Our guy Clark Kotula is spellbound by the sudden demise of the Incan empire at the hands of the motley bunch of Spanish ruffians we call Conquistadors. And so is his good friend Kim Macquarrie, author of The Last Days of the Incas, an account of the historic cataclysm the Washington Post called “a welcome addition to the literature. . . lively and dramatic,” and Booklist praised as “definitive.” Clark and Kim agree that there is no place they’d rather be than “traipsing around Peru’s orchid-rich, mist-shrouded Vilcabamba Range, where the mysterious Incan empire seemed to have vanished into eternity, but luckily left behind a wealth of ruins to tug at our heartstrings and minds.”

Our minds and hearts will be well tugged on this unique, magnificently orchestrated trip led by Kim himself. We begin with a look at Lima, then fly north to the Pacific coast ruins of Chiclayo, where Pizarro and his gang first landed and began to realize that they just might have found a gold-rich civilization (emphasis on the gold). Then up to Cajamarca in the Andean foothills, where Pizarro overcame an Incan army of 80,000 men with his band of 168 soldiers, 27 horses, and 1 cannon. Wandering these history-drenched precincts with the amiable and erudite Kim Macquarrie will be a deeply illuminating treat.

The second chapter of The Last Days takes us to what the Incas called Qosqo, the navel of the world. First to Cusco itself, then down to the Sacred Valley of the Urubamba, and over to incomparable Machu Picchu, and on to the remote village of Huancacalle, where we’ll stay in a hostel operated by the Cobos family, well known to the archaeologists, explorers, and anthropologists who are about the only outsiders to make their way up here. Now for a rare and beautiful mule-supported trek in the Vilcabamba’s orchid-scented cloud forests, visiting ruins on the way to Espíritu Pampa, where the Incan royal family spent their last days in hiding from the Spanish. Coming out of the mountains, we return to Cusco’s cosmopolitan whirl before heading back to Lima and home.

Day 1: arrive in Lima • Day 2: tour Lima, evening flight to Chiclayo • Day 3: Chiclayo and ruins of Tucume • Day 4: visit Sipan’s Royal Tombs, return to Chiclayo • Day 5: drive up to Cajamarca, site of the Incan demise • Day 6: explore royal Incan roads around Cajamarca • Day 7: morning visit to Cumbemayo site and afternoon reliving Atahualpa’s defeat in Cajamarca’s Plaza de Armas • Day 8: fly to Cusco • Day 9: Cusco and environs • Day 10: down to the Sacred Valley • Day 11: Machu Picchu • Day 12: down from Machu Picchu to Huancacalle • Day 13: visit Vitcos • Days 14–17: exploring last Incan strongholds in the Vilcabamba • Day 18: to Quillabamba • Day 19: Cusco • Day 20: fly to Lima and depart.

Peru Extensions is available for this trip

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