Source: WTL photo taken on site at Machu Picchu looking down at the Urubamba River.
Comments: The Urubamba River is the waterway that connects Machu Picchu to the old Inca capital of Cuzco to the south and the Atlantic Ocean to the NE. It is a partially navigable river that begins SE of Cuzco, and it flows through the Sacred Valley of the Inca. Interestingly--as is the Latin American custom--it changes names a number of times. At its source it is called the Vilcanota River. It is the Urubamba where it flows around the base of Machu Picchu. Between Pisac and Ollantaytambo it is called the Wilcamayu River. Later it becomes the Apurímac River, then the Ucayali River, and finally the Amazon, in Brazil.