TailorMade Peru: Andes & Beyond

Visit the Ccaccaccollo community centre which G Adventures travellers' donations helped create. See local weaving and dyeing techniques used to create garments and souvenirs, and learn how the Planeterra weaving co-operative has impacted the community. This includes the purchase of alpacas to provide a steady supply of wool, looms, and sewing machines as well as several training courses on production, sales and small business management. After, stop for lunch at the Parwa Community Restaurant. Learn how the resident-run restaurant was kickstarted by G Adventures and the Multilateral Investment Fund, to become a successful farm-to-table program that boosts the local economy and several spin-off microenterprises.

Tour the fascinating hilltop citadel of Pisac, an Incan ruin with plunging gorges, a ceremonial centre, and winding agriculture terracing that's still in use today. Explore the back of the site to see a pocketed cliff across Kitamayo Gorge, which once contained hundreds of Inca tombs. Continue on to tour the town and fortress of Ollantaytambo with a local guide. Take a step back in time at this Inca archaeological site. Learn how the area, overlooking the Urubamba River Valley, was an important stronghold during warfare between the Spanish and Incas.

Leave the hikers to start their trek and head out to explore Moray and Maras ancient Incan ruins. Drive a little more than an hour to get to the Moray archaeological site. Tour these unique Inca ruins, consisting of circular terraces and a sophisticated irrigation system located at 3500m (11483 ft). Learn about the history and study of this fascinating site – speculation has it that it was an Inca agriculture experiment station.

Visit the impressive Maras Salt Mines, after Moray. See thousands of individual ancient salt pools spilling over a hillside. Learn about the different varieties of salt, and try the renowned pink salt, famous worldwide.

Enjoy a scenic drive through Andean farmland on the way to Piuray Lagoon. Set out on a scenic drive above the Sacred Valley of the Incas, stop along the way to lookout over small farms carved into the hills and small villages dotted along the landscape. Enjoy a picnic lunch at picturesque Piuray Lagoon, opt to relax, explore the lagoon by kayak, or stand-up paddleboard.

Rise and shine – the best time to see the Lost City of the Incas is in the early morning light. Follow the local guide to Machu Picchu to learn about its history. Take time to sit and feel the energy of this 15th-century site, now both a UNESCO World Heritage site and voted one of the new Seven Wonders of the World (in a worldwide Internet poll).

Fly to Puerto Maldonado, deep in the lowlands of the Amazon Jungle.

After a brief stop in town to store large luggage, drive to the pier and travel by covered motorized boat to the jungle lodge. En route, spot bird species typical of the river and forest edge. The Tambopata Rainforest area holds the world record for the most bird sightings in one area.

Local community members make up the majority of lodge staff, including multilingual naturalist guides. Take the opportunity to learn about the area’s rich flora and fauna and locals' extensive use of medicinal plants and other forest plant resources through traditional techniques for building, fishing, and hunting.

Head out early to catch the jungle at its wildest (and coolest). Walk slowly through the forest searching for wildlife before heading out on an oxbow lake by canoe. Search for anaconda, the elusive giant river otter, or black caiman. Even if you don't spot these shy creatures, there are plenty of other birds, interesting plants, and other animals about.