The greatest mountain chain in the world, the Cordillera of the Andes, stretches four thousand three hundred miles along the western edge of the continent of South America, from the Caribbean to Cape Horn, No other continent possesses a north-south mountain range cutting through the tropics, bringing glaciers to the equator; no other range forms such a barrier dividing climate and species. No other part of the world  possesses a population of millions of peoples living at or above altitudes of 9000 feet. Great capital cities such as Bogotá, Quito and La Paz are set at heights that would be unthinkable elsewhere. In the center the Cordillera is 500 miles wide, and contains the highest navigable lake in the world: Lake Titicaca, a great inland sea nestling more than two miles above sea level and with an extension of over 1,500 sq. miles.

History shows agricultural societies, often associated into states, in full and careful use of the diverse ecological levels and resources of the Andes throughout the last 4,000 years. The density of population in Tibet -for example- does not compare to the Andean altiplano where -in the case of the Titicaca basin- this density reaches 200 inhabitants per sq.mile. Four fifths of this long and vast mountain world lies between 11 dgr. north and 24 dgr. south of the equator. It is within the folds of these “inter tropical Andes” that -millenniums ago, humans began a harmonious conditioning of their environment and where -later in time- the Chavin, Tiawanaku, and Inka cultures established civilizations of the highest social and technological order. These civilizations bequeathed a legacy to the world which goes beyond the grandiose archaeological remains and finely wrought jewelry and textiles: The whole of this realm -which included Andes, desert and Upper Amazon- was one of the world's great centers of plant domestication and modern agricultural economy has been tremendously enriched by Peruvian and Andean fruits and vegetables, unknown in the Old World until after the European conquest.

To explore, visit and become thoroughly acquainted with this vast part of the world and its multifarious and timeless culture, an entire lifetime would not suffice. And yet, it is not impossible: The Cusco Region is gifted with the greatest array of these features, This is the region comprised within a 500 kilometer radius of the city of Cusco, the last major Native American Metropolis, center of one its greatest civilizations and the oldest continuously inhabited capital city in the Western hemisphere. This region -covering an area not much larger than England or the American States of Montana or Colorado- encompasses the central nucleus of the high Andes. Hundreds of miles of uninterrupted snowcapped mountain ranges with many peaks over 20,000 feet, plus the eastern Highland Jungle and Rain forest including Machu Picchu and Vilcabamba; a section of Pacific Ocean Coastline; the entire Lake Titicaca basin; four great navigable rivers, all tributaries of the greatest river of all -the Amazon- ; numerous archaeological remains of great importance, colonial 16th century villages; and over 11,500,000 acres of National Parks, Wildlife Sanctuaries, and Reserved Natural Areas.