Discover the Wonderful Wildlife
of Peru and the Galápagos with Travcoa

Graceful vicuñas, bumbling Blue-footed Boobies and gigantic Galápagos Tortoises are just a sampling of the wildlife wonders you’ll encounter on your captivating adventures exploring the Wonders of Peru and the Galápagos & Machu Picchu with Travcoa. Here are a few of the surprises you’ll encounter during your travels.

The “Fabric of the Gods” -- What animal lives only above 12,000 feet, can survive for days without water and has wool considered to be the finest in the world? The South American vicuña, a rare animal related to the alpaca and llama as well as the camel, lives on the freezing slopes of the Andes mountains. It produces only small amounts of extremely fine wool -- softer, finer and warmer than any other. The earliest Inca leaders were said to have worn this “fabric of the gods.”  You’ll find out more about vicuñas, llamas and the culture of Incas, including exploring Machu Picchu and the Nazca Lines on Travcoa’s Wonders of Peru.

Galápagos Wonders
The Blue-Footed Boobies -- The name for this long-winged seabird native to the Galápagos and Ecuador sounds silly, and to the Spanish settlers, the Blue-footed Booby acted silly. It looked clumsy walking on its large blue feet. The Spanish expressed their amusement by calling the birds “bobo” -- root for the English word boobie -- meaning “stupid fellow” or “dunce.”  Those blue feet really aren’t so silly after all --- the striking color is meant to attract the appropriate blue-footed mate.

The World’s Largest Tortoise -- In the Galápagos Islands, you’ll find the largest tortoises in the world. Indeed the islands are named for these giant gentle creatures, Galápagos being Spanish for tortoise. The largest subspecies can grow to weigh over 600 pounds, measures up to four feet across its back, and can live over 150 years.

Marine Iguanas -- Darwin described the black lizards crawling along the lava rocks of the Galapagos islands “imps of darkness.” Others may think of the “Creature of the Black Lagoon” when they first spot the marine iguana emerging from the sea after hunting for its dinner -- algae that is. The giant lizard, whose color actually varies from golden to red to black, can dive up to half an hour to depths of nearly 50 feet.