficult to see at times. One can’t expect to see such large or numerous mammals as in Africa due to the low mammal density, the nocturnal habits of the majority of mammal species, and the dense rainforest vegetation.
However during periods when mammals are proving difficult to spot, you will be kept entertained by the incredible diversity of other classes of vertebrates and invertebrates. While the tour’s focus and highlights hope to include threatened species such as Giant River Otters, Black Spider Monkeys and White-lipped Peccaries, you will also have a good chance of seeing many of the plethora of birds, reptiles, plants and insects of this spectacularly-diverse rainforest.
Images courtesy of Colin Moss
