Yavero River rafting: Amazon & Machu Picchu 11 days

Day 1: Rest of the world to Lima, Peru

Fly from your home country to Lima, Peru (Flight tickets is not included in the price).

Meals: Not included
Accommodation: Not included.

Day 2: Cusco – Calca – Yavero Canyon

Take a plane to Cuzco. You arrive in Cuzco and here you are greeted by your river guides and journey to the river.  After a pleasant drive lasting a few hours through spectacular mountain scenery, past Inca and pre-Inca settlements, and along mighty rivers we arrive to the wonderful town of Lares where we have refreshments or eat lunch. Many citizens of Lares dress in native colorful clothing. The town is famous for its handcrafts and its handmade woven goods that are sold to visitors all over Peru. In the afternoon there is a journey to the pleasant town in the rain-forest of Quebrada Honda where there is the option to camp or stay in a local hostel.

Meals: Breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Accommodation: Camping or basic accommodation.

Day 3: Yavero River

This morning starts by transferring from a bus to a small vans. Then we drive to the top of the Yavero Canyon where we get our first sighting of the slender green and white ribbon of water 8,000 feet – 2430 meters below. Beyond the green Yavero Canyon, with its densely wooded mountains, that unfold as far as the eye can see, they continue into the Manu and Megantoni National parks.  On a winding, narrow track we can descend some 6,500 feet down a location by the river, here we have a nice lunch.  Directly below our starting point, a trail winds and it leads to a narrow wooden suspension bridge over an awe-inspiring canyon. Legend has it that the Incas used this trail to escape the Spanish and to travel to the fabled Lost City of Gold Paititi. After a detailed safety orientation about the different techniques of paddling, swimming and river navigation, we jump to the rafts and paddle down the river running through a series of moderately challenging class 3 and 3+ rapids.

Meals: Breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Accommodation: Camping.

Day 4 -9: Lacco bridge (Rafting, kayaking and hiking)

For the next five days, the rafts can pass through about 100 thrilling class 3 & 4 rapids through an awesome 2133 meter/7,000-foot-deep canyon with many tributary waterfalls Macaws, Giant Otters and countless birds and butterflies. Spring waters seeps into the canyon and moss carpets the walls. The whitewater is about as challenging as the famous Pacuare in Costa Rica, but it has many more rapids. The Yavero’s most impressive white-water rapid, Tobogan, is one of the longest commercially run class IV rapids in the world. Here the waters converge and it surges through in crashing waves and sweeping bends for over 20 kilometers.

The Yavero offer miles of friendly rapids perfect to try our inflatable one person kayaks, paddle the warm and pure water through some of the best class 2 -3 beginner kayaking runs anywhere. Along the river we will see giant otters swimming in the waters and brightly colored Macaws flying through the old growth jungle canopy that hangs over the river. The remote canyon brings us beautiful camping sites cut from the jungle surrounded by giant old growth trees. The canyon’s is bounded by the half million-acre Megantony National Shrine. Here there are over 4000 different plants, of which between 85 and 95 are considered new species and about 25 of these types are endemic to the area, 379 types of birds, without counting migratory birds, 39 different giant mammals, including the almost extinct spectacle bear, 13 different kinds of monkey and countless species of exotic butterflies. Megantoni is home for four different ethnic groups within which you will have a planned excursion to the Machiguenga Indigenous community that lives along the river and witness the simple and exotic way of life. Before reaching the confluence of the Yavero with the might Urubamba river there is an opportunity to raft and kayak the final class 3-rapids of the Yavero.  After running the exhilarating world-class 3+ rapids on the Urubamba, with waves as high as 10 feet, we camp on a beautiful beach, just upstream from the legendary Pongo Manique gorge, that is sacred to the native community of the region.

Accommodation: Camping.

Day 9: Yavero river – Urubamba River – Pongo de Mainique – Kiteni

In the morning, we board the rafts and kayaks and soon we will find ourselves walled in by mountains as we enter a gorge, this is the mysterious and breath wondrous Pongo Mainique Canyon. This 3-kilometer master peace, divides the Upland cloud forest with the Low-land Amazon Jungle.  From here the Urubamba plunges down one last mountain range before flowing into the low-lying Amazon basin. This canyon is a holy place for the Machiguenga native people who believe that the souls of their dead inhabit the area. In 2001 the Wildlife Conservation Society surveyed the Pongo Manique and its hinterland and declared that, “The lowland rain forests and mid-mountain cloud forests within a radius of five miles of the Pongo Mainique possibly comprise the single most biologically diverse site on the face of the earth. “Apart from the environment and the culture, the Pongo Mainique is one of the most magical places in South America. After first entering the Pongo, we paddle past smooth, walls water-shaped walls, covered in iridescent emerald moss with water seeping through it and forming tiny waterfalls. Around the bend, the murmurs of the water rises, as dozens of silver waterfalls cascade into the river, some from the height of 100 feet.  In the heart of the Pongo, there are over a dozen great waterfalls all in one place. The sounds of the waters become deafening as we run through class 2 rapids all within the backdrop of the mighty waterfalls. Then we paddle around a bend and leave the canyon walls and before us emerges the Amazon plain. Then we head towards a trail head and then go on an hour and a half hike to the peak of the canyon and here we have a perfect view of Pongo Manique and see the green immensity of the Amazon as it spreads to the horizon. When we have finished our hike we are met by a motorized wooden dugout canoe that carries us 2 hours up river to the quiet town of Ivochote and here we board a bus and travel to the jungle town of Kiteni where we can spend the night in a local hotel.

Meals: Breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Accommodation: Basic guest housing.

Day 10: Hydroelectric – Aguas Calientes – Machu Picchu – Ollantaytambo

On this day we drive for three hours to Quillabamba, set in the heart of the jungle where we have lunch. That afternoon, we travel to a high mountain pass and witness great vistas of snow-capped Andes and then take a trail-head at Hydro-Electric train station. Then we walk for 5 spectacular miles (9 km) along the course of the Urubamba River with towering cliffs rising two thousand feet over our heads. We arrive at the town of Aguas Calientes that afternoon and catch the next bus leaving for Machu Picchu. Set in the formidable peaks of the Andes this ancient mountain-top Inca City looks down on the Urubamba Valley 2,000 feet below. This is the best time to visit this wonder of the world as there are no crowds. This site has massive stone walls, buildings and courtyards that are connected by stone steps and gateways. The carved stone blocks that form the walls weigh up to 150,000 pounds and are 18 feet high. How these gigantic stones were assembled without using cement as a bonding agent is a mystery. At this time of the year without crowds of tourists, a visitor is free to discover this architectural masterpiece in relative peace and comfort. It is possible to take pictures of the sweeping vista without having them spoiled by people walking across your camera. It is also possible to watch the sun set over the soaring mountains and then there is an excursion to Aquas Calientes where we can experience the novelty of traveling on a narrow-gauge train for two hours to the town of Ollantaytambo in the Sacred Valley. Then we check into a hotel and have a great dinner and spend the night. That evening we have our farewell dinner and can recall our exciting adventures.

Meals: Breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Accommodation: Hotel.

Day 11: Aguas Calientes – Cusco – Lima – Home

This morning we have a one-hour journey to Cuzco airport and board our flights to Lima and then take our planes to the United States.