Machu Picchu & Galapagos

Discover the Lost City of the Incas in Peru and the Enchanted Isles of Ecuador

This fascinating trip combines two truly outstanding places in South America. Flying into the Peruvian highlands, we explore Cuzco, a city replete with Inca and colonial architecture. A beautiful train ride through mountains and cloud forest then takes us to the extraordinary lost city of Machu Picchu. Then we visit Ecuador’s Galapagos archipelago, one of the leading ecological sites in the world, with incredible fauna on land and sea plus striking volcanic landscapes. We explore the islands from the comfort of our small motor yacht, which grants us access to areas larger boats cannot reach.

People, Places & Planet

We work hard to create trips that improve life for the people and places we visit and look after the planet we explore. Find out more about our sustainable travel ethos and practice here, and find out about the work of the Exodus Travels Foundation here.

Some sustainable travel highlights of this trip include:

People

How this trip helps improve life for local communities.

• The use of a local guide means our customers are well informed about local traditions and cultural-social sensitivities.
• This trip brings income and opportunity to the destination community through the inclusion of locally owned hotels and restaurants, the emphasis on eating locally produced food, and by supporting other local enterprises.
• Although much of the Galapagos portion of this tour is spent on the boat or in nature, clients are encouraged to use local businesses and to engage with people they meet to promote positive cultural exchange wherever the opportunity arises.

Places

How this trip helps protect and conserve local landscapes and nature.

• By travelling in a small group, led by a local guide, we ‘tread lightly’ to minimise our impact on local resources and the environment.
• When visiting Machu Picchu, the costs of permits and for our guided tour will go towards to the upkeep and maintenance of this architectural site.
• We work with our partners on the ground to proactively eliminate or reduce waste, for example eliminating all single-use plastic water bottles and instead providing refills for reusable bottles.
• We adhere to all Machu Picchu regulations. There are limited permits to reduce overcrowding and damage due to footfall, but our guides are still very mindful of how we treat the environment. We work with a strict ‘leave no trace’ policy, meaning we have respect for wildlife and the landscape, separate rubbish and take all waste back to a proper disposal place.
• Our local operator in Peru has been certified and verified by Rainforest Alliance since 2015.
• The Cachalote Explorer is equipped with a wastewater treatment plant to ensure no residue goes into the sea. There are also tight regulations to prevent ecological damage such as: restricting use of electrical products, use of biodegradable products (such as shampoo, detergent, soap), and recycling of contaminants (oil and fuel), which are sent back to the mainland for disposal and water treatment.
• We visit the Charles Darwin Research Centre on Santa Cruz Island. This centre is dedicated to protecting and conserving the ecology of the islands and carries out educational projects in support of conservation of the Galapagos Islands. Our entry fees contribute to all the work here by improving demand, facilities and creating employment opportunities for scientists.
• We are also careful to adhere to National Park guidelines, which, among other things, ask we keep a safe distance from wildlife at all times.
• Our Animal Welfare Policy ensures all our trips adhere to ABTA’s industry-leading animal welfare guidelines to ensure the best possible practices with regards to working animals and wildlife viewing.

Planet

How we seek to keep the carbon footprint of this trip low.

• Through our Planet Promise, we have pledged to halve the carbon footprint of our trips by 2030 and made rewilding and carbon compensation commitments for every customer who travels.
• Accommodation and restaurants in Peru use locally sourced food, which has not been transported long distances.
• Vegetarian options are available on the Cachalote as well as at majority of accommodation and restaurants.

Tips for sustainable travel on this trip

• Leave no trace: We do all we can to ensure we leave no rubbish behind in the wild and beautiful places we visit; we ask that you do the same. If there are no recycling facilities in-country, we’d ask you to consider bringing recyclable materials home with you.
• Plastic waste reduction: Please bring your own reusable water bottle on this trip; filtered water will be provided where tap water is not drinkable.

Visa

Peru

Travellers from the UK, US and EU normally do not need a visa to enter Peru. Please note, visa requirements often change and it is your responsibility to obtain any required visas for this trip. Therefore, we recommend that you check with the nearest embassy or consulate of your chosen destination(s), including any countries you may be transiting or transferring through.

Some local governments provide guidance on what visas their citizens need. To help, we’ve gathered a selection of useful links below.

• Australia: www.smartraveller.gov.au/destinations/americas/peru
• Canada: www.travel.gc.ca/destinations/peru
• United Kingdom: www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/peru/entry-requirements
• USA: www.travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/international-travel/International-Travel-Country-Information-Pages/Peru.html

Ecuador

Travellers from the UK, US and EU normally do not need a visa to enter Ecuador. Please note, visa requirements often change and it is your responsibility to obtain any required visas for this trip. Therefore, we recommend that you check with the nearest embassy or consulate of your chosen destination(s), including any countries you may be transiting or transferring through.

Some local governments provide guidance on what visas their citizens need. To help, we’ve gathered a selection of useful links below.

• Australia: www.smartraveller.gov.au/destinations/americas/ecuador
• Canada: www.travel.gc.ca/destinations/ecuador
• United Kingdom: www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/ecuador/entry-requirements
• USA: www.travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/international-travel/International-Travel-Country-Information-Pages/Ecuador.html

Vaccination

Peru

There are no required vaccinations. However, recommended vaccinations include tetanus, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, rabies, typhoid, tuberculosis and yellow fever. Additionally, Zika fever, a mosquito‐borne viral disease, is a known risk in Peru. There is currently no vaccine or prophylaxis available, so you should take the usual precautions to avoid mosquito bites. Please check all vaccination recommendations with your doctor or travel clinic.

Amazon: If you are travelling to the Tambopata reserve in the Amazon rainforest, the risk of malaria is slight, but you may wish to consult your doctor or travel clinic for further advice. We also strongly recommend that you obtain a yellow fever vaccination. Additionally, dengue fever and chikungunya are known risks in the Amazon region. Both are tropical viral diseases spread by daytime biting mosquitoes. There is currently no vaccine or prophylaxis available for either, and therefore the best form of prevention is to take the usual precautions to avoid mosquito bites.

Ecuador

There are no required vaccinations. However, recommended vaccinations include tetanus, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, rabies, tuberculosis, typhoid and yellow fever. Please check all vaccination recommendations with your doctor or travel clinic.
You will also require a yellow fever vaccination certificate if arriving from Brazil, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda or if you have transited through those same three countries for more than 12 hours.

If you plan to visit the Amazon Rainforest, we recommend a yellow fever vaccination. Malaria is also a risk in some areas of the country (including the Amazon Rainforest) so we suggest you consult a doctor for more advice. Additionally, dengue, chikungunya and zika, all viral diseases spread by mosquitoes, are known risks in places visited. There are currently no vaccines or prophylaxes available, so take the usual precautions to avoid mosquito bites.

Eating and Drinking

On the Galapagos boat, all meals are included and served as a buffet. There is a wide choice of food available, including vegetarian options.

For the rest of the trip, we visit a variety of cafes and restaurants for any meals not included in the itinerary. Hotel breakfasts are normally simple buffets, usually including bread/toast and jam, cereal, sometimes eggs or a cooked dish, sometimes fruit, tea/coffee and fruit juice. Regrettably, we cannot guarantee wheat-/gluten-free products are available for breakfast in all locations – you may wish to bring your own breakfast food if you have an intolerance. We provide a packed lunch on Day 3, whether you are taking the train or doing the optional walk to Machu Picchu.

Drinking water is provided; please bring a reusable water bottle with you.

Weather

The diverse geography of Peru results in a very varied climate. In Cuzco and the Andes, April to November is the dry season; during these months, the sky is generally bright and clear with strong sunshine in the mornings, sometimes clouding over as the day progresses.

In the Andes, anything is possible at any time of year, including cloud rolling up from the Amazon basin, rain or even snow, and rapid and unexpected changes! During the dry season, temperatures can dip at night to around the freezing mark (and sometimes below).

Aguas Calientes and Machu Picchu are in the cloud forest and, as such, attract large amounts of precipitation all year as clouds move up from the Amazon Basin. Rain here can be heavy but is seldom prolonged.

In Quito, it should be warm by day and generally dry. Maximum daytime temperatures are almost constant throughout the year at 20C (68F), nights 8C (46F). Expect some rain in February to May and October to November but storms, though heavy, are generally short, and Quito is considered to have quite a pleasant climate.

It is possible to visit the Galapagos at any time of year, though the weather patterns are complicated and cannot be reduced to easy formulas. The weather is controlled by the two main ocean currents of the region, the Humboldt, bringing cold water from the Antarctic, and El Niño, which brings tropical water from the Gulf of Panama. How close to Galapagos they converge (which varies from year to year) is the key to the weather.

Dry season

Generally speaking, late May to early December is the cooler dry season. In this period, it is not necessarily dry, as there is a persistent light mist (garua) and often light drizzle, and the higher mountain slopes are covered in cloud and fog or rain. At this time, the winds are in the southeast and are higher than at other times, so seas can sometimes be choppy and anyone worried about seasickness might be better advised to avoid it. Daytime maximum temperatures lie between 27C and 31C (81F and 88F), the cooler months being July to November. In July and August, the fairly strong winds introduce a chill factor, and it can feel quite cold at nights, though throughout the year the official night temperatures vary between 19C and 24C (66F and 75F).

Wet season

Depending on how close the convergence of the two currents comes to Galapagos, there may or may not be a wet season from January to April or May. Approximately every seven years, the El Niño current hits the islands and there are heavy rains in these months. In other years, rain usually falls sporadically from otherwise clear skies. The ocean temperatures are higher, with generally calm seas and strong sunshine: pleasant, but potentially very hot. Apart from an El Niño year, the weather is usually better from December/January to April/May than at other times even if there is some rain, and most people would regard these months as the best time to go.

Is this trip for you?

This trip is rated Activity Level 2 (Leisurely/Moderate).

Please note, it is essential you read the Inca Trail and Machu Picchu regulations in the Important Information section of the Trip Notes before you book this trip.

Seven nights are spent on a motor yacht. Single cabins are not available; if you are travelling on your own, you are paired in a cabin with a member of the same sex. There may be passengers on the boat who have not booked through Exodus; occasionally, this may include families with children below the minimum age of this trip.

The Galapagos boats operate different itineraries on alternate weeks: Itinerary A (Tower) and Itinerary B (Fernandina). Each itinerary follows a different path and visits a different set of islands – please refer to the correct itinerary for your date within these Trip Notes. During the cruise, we live aboard, visit several islands and sites, and spend as much time as possible ashore watching the birds and animals. Due to local regulations, there is usually very little disruption to the schedule, but this can also mean little deviation in the event of poor weather or other circumstances. Exodus uses only small Galapagos boats (eight to 16 passengers) as we believe this is the most satisfying and environmentally friendly way to see the islands. We do not use the large boats preferred by some of our competitors.

In the Galapagos, each day features a mixture of walking, snorkelling and exploring the islands by boat. To get closer to the designated landing sites on each of the islands, we disembark into small pangas (motorised dinghies). Landings are divided into two types: wet and dry. For dry landings, the panga takes you to a landing stage or rocky outcrop where you can disembark without getting wet. Where there is no landing stage, the panga stops close to a beach and you need to walk through shallow water (generally no more than ankle-deep) to the shore. The leader will always advise on conditions prior to leaving and it is possible to skip any particular excursion if you would rather relax on the boat.

There are plenty of opportunities for snorkelling in the Galapagos and this is one of the best ways to experience the marine life. A mask and snorkel reveal an exciting underwater world with sea lions, rays, turtles, marine iguanas and a colourful array of fish. On most days of the itinerary, we have one or two snorkelling sessions. Snorkelling in the Galapagos does not require any special skills; however, at times, you snorkel in open water where there are fairly strong currents. Before going into the water, the guide evaluates the strength of the currents and the general sea conditions to make sure they are right for this to be a safe and enjoyable activity. The dinghy remains very close at all times. If you get tired or feel like coming out of the water, you only have to raise your arm and they will pick you up so you can rest for a while before going back in or you can stay in the dinghy until it is time to return to the boat. Snorkelling equipment (snorkel, fins and masks) is provided; however, it is advisable to wear a wetsuit, which protects you from the cold and makes floating much easier.

This trip spends considerable time at altitude, Cuzco lies 11,155ft (3,400m) above sea level.

Following a review of all our trips we have categorised this trip as generally not suitable for persons of reduced mobility. However if you are a regular traveller on such trips, please contact customer services to discuss the trip and your personal condition.