Peru: Andes to the Amazon 4x4 Self Drive

Seventeen nights from Lima across the Andes towards the Amazon, self-driven behind a guide vehicle, in a 4×4 expedition truck.

The guiding is what makes a trip like this possible. An English-speaking guide team travels in its own vehicle throughout, which on Peruvian mountain roads at five thousand metres is worth a great deal more than a map.

Lima opens it with a private half day taking in the cathedral, the Aliaga house and the Larco Museum. Nazca follows, with an optional flight over the lines, the Huacachina desert oasis and the two-thousand-year-old mummies at Chauchilla. Chalhuanca comes next by way of Pampa Galeras, the largest vicuna reserve in the world, then Cachora, and Cusco for four nights in a restored seventeenth-century mansion, reached through the Apurimac Canyon, which in places is deeper than the Grand Canyon and where condors are often seen. Machu Picchu, the Sacred Valley and rafting are optional from there. Andahuaylas follows by way of the Sayhuite stone, a single granite block carved with more than two hundred Inca figures, then Ayacucho on the ridge above the jungle, and the Ticlio Pass at 4,900 metres.

The guides and their vehicle, the expedition vehicle hire and fuel, most non-alcoholic drinks, the accommodation from private haciendas to mountain lodges and full collision damage waiver are included; flights, insurance, extra meals and the optional excursions are not. Altitude is a serious consideration throughout: Cusco sits at 3,400 metres and the passes go considerably higher, so anyone with a heart or lung condition should take medical advice before booking. The dry season from May to September is the window. Eighteen days is a genuine expedition rather than a holiday with a 4×4 attached.