Forget the Amazon. Just getting to our five-star eco-lodge on the riverbank was adventure enough. Not the plane journey; a quick, smooth ride from Lima, but the walk down the plank from the bustling frontier town of Puerto Maldonado on to the motorboat whisking guests, including a surprising number of Brits, to their Awfully Big Adventure.
Inkaterra, which specialises in delivering authentic Peruvian experiences with all home comforts, has a slightly different approach to health and safety than, say, the City of Westminster.
Guides are there to encourage the nervous more used to gripping those handrails for dear life - and those that don't go all the way to the boat dock, as jobsworths would insist in Britain. But as I never fell in, clearly the guides know what they are doing.
When we arrived at Hacienda Concepcion, the first adventure was an evening cruise by torchlight looking for caimans, those cute little relatives of the crocodile who populate the Madre de Dios tributary.
We spotted a fair few and some local, sloth-like mammals to boot. After a delicious meal of local fish and chonta (hearts of palm) salad in a pleasingly jungly, thatched-roof dining room we slept soundly encased in mosquito nets, waking to the magical sound of a million parakeets singing the dawn chorus.
Getting there
Fly: Both British Airways and American Airlines serve Lima from London via Miami from around £529 return.
Stay: For board and excursion packages at Inkaterra, visit www.inkaterra.com. Rooms at Belmond Miraflores Park www.belmond.com/MirafloresPark from £218; Hotel B hotelb.pe/ from about £200, Casitas del Colca www.lascasitasdelcolca.com/ from £217.
More info: More information at www.peru.travel/
This is the more intimate of two Inkaterra lodges within a few miles of each other, and has its own little lagoon, on which a lazy kayak ride was one of our most enjoyable experiences. Just floating, enjoying the sight of tropical flowers - this is Orchid Central after all - and huge, brown peacocks sitting low in the tree branches, plus a quick glimpse of a very shy howler monkey family.
Moving on to the larger Inkaterra Reserva Amazonica, we revelled in a larger chalet and rustic but well-appointed bathroom - hot showers are never a problem here - and adjusted to the lack of air conditioning; ceiling fans cooled us sufficiently for all but the few afternoon hours when the electricity is turned off in a nod to the environment.
Our Awfully Big Adventure turned out to be a walk 100 feet up in the rainforest canopy across a succession of eight wibbly-wobbly bridges connected by fixed staging posts, a thrilling combination of scary but utterly safe. We marvelled that some people choose to spend a whole night up here in a tree house across the final bridge, where they are served dinner and breakfast during their canopy retreat with absolutely no mod cons.
It was a thrill to walk with expert guides observing rare plants and the odd rare spider in what felt like the primeval set of Avatar. But we were happy to get back to civilisation, given that Lima is one of the world's finest restaurant cities, a once-scruffy capital looking better all the time as neighbourhoods regentrify.
Virgilio Martinez, whose Lima restaurants in London will be known to foodies, was this year named top chef at the 50 Best Latin American Restaurants awards, and his Central restaurant is one of the city's dining highlight. It's beautifully situated in the elegant Miraflores district across from the Belmond Miraflores Park, the best and most intimate of the city's traditional hotels.
We were well looked after both here and at Hotel B, an exciting art deco boutique hostelry in nearby Barranco, the colourful Bohemian neighbourhood which is not to be missed when visiting Lima. Check out Dedalo, almost opposite the hotel, for the best shopping in town. It's a warren of designer clothing, arts, crafts and jewellery in a beautiful old mansion. Recover from retail therapy at the hip Barranco coffee house, Bisetti, where they roast their own beans and walk down through the nearby park to the colourful lower-level shops and cafes across the bridge.
Then spend an hour or so enjoying Mario Testino's legendary images of Princess Diana, Kate Moss and Peruvian tribal people at the world's most famous fashion photographer's gallery, MATE.
Don't leave town without lunching at La Mar by Gaston Acurio, who took this year's no.2 spot in the restaurant awards.
It's more fun than his flagship Astrid y Gaston, and the ceviche and steamed whole fish are superb, not to mention brilliant pisco sours (the zingy national cocktail) and Beautiful People-watching in the heart of Lima.
First-time visitors will not want to miss Machu Picchu, or the Andean gateway city of Cuzco, and that's fair enough; the Inca ruins are staggering, and Cuzco itself is beautiful, with both Belmond and Inkaterra providing five-star accommodation options.
However, not nearly enough visitors get to Arequipa, Peru's second city, which is worth it both to visit the beautiful and extensive convent of Santa Catalina (built in 1579 for rich nuns only, with their own servants) and to sample a picanteria, a family restaurant serving hearty regional food; lunch at La Nueva Palomino was a highlight of our trip.
Arequipa is also gateway to the little-known but magnificent Colca Canyon, and we loved our tour of its highlights. An overnight excursion is a far better option than a rushed day trip.
These included a condor viewpoint, remote mountain outposts with exquisite little churches, sightings of llamas and alpaca, and an absolutely superb rustic lodge, Casitas del Colca, in the middle of nowhere.
That's Peru for you - however remote the location, five-star hospitality is never far behind you!
