Not Just a Drop in the Bucket List

While exploring mystical Machu Picchu is a staple on most traveller’s bucket lists, the mountaintop sanctuary is not the only must-do-experience that Peru has on offer. The following are a collection of do-it-while-you-can, once-in-a-lifetime experiences.

Condor-spotting over Colca Canyon

For the birder in the family, there is no more thrilling encounter. The Andean Condor is the largest flying bird in the world with a wingspan of up to 10.5 feet. The best place to spot them happens to be when they are soaring over Colca Canyon, the second-deepest canyon in the world (after nearby Cotahuasi Canyon). Discerning travellers staying in one of the great properties on the edge of the canyon can head out on early morning expedition to catch these majestic birds soaring gracefully over the canyon’s rugged depths.

Stand-Up Paddle Boarding on the world’s highest navigable lake

Lake Titicaca is the highest navigable lake in the world, as well as the largest lake in South America by volume of water. Most visitors come for the unique Uros floating islands; man-made islands built by the Uros people centuries ago, and still inhabited today much the way they were during the times of the Inca. Guests at the luxurious Titilaka Lodge get the best opportunity to visit with this culture, as well as complimentary access to a host of water sports on the legendary lake.

Catching a Wave where Surfing was Invented

Modern archaeology backs the claims that Peruvians have been making for decades, that surfing traces its roots to pre-Columbian fishermen on Peru’s northern coast, who fashioned single-person “boats” from totora reeds, and rode waves in while netting fish. Today, this same coastline boasts one of the most reliable swells in the world, and travellers can recharge in chic yoga retreat-style resorts after a day on the water.

Cruising the Amazon

The Amazon Rainforest, the largest tropical rainforest in the world and the most biodiverse ecosystem as well, is the ultimate in exotic natural wonder. Explore this magical cradle of life in style, cruising on a small luxury ship, eating the unnamed-in-English fruits of the forest, fishing for piranha, spotting jumping pink dolphins, trekking to see monkeys among a myriad of other jungle creatures, and attempting to catch a frame of the elusive and sacred jaguar.

Trekking to Machu Picchu

Of course, no talk of bucket-list experiences is complete without mentioning following in the footsteps of legendary explorers, and trekking along the Inca highway to Machu Picchu. The mountaintop citadel nestles just above the cloud forest among endless jagged peaks piercing the sky, and evokes amazement at the feat of early human ingenuity. Machu Picchu has earned its place as one of the 7 Manmade Wonders of the World.

To plan your unique, individually tailored Peru itinerary, contact the Peru Empire Company at travel@pec.pe or call +51-1-700-5100 or, if you are in the US, 1-347-713-7030/34.