Peru Tour Date: October 19 – November 1, 2007

From the Pacific Coast to the Amazon Basin, The Nature Conservancy has been working to protect Peru’s biologically rich lands and waters since 1983, and is currently focused on two landscapes. In the five million-acre Pacaya-Samiria national reserve, the Conservancy engages local communities in the conservation and protection of their lands, restores native turtle populations, manages palm forests and studies the water flow in the Amazon Basin. At Central Selva, a 2.5 million-acre network of protected areas, the Conservancy helps to create wildlife corridors and jobs for indigenous people making handicrafts from sustainably harvested wood.

Peru, which is slightly smaller than Alaska, is a nation of natural treasures. Second only to Colombia in the number of bird species, Peru hosts an astonishing 1,650 varieties of birds, 300 of which are found nowhere else on Earth. It shelters 120 species of hummingbirds, plus Andean condors, gray-backed hawks, horned currasows, red-faced parrots and orange-throated tanagers. Peru also hosts an amazing variety of mammals, including pink and gray river dolphins, manatees, giant otters, jaguars, peccaries, tapirs, 20 species of monkeys, sea lions, humpback whales, sea otters and guanacos and vicuñas, the domesticated llama’s wild cousins.

Peru’s rich multicultural ancestry, breathtakingly rugged geography and unique cultural treasures make it a destination for travelers the world over. After exploring Lima and its colonial charm, take to the waters of the Amazon for seven nights aboard the luxury ‘La Turquesa.’ By traveling down river with a Conservancy expert, you have unparalleled access to the abundant wildlife and unique ecosystems that make the Amazon Basin such a special and important natural place. Upon your return to land, hike the ruins of Machu Picchu, icon of the Incas and their lost civilization. Travel in the company of the Conservancy’s former Peru Country Program Director Bill Ulfelder, who will share insights into the natural and human histories of the region and his experience with innovative conservation strategies such as “debt-for-nature” swaps.

All travelers who participate in this trip series will receive a free, one year membership to The Nature Conservancy and a subscription to the award winning Nature Conservancy magazine.  In addition, 7% of each trip's proceeds will be donated to The Nature Conservancy and its conservation efforts in the destinations visited in this trip series. 

Nature picture credits (top to bottom, left to right): Photo © Connie Gelb (Machu Picchu); © Abercrombie & Kent (Cougar); © Connie Gelb (Quechua children at Wiloq in Peru)