Nature Workshops
Day 01 USA/LIMA
Travel from USA to Lima, each guest is met upon arrival in Lima and transferred to the Hotel Sonesta Posada Del Inca, El Olivar.
In-flight meals
Overnight Lima – Hotel Sonesta Posada Del Inca, El Olivar
Day 02 LIMA to WAYQECHAS
After breakfast, transfer to Lima airport for the flight to Cusco. The bus and guide meet you at the airport in Cusco, the oldest continuously inhabited city in the western hemisphere. A distinguishing feature of the city is the colonial Spanish architecture built upon the foundations of ancient Incan temples. A four hour journey takes you from Cusco through the Andes Mountains, to Wayqechas. Upon arrival at the site, there will be a short orientation of the site before dinner. There will be a short lecture after dinner. The lecture will focus on orchid species of the cloud forest, with special attention to those found in the Wayqechas region.
Breakfast at Hotel Sonesta Posada Del Inca, El Olivar
Box lunch along the way
Dinner and overnight at the Manu Cloud Forest - Wayqechas Lodge
Day 03 Full Day at MANU CLOUD FOREST - WAYQECHAS
The day will be spent exploring the site and trails. This site, from top to bottom, straddles 7 climate zones. Where the Andes meet the Amazon, an avalanche of biodiversity marks the birthplace of the world’s greatest river. It starts as a trickle of snowmelt on the 20,000 foot peaks of southeastern Peru, swells into a mountain torrent through the Altiplano and cloud forests, and reaches the sweltering lowlands as a great, meandering tributary of the Amazon. The site provides an unparalleled opportunity to see a wide variety of orchids and rare indigenous plants and animals in this cloud forest environment.
After breakfast, the morning will be spent with your Orchid guide, who will lead a fairly rugged hike from the lodge, along the Spectacled Bear Trail and along some orchid transects, where it is possible to see a diverse variety of orchids.
After lunch at the lodge, the group will go to the Manu Cloud Forest Observatory, the only canopy walkway system in the cloud forests of the Andes. This is a unique opportunity to view the forest canopy and species of orchids that grow in the treetops. Return will be at sunset.
Or, you may choose to visit other trails at Wayqechas or just relax in the afternoon.
Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner – Wayqechas Lodge
Overnight – Wayqechas Lodge
Day 04 MANU CLOUD FOREST – WAYQECHAS TO YUCAY
You will enjoy sunrise over the Amazon Basin, the world’s largest wilderness. From the lodge site, looking eastward, you will see the Madre de Dios River. In the words of Aldo Leopold, “and ever since some maps of South America have shown a short heavy line running eastward beyond the Andes, a river without a beginning and without an end, and labeled it the River of the Mother of God. That short heavy line … has always seemed the perfect symbol of the Unknown Places of the earth.” You depart from the site after breakfast and travel over a magnificent mountain pass and descend into the Sacred Valley. Along the way you will stop to have a boxed lunch. If time permits, you will stop at the market in Pisac. After arriving in Yucay, you will have the afternoon on your own to relax or explore the small town.
Breakfast: Manu Cloud Forest – Wayqechas Lodge
Lunch: Box Lunch
Dinner: Casona Yucay
Overnight: Casona Yucay
Day 05 YUCAY to MACHU PICCHU
After breakfast, you depart at 6:45 am and travel through the historic Urubamba Valley to Ollantaytambo, where you transfer to the train that goes to Machu Picchu, the Lost City of the Incas. After the hour and a half ride you arrive at Aguas Calientes (Machu Picchu Village).
You check in at the Pueblo Hotel, where according to the American Orchid Society, the grounds surrounding the hotel contain the world’s largest native species orchid garden that is open to the public, 155 native bird species, 15 species of hummingbirds, 108 butterfly species, and more than 200 species of trees.
After lunch you will join Inkaterra’s experienced orchid guide and resident biologist, Carmen Soto, for a two to three hour walk along the hotel's paths. Walk through the orchid garden to observe some of the hotel's 372 different orchids in bloom. Discover this extraordinary plant family, which has captured the human imagination for centuries. From the largest orchid flower in the world – the Phragmipedium caudatum, to tiny flowering specimens properly appreciated only through a magnifying glass, there are orchids to amaze both the newly inquisitive and the expert, including species new to science which have been discovered on the hotel grounds.
Breakfast: Casona Yucay
Lunch: Inkaterra Cafe
Dinner: Pueblo Hotel
Overnight: Pueblo Hotel
Day 06 MACHU PICCHU
After an early breakfast at the hotel, the group will depart between 6 and 6:30 am for the journey to Machu Picchu to view the sunrise. The topography, geology and hydrology of Machu Picchu create nine life zones and contain a wide diversity of flora and fauna species. There are more than 1000 species of orchids within the Sanctuary, as well as a wide variety of ferns, begonias, palms, and bromeliads. The Sanctuary has many species of fauna as well including the solitary eagle, the Andean condor, the ocelot, spectacled bear, and a great variety of birds including the cock-of-the-rock, Peru’s national bird.
Begin an exploration of the architectural remains of plazas, palaces, temples, homes, cemeteries and more than 100 irrigated terraces that formed the structure for the Incan agricultural system. The day will provide an ongoing opportunity for discussions of Incan cultural traditions including their agricultural and medicinal practices.
After lunch you may hike from Machu Picchu to the Sun Gate – where the famous Inca Trail enters the Machu Picchu Sanctuary. Along the way you can see Epidendrums, Lycastes, Sobralias, and perhaps a Phragmipedium caudatum. The views of the Sanctuary from the Sun Gate are framed by mountains all around.
On your return journey from Machu Picchu, there will be an optional visit to the INC museum and gardens. It does require a 20 minute walk along the railway to get to and from the museum. Those choosing not to visit the museum and gardens will return to the Pueblo Hotel. Dinner will be at the hotel.
Breakfast: Pueblo Hotel
Lunch: Sanctuary Lodge
Dinner: Pueblo Hotel
Overnight: Pueblo Hotel
Day 07 MACHU PICCHU TO CUSCO
After breakfast, you will have time to relax or take a stroll around the grounds of the Pueblo Hotel before boarding the 10:32 am train and arriving in Ollantaytambo at 12:10 pm, where you will be met and transferred to a bus for the drive to Cusco. Lunch will be at a local restaurant in the Sacred Valley. On the way to Cusco you will tour the textiles galleria and see local artisans weaving wool from alpacas and llamas and creating traditional woven rugs and clothing. In the afternoon, we will stop at the ruins of Sacsayhuaman, high above Cusco. You arrive in Cusco to the Hotel Monasterio in time for dinner.
Breakfast: Pueblo Hotel
Lunch: Local restaurant
Dinner: Hotel Monasterio
Overnight: Hotel Monasterio
Day 08 CUSCO
After breakfast, there will be a walking tour of the main squares of Cusco, the Cathedral and nearby churches. If time permits, you will visit the local market four blocks away. Lunch will be on your own. Shopping on your own and an afternoon of leisure. Dinner at a local restaurant. Night at Monasterio.
Breakfast at Hotel Monasterio
Lunch: On your own
Dinner: At a local restaurant
Overnight – Hotel Monasterio
Day 09 CUSCO to LIMA
After breakfast you will have the morning on your own. You depart for the airport for your flight from Cusco to Lima. You go directly to the Centro de Jardineria Manrique – laboratory and nursery in Lima, owned by Alfredo Manrique. Mr. Manrique will give you a guided tour of his nurseries, where you will have the opportunity to see many varieties not available in the USA.
Program at the Centro de Jardineria Manrique:
After the program, you go to an early dinner at Rosa Nautica – a restaurant on a pier in the Pacific Ocean, before your late night flights to the USA.
Breakfast at the hotel
Lunch: On your own at the airport
Dinner at Rosa Nautica Restaurant in Lima
Overnight in flight to the USA
Day 10 ARRIVAL IN THE USA
International flights arrive in US.
Botanical Medicines of the Amazon Rainforests and the Andes
Day 01
USA TO LIMA
Meals – On flight
Evening arrival in Lima, welcome and transfer to our hotel.
Overnight – Lima – Hotel Faraona
Day 02 LIMA/RESERVA AMAZONICA
Activity 1: During early breakfast (7 a.m.), there will be introductions and an orientation session, led by Steven Foster.
After breakfast, we are transferred to the Lima airport at 7:30 a.m. for a two-hour flight to Puerto Maldonado. Puerto Maldonado, with a population of approximately 60,000, is the capital of the Madre de Dios region and is located at the confluence of the Tambopata and Madre de Dios Rivers. This small frontier town has a history of resource extraction beginning with the rubber boom, logging and gold prospecting, and more recently oil exploration. Despite this activity, 98% of the region is composed of primary rainforest. There are three national parks and reserves in the area that together comprise more than 3.5 million hectares of protected forest ecosystems. They are: The Manu Biosphere Reserve, Tambopata-Candamo Reserve, and the Bahuaja Sonene National Park.
Activity 2:
We begin our experience in the region with a visit to the local market, led by Steven Foster, Antonio Montero, and our local guide, where everything from produce, harvested from the surrounding forest, to live chickens and other animals, to motorcycle parts, and plastics are sold. Of particular interest are the medicinal herb stands, where we will have the opportunity to talk with local curanderos and discuss the preparation and use of traditional remedies.
Soon we get our first glimpse of the Madre de Dios River where we board our boat for the one-hour ride to Reserva Amazonica Lodge. A light lunch (the Amazonian version of a box lunch, called “juanes” - rice dough stuffed with chicken or egg and wrapped in banana leaves) will be served during the boat ride to the lodge.
After a brief orientation to the lodge and reserve by Inkaterra staff, there will be an optional walk on the Anaconda trail, passing across the 200-meter wooden bridge over the Aguajales palm swamps. The 10,000 ha Inkaterra Ecological reserve is located in mature floodplain forest and provides excellent opportunity for wildlife observation. The Inkaterra Reserve provided a research base for E.O. Wilson’s seminal work on ant ecology, and is said to contain one of the world’s largest concentration of ant species.
Activity 3
Where appropriate, we will begin explaining the diversity of plants that form the basis for medicines from the rainforest.
There will be a presentation at 6 p.m. before dinner.
Activity 4:
Evening presentation and discussion: "Medicinal Plant Conservation" with Steven Foster
CMEs awarded for the day’s activities: 4
Breakfast – Lima – Hotel Faraona
Lunch- Juanes on boat to Reserva Amazonica
Dinner – Reserva Amazonica
Overnight – Reserva Amazonica
Day 03
RESERVA AMAZONICA
After an early breakfast (6:30 a.m.), we depart by boat to the access point for the Inkaterra Canopy Walkway. Animal and bird life are best viewed early in the morning.
Activity 1:
The high point, literally, of the morning, will be a visit to the Inkaterra Canopy Walkway – a series of seven suspended walkways 100 feet above the forest floor and providing an unparalleled opportunity to study the vertical structure of the forest and life in the canopy, led by workshop leader and our Inkaterra guide.
After our visit to the canopy walkway, we depart for the 45-minute boat ride to ACEER-Tambopata-Inkaterra (ATI). In partnership with The National Geographic Society, and Peruvian partners, The Amazon Center for Environmental Education and Research (ACEER) Foundation developed this comprehensive international education and research center. The facility is located on a 340-hectare private reserve that joins the pristine Tambopata National Reserve and Lake Sandoval, a huge oxbow lake known for its concentrations of birds and butterflies and a long-term research project on the endangered giant river otter.
The ACEER at Tambopata includes:
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A Nature Interpretation Center
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Meeting and classrooms
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Laboratory
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A medicinal plants garden
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A children’s rainforest garden, and
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A 3.5 km Useful Plants Trail
Activity 2:
At the ATI we will begin at the ACEER at Inkaterra (ATI) Nature Interpretation Center, and its exhibit: Madre de Dios—River of Change, designed by the National Geographic Society. The exhibit describes the climate, geography, history, ecosystems, and culture of the tropical rainforest in the Madre de Dios region.
Activity 3:
First Aid for Travelers by Rosemary Gladstar, presented in the laboratory space at ATI.
TRAVELER’S JOY ~ STAYING HEALTHY ON THE ROAD
Part of the joy of traveling is staying healthy and being prepared. Rosemary will review her traveler’s herbal first aid kitand discuss staying healthy ‘on the road’. Common health problems that one might encounter while traveling in SouthAmerica and what to do for them will be shared. Bring your first aide kits along as well for a ‘show and tell’.
Lunch will be served at ATI. After lunch, we will explore the site further.
Activity 4:
Field exercises and demonstrations at the Jardín de Plantas Medicinales, the Children’s Rainforest Garden and the Useful Plants Trail. Sessions will be led by workshop leaders and our Shaman Antonio Montero Pisco. Topics will include: Medicinal Plants of the Amazon; and Plants of Economic and Health Value. Plant diversity, ecological processes, and adaptations will be discussed.
Activity 5:
Our studies at Fundo Concepcíon will include Amazonian Shamanic Traditions, with Antonio Montero Pisco, and will conclude with a special “Bath of Tranquility”.
CMEs awarded for the day’s activities: 5
Breakfast at Reserva Amazonica
Lunch at ATI
Dinner: Reserva Amazonica
Overnight: Reserva Amazonica
Day 04
SANDOVAL LAKE
After an early breakfast we depart for the 15 minute boat ride to the entrance to Lake Sandoval. There will be a one hour walk to reach the lake, where we will board canoes for an exploration of the lake.
Activity 1:
The trail to the lake passes through a mix of successional forest types. Along the way there will be excellent opportunities to see small animals such as anteaters, agouties, capybaras, and monkeys, as well as numerous bird species. Here we will continue our discussions on the diversity of plants that form the basis for medicines from the rainforest.
Sandoval Lake is an exceptional "oxbow lake" formed generations ago by the shifting waters of the Madre de Dios River. It is located adjacent to Fundo Concepcíon and is within hiking distance of the center. Sandoval with its clear, calm waters has evolved into a mature lake environment attracting a wide variety of wildlife and flora. Sandoval is home to the endangered giant river otter and is an exceptional place to observe small parrots, herons, kingfishers, hoatzins, caimans, and turtles. Brown capuchin, Bolivian squirrel, red howler, saddle-backed tamarin, and night monkeys live in the forests surrounding the lake.
We will return to Reserva Amazonica for lunch. There will be time for relaxation before activity 2 and the tour of the demonstration farm.
Activity 2: Aromatic Resins of South America
by Mindy Green at 3 pm in the information center of the lodge.
Activity 3 (Optional): A late afternoon Visit to Inkaterra’s demonstration farm with discussion about the typical farm and Amazonian diet, and properties of plants grown by local farmers that are used for medicinal purposes. Led by our guide and Antonio Montero Pisco.
CMEs awarded for the day’s activities: 3
Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner – Reserva Amazonica
Overnight – Reserva Amazonica
Day 05
RESERVA AMAZONICA/AGUAS CALIENTES
TRAVEL DAY
After an early breakfast, departure by boat for Puerto Maldonado, where we transfer to the airport for our flight back across the snow-capped Andes Mountains to the heart of the Inca Empire. Nestled in a high valley at nearly 11,000 feet, Cusco is surrounded by some of the highest peaks in the Andes. As we descend into Cusco, the oldest continuously inhabited city in the western hemisphere, we glimpse the red tiled roofs of this colonial capital that was built on the massive foundations created by the Inca Empire. We make our way by bus out of the city and into the historic Urubamba Valley – The Valley of the Incas and there we transfer to the train for Machu Picchu, recently selected as one of the New 7 Wonders of the World. After the hour and a half ride we arrive at Aguas Calientes (Machu Picchu Village). Dinner at a local restaurant and overnight at a hotel in Aguas Calientes.
Breakfast– Reserva Amazonica
Lunch – Box Lunch on bus
Dinner – Toto’s House in Aguas Calientes
Overnight – Hatun Inti Hotel
Day 06
MACHU PICCHU
After breakfast at the hotel, we board our bus for the journey to Machu Picchu for the day. The topography, geology and hydrology of Machu Picchu create nine life zones and contain a wide diversity of flora and fauna species. There are more than 1000 species of orchids within the Sanctuary, as well as a wide variety of ferns, begonias, palms, and bromeliads. The Sanctuary has many species of fauna as well including the solitary eagle, the Andean condor, the ocelot, spectacled bear, and a great variety of birds including the Golden-headed Quetzal and the Cock-of-the-Rock, Peru’s national bird.
Activity 1: Led by our Andean guide, Odon Medina, the group will ascend to a point above the ruins and will be led in a short meditation by Odon.
Activity 2: Exploration of Machu Picchu’s architectural remains of plazas, palaces, temples, homes, cemeteries and more than 100 irrigated terraces that formed the structure for the Incan agricultural system. The visit includes an introduction to the medicinal plants used by the Incas, and viewing of the small medicinal plant garden in the ruins. The day will provide an ongoing opportunity for discussions of Incan cultural traditions including their agricultural and medicinal practices. Led by our local guide.
The guided portion of our day will last approximately two hours and the remainder of the day you will have to explore the ruins on your own. Activities include an optional climb up “Huaynu Picchu”, the peak overlooking the city, or a hike to the “Sun Gate” where the Inca Trail enters Machu Picchu.
CMEs awarded for the day’s activities: 2
Breakfast – Hatun Inti Hotel
Lunch – Sanctuary Lodge
Dinner – Pueblo Viejo
Overnight – Hatun Inti Hotel
Day 07
AGUAS CALIENTES/OLLANTAYTAMBO
After early breakfast, we board the train for Ollantaytambo, where the group will be joined by Rosa Urrunaga, a faculty member from the university in Cusco, and an expert on traditional healing practices in the Andes. Our morning will include a visit to a local village to see medicinal plant gardens, and the local market where medicinal plant stands can be seen. Rosa Urranaga and our guide, Odon Medina, will take us to local gardens where medicinal plants of the mountain regions can be seen.
Activity 1: A visit to the local markets and local medicinal plant gardens, where Rosa Urranga and Odon Medina will discuss traditional healing practices in the Andes.
Activity 2: The day will include a visit with a Shaman in the Sacred Valley to learn about shamanic traditions in the Andean region. Led by the Shaman and our local guide.
We arrive at our hotel in the late afternoon with time to relax.
CMEs awarded for the day’s activities: 2
Breakfast – Hatun Inti Hotel
Lunch – Sol y Luna Restaurant
Dinner – Puka Rumi Restaurant
Overnight – Hotel Pakareqtampu
Day 08
OLLANTAYTAMBO/CUSCO
After breakfast, board bus for Cusco. Along the way will include stops at a Weaving Arts Gallery and the Incan ceremonial ruins at Sacsayhuaman. We will arrive in Cusco by noon, and after a light lunch, we will have an afternoon activity related to medicinal plants and healing in the Andes. We will return to Cusco in the late afternoon.in time to check into the hotel.
Activity 1: There will be an afternoon activity related to medicinal plants and healing in the Andes. It will either be a lecture by a local professor or a tour of the markets with an emphasis on the medicial plant stalls.
CMEs awarded for the day’s activities: 1
You will have the evening on your own to have dinner and explore Cusco.
Breakfast – Hotel Pakareqtampu
Lunch – local restaurant
Local folklore show at 7 pm
Dinner – On your own
Overnight – Cusco Hotel – Casa Andina Koricancha
Day 09
CUSCO/LIMA/OVERNIGHT FLIGHT TO USA
After breakfast at 8 a.m. there will be final presentations, and then the group will have some more time to explore Cusco, including a short visit to the big local market, four blocks away from the main square. Upon arrival in Lima we have a short tour of the city and a walk in Love Park. Our farewell dinner will be at Rosa Nautica, a restaurant on a pier in the Pacific. We will later transfer to airport for overnight flight to US, as per your own arrangements.
Activity 1: Final presentations by Steven, Rosemary and Mindy with time for discussion and questions, since this is the final group activity
CME’s awarded for day’s activities: 1
Breakfast – Cusco Hotel - Casa Andina Koricancha
Lunch – On Own
Dinner – Rosa Nautica
Overnight flight to US
Day 10
ARRIVE IN USA
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