Luxury Amazon

Day 1 Iquitos/Amazon River

Arrive in Iquitos this afternoon. There you will board your luxury vessel, MV Aqua, your home for the next eight days. Check into your luxurious suite as the ship starts its journey toward the Yarapa River, an estuary of the Amazon. (D)

Day 2 Amazon/Tahuayo Rivers & Charo Lake

This morning you will board our comfortable excursion skiffs for your first adventure, traveling from the Amazon through the Huaysi short-cut canal to explore the Tahuayo black water river.Keep your binoculars ready to spot a vast variety of wildlife: terns, orioles, blackbirds, black collared hawks, monkeys, and sloth share this wonderful environment with us. Upon arrival at Charo Lake, you can bait your hooks to try to catch one of Amazonia’s fearsome piranhas. Afternoon Yacapana Islands exploration, keep your eyes peeled for gray and pink freshwater dolphins.

We will return to the M/V Aqua vessel and continue our journey upstream, toward the headwaters of the Amazon River, where the Ucayali, Marañon, and the Amazon Rivers merge.

Day 3 Maranon River/Pacaya-Samiria National Reserve

Today you can choose between two options:

Option 1: Travel by skiff from Yanayacu Creek all the way to remote Chingana, a small creek where giant river otter usually nest. These handsome animals were killed in great numbers for their pelts, and are now threatened with extinction. On this excursion, you will also see howler and capuchin monkeys, the squirrel-sized monkeys called tamarins, pink and gray river dolphins, and a vast variety of birds. We will also take you deep into the jungle, where you will encounter wildlife and learn first-hand about the important medical value of jungle plants. And we will show you famous Kapok Trees (ceiba pentandra), the tallest trees in the Amazon Basin. Enjoy a generous picnic lunch at the park Ranger Station No. 2, before we begin our journey back to our vessel.

Option 2: This morning a Park Ranger will tell about the sustainable management projects in Amazonia, and take you to visit one of the projects. After lunch and a siesta, you are likely to see the two different kinds of freshwater dolphins—including the unusual pink ones—found in the Amazon. Later, keep your eyes directed toward the jungle canopy, where you can spot at least several kinds of primates—among the 13 species of monkeys resident in the National Park. Perhaps you will catch a glimpse of tamarins and howlers, dusky titi monkeys and pigmy marmoset monkeys. Watch for alligators, and keep your binoculars at the ready, as you are likely to see more than 200 species of birds.

Day 4 Birthplace of the Amazon/Puerto Miguel Village & Marayali River

Today the MV Aqua skirts the edges of the Pacaya Samiria Reserve. Rise early and be on your skiffs at 5:30 am to view one of the greatest spectacles of the Southern Hemisphere: the sun rising over the birthplace of the Amazon. A post-breakfast excursion to the Puerto Miguel Villagewhere you can meet and interact with local villagers from this most remote part of the world, and can learn a bit more about their culture, traditions, and folklore. You will also have the chance to trade items for local handicrafts. This afternoon we will travel by skiff along the Ucayali river to Yucuruche Lake, where will walk a little ways into the jungle to see the world’s largest aquatic plant, the giant water lilies or “Victoria Regias”. You will be one of a very small number of people who have ever seen these plants bloom at night.

Day 5 Ucayali River/Yanallpa Area

This morning we will go in search of the bizarre-looking birds called “hoatzins”, which live in huge colonies in a very strange Jurassic Park-like lake. As we hike, your guides will teach you orientation techniques used in the deep jungle.

This afternoon we will cruise the majestic Ucayali River, giving you a chance to see and meet native balseros, or fishermen, who will demonstrate their skill and let you see their catch—including a type of “armored” catfish with a shell-like skin—which they are taking to the market in the small village of Requena. We will also find a “banana balsero” raft, loaded with hundreds of clusters of bananas, drifting down the river to market.

Your guides will show you several types of caiman, members of the alligator family, along the fish-rich Sapote River. Chances are good that we will surprise other night-dwelling creatures as well.

Day 6 Puinahua River/Hatum Posa Lake and Pacaya River

Morning jungle walk near Hatum Posa Village. On this walk, your guides will introduce you to native people doing subsistence farming, and will tell you how they learned to cultivate wild plants and trees to earn farm income. Deep in the primary forest, your guides will also show you the wealth of fruit trees and medicinal plants hidden in the jungle.

In the late afternoon, we will take our skiffs along the Pacaya River, journeying from Ranger Station No. 1 toward Yanayacu Lake, where you can view the abundant life that is hidden in the deep rainforest. You may see saki monkeys, capuchin monkeys, and the easy-to-spot heavy howler monkeys. As the sun sets, you will hear the loud, ferocious sounding warning signals made by howler monkeys marking their territories. When night falls, you will hear the second movement of the Amazon rainforest symphony, as other nocturnal animals send their shrill calls across the tree tops. We will use our special spotlight torches to locate night creatures, including, perhaps, huge caimans.

Day 7 Puinahua/Pacaya Rivers & Carocurahuayte Lake

In the bright morning light, your guides will show you parrots, macaws, toucans, and many different types of monkeys. We will also go to the dolphin feeding spots along Yanayacu Lake, where you will be delightfully surrounded by these creatures while enjoying a light breakfast and fresh juice.

Afternoon Sapote River fishing trip! Armed with poles and bait, we will take you to a special place on this fish-rich river, where you will catch some of the more than 3,000 species of tropical fish that live in the Amazon Basin. The key target will be piranhas, the small carnivorous fish with a fearsome reputation.

Day 8 Iquitos/Departure

Wake up for an early morning excursion on the Tahauyo River to capture your last sunrise photos.
Enjoy your afternoon in the remote city of Iquitos, and then head home.