People to People Moments

• Make Chilean friends when you visit an English-speaking school.
• Go behind the scenes to meet young dancers at the Bafochi folkloric ballet company.
• Explore the vast collections of Inca gold and other relics at the Larco Herrera Museum, guided by the museum’s curator.

Enhance Your Education

• Incan and pre-Incan civilizations
• Environmental studies
• South American art and architecture
• Intercultural studies

Top Program Activities

• Experience the remarkable lost city of the Incas—Machu Picchu.
• Discover more remnants of the mighty Inca civilization along the Urubamba Valley.
• Encounter the Uros tribe, who float through life on their islands made of reeds.
• Dine aboard a historic steamship on Lake Titicaca.
• Step off the beaten path to explore ancient ruins and temples outside Cusco, Peru.
• Meet the people of Taquile Island, known for weaving Peru’s most beautiful textiles.

Lima, Peru

• Explore Lima Cathedral, whose priceless relics include the remains of explorer Francisco Pizarro.
• Talk with the curator about the 3,000 years of pre-Spanish history preserved at the Larco Herrera Museum.
• Experience the grand Saint Francis Monastery, including the colorful interpretation of the Last Supper painted in 1697.

Machu Picchu, Peru

• Enjoy the first glimpses of Machu Picchu from your Vistadome train car.
• Wander the ruins of Machu Picchu and wonder about its still-mysterious history.

Urubamba Sacred Valley and Cusco, Peru

• Explore this oldest remaining city in the Americas.
• Examine the past in the high ghost town of Maras, where pre-Incan relics are still being uncovered.
• Discover the capabilities of the Incas at Moray, where precise terraces still display their careful agricultural research.
• Ponder the construction of the Sacsayhuaman fortress, where some of the stones weigh 100 tons.
• Experience the village of Chinchero, where life continues much as it did in the days of the Incas.

Puno and Lake Titicaca, Peru

• Visit the “Sistine Chapel of the Americas” in the nearby town of Andahuaylillas.
• Size up the impressive construction of Raqchi, a temple complex for an Andean god.
• Discover the manmade Uros Islands, where the Uros tribe sought refuge from the Incas—and still live today.
• Sail this enormous lake at the top of the world, then eat dinner aboard a steamship imported from Scotland in the 1890s.
• Learn about ancient burial customs at the Sillustani Tombs, where people were laid to rest back in the “womb” of Mother Earth.
• Observe traditional ways of life—watching residents grow their own food and weave their own cloth—at a working mountain farm.
• Explore the colorful culture maintained on Taquile Island.

Santiago, Chile

• Spend time getting to know Chilean students at the America School.
• Hike the lovely La Campana National Park for insight into the local wildlife and the environmental studies conducted within this UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve.
• Shop for some of Chile’s finest pottery in the village of Pomaire.
• Meet with instructors and students in the children’s dance academy of the Folkloric Ballet of Chile (Bafochi).
• Choose your own adventure, exploring the rainforest by horseback, hiking, or four-wheel drive.
• Experience some of Chile’s most stunning scenery in Maipo Canyon—and keep your eyes peeled for an Andean condor.

Valparaiso, Chile

• Enjoy the sights and sounds of this historic seaport city.
• Serve alongside volunteers at Belen Educa Foundation, which works to ensure that even the poorest children receive an education.
• Stroll the grounds of the Botanical Garden at Viña del Mar.

Note: Highlights featured represent past programs. Your program may differ slightly in some areas due to scheduling conflicts, unforeseen changes, and the arrival of new opportunities. Your program’s Schedule of Activities will be provided as confirmed, closer to actual travel.