Argentina, Chile & Peru

Day 1:  Depart Miami
Meet your tour manager and fellow travelers in Miami, where you depart for an afternoon flight to Lima, Peru.  Upon arrival, transfer to hotel.  (In-flight meal service) 

Day 2: Lima, Peru
Late this morning we are introduced to Peru’s most famous agriculture, with a presentation discussing potato and quinoa production.  You may be surprised to learn that more than 3,000 varieties of potatoes are grown here.  Later enjoy a city tour of Lima, the capital and main cultural and business center of Peru. Our Peruvian national guide starts us off with a relaxing drive, stopping at the Plaza Mayor, the historical center of Lima.  Plaza Mayor features impressive colonial treasures – the Presidential Palace, City Hall, and the Archbishop’s Palace.  After lunch we visit an old, out-of-the-way mansion that now houses the Larco Museum, which boasts an extensive collection of artifacts, pottery and jewelry representative of the many fascinating cultures of ancient Peru. Next we drive through the elegant and charming residential districts of San Isidro and Mira Flores, located on the Pacific Ocean.  Partake in a gastronomy workshop at a local restaurant.  Here you learn how to make traditional Peruvian cuisine.  After learning the tricks of the trade, enjoy the main attraction - your delicious dinner.    (B, L, D) 

Day 3: Lima / Peru’s Countryside / Farm
Peru is the world’s foremost asparagus grower and is America’s largest competitor in this category.  Asparagus production has developed into the country’s third largest agricultural export, behind coffee and precious metals.  Peru’s growing season is opposite of North America’s, which makes this vegetable available to the United States almost year-round.  Visit one of Peru’s most famous vegetable farms, owned by a past Peruvian Minister of Agriculture and currently the secretary of finance, who also tends to his large fruit and asparagus farm.  Walk through the table grape vineyard, and we will likely see their staff harvesting.  Perhaps you’ll want to try a sample straight from the vine!  Continuing on we drive through the sandy flatlands of Peru.  With the help of Israeli irrigation specialists, Peruvian farmers now grow beautiful irrigated crops on this once desert landscape. Our final destination is your overnight resort, creating the perfect back drop for a wonderful evening of relaxation.  If you would like to experience the Nazca Lines, you will have an opportunity this afternoon or tomorrow morning.  The resort provides flight tours over the Nazca lines for approximately $300 per person.  Rupiper Tours has no affiliation with the flight tours but will allow time for you to enjoy this activity if interested. You must inquire early to reserve your flight over the Nazca Lines – Space is first come, first served. It may not be possible to experience both the Nazca Lines flight as well as tomorrow’s boat ride to Ballestas Islands, as the flights are determined by several factors including weather and demand.  (B, L) 

About the Nazca Lines:  The Nazca Lines, one of the world’s most mysterious phenomena, are geoglyphs and geometric line clearings in the Peruvian desert.  The Nazca Lines were created by the Nazca people, who flourished along rivers and streams that flow from the Andes between 200 BC and 600 AD.  The area of the Nazca art is called the Pampa Colorada (Red Plains) and is 15 miles wide and runs some 37 miles parallel to the Andes and the sea.  Dark red surface stones and soil have been cleared away, exposing the lighter-colored subsoil, creating the “lines.”  The design includes not only lines and geometric shapes, but also depictions of animals and plants in stylized forms.  Some of the forms, including images of humans, grace the steep hillsides at the edge of the desert.  The Nazca lines are communal.  Their creation took hundreds of years and required a large number of people working on the project.  Their size and their purpose have led some to speculate that visitors from another planet either created or directed the project. 

Day 4: Peru’s Countryside and the Nazca Lines / Lima
Today we introduce you to some of Peru’s local wildlife.  Take a boat ride out to the Ballestas Islands, where you will see many sea lions, seals, the blue-footed booby and other birds, and even Humboldt Penguins!  Everyone loves seeing these lovable black and white flightless birds out in the warm and sunny Peruvian weather!  Journey back to Lima for our overnight stay.  (B, L) 

Day 5: Wednesday, January 15                     Lima / Cuzco / Aguas Calientes
A one hour morning flight takes us to Cuzco, the mythical capital of the Inca Empire.  After lunch, we embark on an unforgettable journey.  Traveling through the mountains, past picturesque farms and villages, we enjoy impressive views of the Cuzco Valley and the glaciers beyond, before we board the Vistadome train and continue with a scenic rail trip through the Sacred Valley of the Incas.   Here you can view the remains of the Inca culture, as well as the modern-day Incas’ farming population.  In Aguas Calientes we check into our hotel where we enjoy dinner.  If you wish, you may take a stroll through this quaint little village, perhaps finding that perfect little treasure you’ve been looking for.  (B, L, D) 

Day 6: Aguas Calientes / Machu Picchu / Cuzco
Today’s journey is one of the most significant aspects of your tour.  We ascend by motorcoach to one of the New 7 Wonders of the World, Machu Picchu, and the legendary “Lost City of the Incas,” one of the most impressive archaeological sites in the world.  Here we find the remains of temples, houses, terraces for growing crops, and a sacrificial altar.  Enjoy an incredible guided tour of the citadel, built in the 15^th century and later abandoned. Renowned for sophisticated dry-stone walls that fuse huge blocks without the use of mortar, as well as intriguing buildings that play on astronomical alignments, but what is perhaps most noteworthy are the panoramic views that will leave you breathless. After our visit we return to Aguas Calientes.  There is time to shop at a local craft market exploding with brightly colored fabrics, pottery, and jewelry, before we board the Vistadome train for our return train ride through the scenic Sacred Valley of the Incas.  At the Ollantaytambo train station we disembark and transfer to our hotel.  (B, D)

Day 7: Cuzco / Lima / Santiago, Chile
Depart Peru on our morning flight to Santiago, Chile.  Enjoy lunch and transfer to our hotel for the next four nights.  The remainder of the day is yours to rest, relax by the pool, or explore our hotel’s lovely neighborhood. (B, L) 

Day 8: Santiago City Tour
Beginning at Santiago’s main avenue, Alameda, we visit the historically significant Government Palace, La Moneda.  We walk through the bustling pedestrian zone of Huérfanos and Ahumada, and tour the famous Plaza de Armas, the city’s Main Square, which is surrounded by many historical buildings, including the Metropolitan Cathedral.  We continue on to the most imaginative and exuberant piece of landscaping in Santiago, the lushly forested hill, Cerro Santa Lucia.  This place bears historical importance; Santiago was officially founded by Pedro de Valdivia at the foot of Cerro Santa Lucia on February 12, 1541.  From the hill’s lofty top, we are able to see the Parque Forestal on one side and the Mapocho River on the other.  Crossing the river we tour Barrio Bellavista, the French influenced cultural and artistic neighborhood of Santiago, which lies at the foot of Cerro San Cristóbal, the city’s highest hill. Finally we visit Providencia, one of the noble parts of Santiago, with top-rated restaurants, elegant shops and modern high-rise buildings.  This evening is capped off with dinner served high above the city in the Tower Restaurant.  From this lofty vantage point you’ll enjoy great views of the Chilean capital.  (B, L, D) 

Day 9:  Valparaiso / Vina del Mar / Santiago
Traveling along the beautiful coastal region of the Pacific Ocean, we pass through the agricultural valleys of Curacaví and Casablanca and visit picturesque Valparaíso, the country’s main seaport, and the most important maritime destination of the Pacific Coast until the Strait of Panama was opened to navigation in 1914.  By touring the downtown area and hilly neighborhoods, we gain a better understanding of why this was Chile’s most flourishing city in the early 20^th century.  Journeying north along the coastline of the bay we reach Viña del Mar, Chile’s most luxurious resort town.  With its many parks, lush vegetation, and huge palm trees, Viña del Mar well deserves the name “Garden City.”  Stroll the golden sandy beaches in the Reñaca area.  Return to Santiago for a wonderful dinner, featuring delicious filet of beef and great Chilean wine.  (B, L, D) 

Day 10: Santiago / Winery / Santiago
Today we travel south on the Pan-American Highway to an agricultural region near the Maipo River, where we visit a farm.  Discuss inputs, costs, and processes.  Lunch is at a local restaurant before we ascend to Alto Jahuel, a picturesque mountain village.  The view is stunning – beautiful vineyards set against the backdrop of the towering Andes.  This area is ideal for the production of Cabernet Sauvignon grapes.  We pass through extensive vineyards before reaching our next destination.  Visit the Vina Santa Rita, founded in 1880, where you will see the cellaring and bottling processes, as well as walk through the vineyards. See their original cellar, “Bodega 1” and the “Cellar of the 120 Patriots”, where you will discover the exciting story that gives 120 its name. (B, L) 

Day 11: Santiago, Chile / Argentina / Tango Show
We depart Santiago on our afternoon flight to Buenos Aires, Argentina, arriving there in the late afternoon.  Our motor coach transfers us to our lovely hotel in Buenos Aires’ city center.  This evening enjoy one of the many highlights of the tour – sample Argentina’s famous beef and delicious wines, watch a spectacular presentation of the popular and sensuous Tango, and listen to unforgettable Pampas and Andean music.  (B, D) 

Day 12: Buenos Aires
This morning we sleep in a bit after last night’s show, before we enjoy a guided tour of the truly unique Recoleta Cemetery.  Containing the graves of some of the most important Argentines, including Eva Perón, Raúl Alfonsín, and several presidents of Argentina, the cemetery contains many elaborate marble mausoleums decorated with statues in a wide variety of architectural styles.  We have free time to shop and have lunch on Florida Street, the pedestrian walkway that is lined with a variety of clothing and souvenir shops. We stop at a store with an in-house leather factory, where you can create a custom leather jacket or vest to be finished and delivered to your hotel the next day.  Next we travel to La Boca, a working-class area with an alley flanked by brightly painted zinc shacks that evoke the district’s early immigrant days.  This “street museum” is inspiration for the famous tango “Caminito,” and you will see many dancers offering up their tango expertise for a small tip.  See some of the highlights of Buenos Aires, including Casa Rosada, the official residence of Argentina’s president, and drive down one of the widest boulevards in the world, Avenida 9 de Julio, the street named in salute to Argentina’s Declaration of Independence.  Return to the hotel, where you have many restaurants and watering holes to explore.  (B) 

Day 13: Buenos Aires / Corn & Soybean Farm / Cattle Ranch
Today is fun and relaxing as we visit a rancher who owns a one-thousand-head cow/calf operation.  He always rounds up a small herd and runs them through the chute while we are there.  Also see the saddles and tack an Argentinian cowboy uses, which are very different from what Canadian and American cowboys use.  Inspect their corn, soybean, and sunflower crops.  Our hosts go all out with a wonderful Gaucho style BBQ lunch, which includes wine and dessert.  Sit around the pool enjoying a cold beverage or lay back in one of the many hammocks available.  Perhaps you prefer the chairs in the shade.  Whatever you choose, today is about you enjoying your surroundings, and most importantly, enjoying life.  This is always a crowd favorite.  (B, L) 

Day 14: Cattle Auction / City Tour / Depart to USA
Argentina is the second largest cattle producing country in the world.  Join us on an interesting visit to one of the world’s largest livestock auction markets which merchandises 15% of all the cattle sold in Argentina.  Per day, on average, about 10,000 head of cattle are sold for slaughter.  The stockyards, located right in the city of Buenos Aires, have a capacity of 30,000 head.  Return to the hotel to freshen-up. Enjoy lunch at Puerto Madero and a visit of this upcoming and modern port area.  Following lunch we visit the Colon Theater, the main opera house in Buenos Aires and considered one of the ten best in the world by National Geographic due to its beauty and acoustical properties.  This evening we transfer to the airport for our international flight home. (B, L, In-flight meal service) 

Day 15: Arrive in USA
We arrive in Miami early morning, leaving ample time to connect to your home airport.  (In-flight Meal Service