December 29.

On arrival in Lima, assistance at the airport and transport to your hotel. Most international flights arrive in Lima late afternoon or in the evening. You will stay at the Hotel Ariosto, which is centrally located in the Miraflores District.

Your ride leader Eduard will be in Lima to welcome you.

December 30.

Lima was the vice regal capital, as its splendid historic centre, designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site, attests. Baroque churches of great artistic and religious importance, mansions and town houses make colonial Lima into an unforgettable destination, not to mention its gastronomy, which is considered to be one of the best in the world.

Your trip starts with a tour of the city centre, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. You will visit the Main Square, the impressive presidential palace and Lima's impressive cathedral. You will also visit the church of San Francisco, with its enviable collection of old books and a network of catacombs open to the public.

Lunch at the restaurant Lobo de Mar owned by the famous chef Don Lucho Otani, who is half Japanese / half Peruvian. He will prepare a special lunch for you based on delicious and fresh seafood. The afternoon you can spend at leisure. Larcomar, a multilevel entertainment, food and shopping mega complex that caters to most tastes, is at walking distance from your hotel and a good place to shop.

The evening is free but you are welcome to explore Lima's exciting nightlife with us!

December 31.

After an early breakfast return to Lima airport for a 1-hour and 20-minutes flight to Arequipa. Arequipa has been awarded UNESCO’s Cultural Heritage of Mankind classification. It is located at 2,325 m in the Desert Mountains of the Andes. The weather in Arequipa is dry and sunny all year long. With about 4,000 hours per year of sun exposure, Arequipa truly deserves its title of “city of the eternal spring”.

After you have settled in your hotel, you have time to explore some of the highlights of Arequipa: the famous convent of Santa Catalina and the Museum Santuarios Andinos UCSM to see the mummy of Juanita, a 500 year old Inca mummy of a 12 to 14 year old girl. The mommy Juanita was discovered in 1995 by anthropologist Johan Reinhard and his Peruvian climbing partner Miguel Zarate. She was remarkably preserved throughout the five centuries. According to Reinhard, the mummy weighed approximately 80lbs when found, and they came to the realisation that due to the heavy body mass, the flesh must have been frozen. This is an extraordinary discovery because it allows biological tests to be run on the lung, liver, and muscle tissue, revealing new insights on Inca health and nutrition. It is believed that the Ice Maiden was in fact a sacrifice to the mountain gods, and was then buried by the Inca priests atop Mount Ampato (20,700 feet).

Lunch at a local restaurant.

In the evening you will be taken to the ranch of Don Atahualpa Gamarra, just outside of Arequipa, where you will celebrate New Year Eve. There will be a party with barbeque, music, good company and of course the opportunity to sample Peru’s famous Pisco Sour.

Overnight at the comfortable hotel Sonesta Posada del Inca in Arequipa.

January 01.

Depart from the hotel at around 10:00am (or maybe a bit later) for a 1,5 hour’s drive to the stables in La Joya. On arrival at the ranch see a display of Peruvian equitation by your host Eduard, and also by his Peruvian Chalan (horseman). After the demonstration you have the opportunity to have a go yourself - and it’s only natural to feel a little nervous prior to mounting these magnificent and highly responsive horses!! We will take our time to teach you the basics of the Peruvian Equitation: the handling of rains, the deep seat, the aids, etc. We have a barbeque-lunch at the ranch. Once you have been matched with your mount we set off at for a ride in La Joya. During the afternoon ride we will visit a small lake hidden between sand dunes. This lake was spontaneously formed due to the filtering of irrigation water from La Joya. You might want to take a refreshing swim in the lake so please take your swimwear with you. At around 17:00/17:30 pm we arrive at the Hacienda Samambaya in La Joya. Riding time: approx 4 hours.

Dinner and overnight at the Hacienda Samambaya in La Joya.

January 02.

After breakfast mount your horse for another day of riding through the unforgiving terrain of the desert. The scenery will change from wide-open desert plains to high dune ranges and sandy pass ways. Although most of the ride is over flat surfaces, some dunes with very loose sand must be climbed. As a safety measure it is important to carry as much water as possible, so there is limited space in the saddlebags. Please understand that lunch will therefore be fairly simple. The horses cover an impressive amount of ground when ridden at the Paso Llano gait, and you cannot fail to be amazed by their stamina and above all, the comfortable ride they offer. At midday when the sun is at its most fierce, there will be a break for lunch.

At around 5pm you arrive at the campsite, which offers basic accommodation and facilities due to its isolated location. The back-up 4x4 vehicles will carry plenty of water for the horses and for personal consumption for the evening, but there will be no showers.

Today, ride 5 to 6 hours and cover about 42 km before arriving at our campsite.

After dinner you should sleep well, exhausted but content with the knowledge that you have been crossing one of Peru’s most isolated deserts, surrounded by a lunar landscape that few have set eyes on.

January 03.

Todays ride starts early at about 8.00am, to take advantage of the cooler morning temperatures. Cross the last of the ever-rising sand dunes ahead, riding for around 5-6 hours (distance approx. 40km) through the Quebrada San Jose, a narrow gorge, until reaching the pacific coast. There will be a few challenging obstacles and in some instances you may have to lead the horses for a short distance. Some parts of the sandy trail is covered with some very soft white volcanic ash and you will need a bandana or mask to cover your nose and face, as there will be times that we will ride in a cloud of silver dust.

In the afternoon arrive at your final destination: Caleta San José, a small, privately owned cove at the shores of the Pacific. No land vehicle is able to reach this secluded beach and all essentials are transferred by boat. Tonight you will be guests of Don Gonzalo, who has constructed very picturesque cabaña-style accommodation, in the style of Robinson Crusoe (very basic shared accommodation). The cool ocean will beckon you for an invigorating swim to celebrate your arrival, and afterwards you can relax in a gently swaying hammock while dinner is prepared for you.

In the evening experience a roaring campfire as you recount the stories of your adventure across the desert.

January 04.

Today the horses will need to rest, and so will you! For those who still have the energy, the morning is easily filled with activities such as snorkeling, fishing, canoeing or hiking. Others might opt for a few hours of relaxation on the beach.

After lunch we embark for a 2/3-hour boat trip along the Pacific Ocean. We will visit the Caleta Honorado and other coves along the coast to explore the amazing landscapes of the Peruvian coast with its massive cliffs and unpopulated desert beaches. You will encounter a fascinating richness and diversity of marine wildlife like sea lions, dolphins, penguins and other marine birds. Late in the afternoon we return to the Caleta San Jose and have dinner around a campfire. Overnight at one of the cabañas at the Caleta San Jose.

January 05.

After breakfast we mount our horses and ride along trails parallel to the coastline to the cove of Punta Arantas. From the coastline we ride inland through several deep gorges till we reach our campsite set up in the middle of the desert. There are no long beaches along the coast and we will have to ride across some small trails high up on the coastal plateaus and cross several sandy gorges along the way. The ocean sounds will be heard during the first part of the ride and sometimes you have some spectacular views of the ocean from high above the plateaus. There will be a place along the route where you will have to lead horse by foot for a short distance (about 200 meters downhill). Somewhere in the afternoon we will meet our 4x4 back up vehicle with water supplies for the horses (and a cool drink for the riders). During hot days in the desert it is essential that the horses drink as much water as possible to avoid dehydration.

Riding time: approx. 6-7 hours, distance covered approx. 45 km.

At the campsite our cook will make a delicious dinner. After a great deal of food, merriment and stories shared around the campfire, nothing quite beats falling asleep under a sky of thousands of stars and to the sounds of horses eating contentedly nearby.

January 06.

After breakfast we saddle up our horses for your last riding day in the desert. Today you will ride for many hours across endless desert plains. You have lunch along the route. In the afternoon we reach a range of high sand dunes that we have to cross carefully. The horses will sink a bit in the soft sand but they know perfectly well how to tackle this. In the afternoon you arrive at the ranch in La Joya where we say good-bye to the horses and to the staff. A private car will transfer you to Arequipa (1,5 hour drive) where you arrive around 16:00pm. Total riding hours today: approx 5-6 hours. Dinner at a restaurant, overnight at the Hotel Sonesta Posada del Inca in Arequipa.

If you still have energy you can explore Arequipa’s exciting night live.

January 07.

Transfer to Arequipa airport after breakfast for the spectacular one hour flight over the Andes which arrives mid-morning in the ancient Inca capital of Cusco (altitude 3,338 m/10,952 ft.).

According to Inca legend, Manco Capac and Mama Occlo founded Cusco around 1200 AD. Manco Capac selected the site when the golden staff given to him by his father, the Sun, sank into the earth and disappeared. Each Inca emperor built his own palace and compound during his reign. The Spanish initially tried to raise the Inca buildings to the ground, but soon realised that because of their quality construction, it was easier to reuse the Inca foundations for their own buildings. For this reason, you can still see many of the original Inca walls throughout Cusco.

Cusco is now a vibrant city of some three hundred thousand inhabitants, the vast majority of whom are native Quechua Indians.

For the rest of the day you have the opportunity to explore this historical town on your own. Visit the numerous ruins, churches, cathedrals and museums of Cusco, do some shopping, or just relax in one of the many coffee shops, restaurants, or bars. In the late afternoon we will pick you up and leave Cusco for a one-hour drive arriving to your hotel (Hotel Sonesta Posada del Inca) in the Sacred Valley. Dinner is at the Perol Chico ranch or at a local restaurant.

January 08.

Your day starts early, as you catch the morning train from Ollantaytambo to the ruins of Machu Picchu. The experience of visiting Machu Picchu is not limited to the ruins themselves; the train journey is one of the most spectacular in the world. The Ollantaytambo train brings us to Machu Picchu an hour before the main tourist train arrives from Cusco.

Since its discovery by Hiram Bingham in 1911, Machu Picchu has captivated the hearts and minds of the modern world. Take plenty of film, as this is every bit as magnificent as you have imagined.

In the afternoon take the train back to Ollantaytambo, arriving at around 6:30pm. Dinner is at the ranch or at a local restaurant and you have a last chance to sample Pisco Sours. Overnight at the Hotel Sonesta Posada del Inca in the Sacred Valley.

January 09.

After breakfast transfer to the Cusco airport for the 1-hour flight to Lima. The driving time is one hour, followed by a one-hour flight. The earliest possible departure time from Lima is 17:00pm.

The itinerary is flexible. Changes may occur due to weather and other unforeseeable circumstances.

Click here to see our photo gallery of the Peruvian Odyssey