Luxury Amazon

Day 1 Nauta/Embark/Maronon River

Board the luxurious MV Aqua and settle into your spacious suite. After lunch, we depart on the Ucayali River Excursion.

Day 2 Ucayali River/Yanallpa Area

his 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 3 Puinahua River/Hatum Posa Lake & 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.

Tonight the vessel will be docked by the No. 1 Ranger Station in Pacaya Samiria National Park.

Day 4 Pacaya River & 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—considered a good food source by the locals.

Just minutes after being in the wilderness, surrounded by monkeys and birds, and the other wildlife of the rainforest, you will find yourself sitting down to a final gourmet feast in the ship’s dining room

Day 5 Iquitos/Disembark

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.