THE SOUTHERN CIRCUIT

Best for: wildlife, archaeology, colonial history & traditional culture

DURATION: 15 days (plus six days if you visit Cusco) ROUTE: Lima • Paracas • Nazca

• Arequipa • Lake Titicaca •

Juliaca or Cusco WHY GO? See the mysteries of the Nazca Lines, Andean condors in flight and sample island life on Lake Titicaca. WHEN TO GO? All year. The coast is cool and cloudy from May to December, and warm the rest of the time. Arequipa is sunny most days, but Colca is rainy from January to April and dry and cool the rest of the year. Lake Titicaca is usually hot and sunny in the day, with occasional rain (Nov–Apr), but nights are cold – and bitterly so between June and August.

South of Lima, Paracas is a good base for visiting the seabirds and mammals of the Islas Ballestas, pisco distilleries, the coastal desert around Ica and the oasis resort of Huacachina. Next stop south is Nazca, whose famous Lines (huge geoglyphs) are one of the great travel mysteries. For the best view, take a flightseeing trip from Nazca, Ica or Pisco.

Further south is Arequipa, the White City of volcanic stone. Of its religious monuments, Santa Catalina convent is almost a colonial town within the middle of the city, while the house of Nobel laureate Mario Vargas Llosa and museums filled with mummified Inca delight.

Excursions include volcano climbing, rafting on the Apurímac and visits to the Colca Canyon, one of the deepest in the world (Cotahuasi, also in this region, is even deeper). Villages sit amid extensive agricultural terracing, hot springs and good trails, but the real draw is the Cruz del Cóndor at Colca, a viewpoint for watching Andean condors up close (best May–Dec).

Take a bus or luxury train to Puno on Lake Titicaca. Boats sail to the Islas Uros (floating islands of reeds built by the Uros people) and on to Taquile and Amantaní, islands of Quechua weavers where you can stay with families. Puno’s busiest months are February (La Candelaria festival) and November, which marks the Founding Inca’s emergence from the lake.

On the return journey, either take a bus from Puno to Juliaca and fly back to Lima, or take a bus or luxury train to Cusco. Also from Juliaca, the recently completed Interoceanic Highway connects with Puerto Maldonado for the reserve at Tambopata (see overleaf).

Fifteen days of condor (clockwise from left) An Andean condor in flight; traditional totora-built reed houses on Lake Titicaca; the sea lions of Paracas