Explore the mysteries of the Inca at Machu Picchu, sparkling colonial cities in Ecuador and Peru, and the incredible engineering achievement of the Panama Canal on this magnificent Cruise Tour. Travel high into the Andes where tropical forest and emerald terraces cover the peaks and the lost city of Machu Picchu seems to emerge organically from the granite hillsides. The stone walls are so precisely carved and fitted they have stood for 600 years through earthquakes and floods without an ounce of mortar. Then travel even deeper into Inca culture as you learn how they grew crops on these impossible slopes, dine on indigenous flavors, and visit a local food market where you may still hear people speaking Quechua, the language of the ancients. In Ecuador you’ll find a small country that’s one of the most biodiverse on the planet, with the world’s greatest concentration of bird life. You’ll find birds everywhere – flitting through the banana plantations of Machala, paddling in the river along Guayaquil’s Malecón 2000 boardwalk, roosting on the grand Baroque buildings in Manta. Ecuador is also the gateway to the Galapagos Islands, a UNESCO World Heritage Site teeming with uncommon wildlife, where up to 20% of the species are island-specific – a world wonder you can explore in-depth on our optional multi-day Galapagos Overland Tour. To cap off this incredible journey, make a daylight transit of the Panama Canal with jungle on both sides and another ocean straight ahead.