Luxury Amazon Expeditions Cruise - High Water

Upon arrival on a noon flight*, be greeted at Iquitos International Airport by the crew and escorted to a local restaurant for lunch before boarding the Aqua Nera. Settle into your spacious suite and prepare for an unforgettable journey into the heart of the Amazon. After a warm welcome and orientation from your expert naturalist guides, followed by a brief safety drill, gather in the onboard restaurant to enjoy the first of many exceptional Amazon-inspired meals crafted by Aqua Nera’s consulting chef, Pedro Miguel Schiaffino. 

*The reservations team will be in touch with the recommended flight and airport transfer details once you have made your booking.

Aboard your comfortable skiffs, travel from the Amazon River to the Yanayacu Yacapana River. Keep binoculars at hand to spot tropical songbirds, black-collared hawks, and sloths. Try your hand at line-fishing for the Amazon’s famously fierce piranhas as your naturalist guides share fascinating insights into the region. In the afternoon, continue to the Yarapa River, a blackwater tributary of the Ucayali River, for an evening of stargazing and a nighttime excursion in search of nocturnal wildlife.

You get an early start to the day to explore Clavero Lake aboard your comfortable skiffs. Here, villagers rely on traditional dugout canoes to get around. You can have the opportunity to swim in the lake’s calm waters or visit native residents of Amazonia who will welcome you to their community with open arms. In the afternoon, explore the majestic Marañon River in search of different kinds of wildlife.

In the morning, take a guided visit to the local market and marvel at the regional produce of the Peruvian Amazon, and sample exotic snacks if you wish. After breakfast, visit a group of Amazonian artisans and learn the art of weaving palm fibers, as traditionally done in the Peruvian Amazon.

In the afternoon, visit a beekeeper in the community of San Francisco before heading out on skiffs to witness one of the great spectacles of the Southern Hemisphere, the birthplace of the Amazon River. By nightfall, meet the new passengers who signed on for the four-night trip, as you start your journey together along the Marañon River.

Rise with the sun for an early morning birdwatching session along the Marañon River and enjoy breakfast in the middle of the jungle. Next, visit an Amazonian village where you can interact with native riberenos and witness an Aguaje palm harvesting demonstration. Later, go swimming, kayaking, or canoeing in the Yanayacu-Pucate River and keep an eye out for the legendary pink river dolphins. Next, enjoy biking through the natural landscapes along the riverbanks in the Pacaya Samiria Reserve. After lunch, tap into your spirituality if you like, under guidance from a Kukama Kukamiria healer with expertise in connecting with nature. Finally, head out on skiffs again after dinner to cruise along the Yanayaquillo River for stargazing and searching for nocturnal wildlife.

The rewards for your early start today are plentiful: a full day excursion including a picnic lunch orchestrated to the tune of the jungle symphony, fishing along the black waters of the Samiria River, and an option to go canoeing, kayaking, swimming, or on a jungle walk inside the Pacaya Samiria National Reserve. On the way back to the Marañon River after lunch, venture out by skiff keeping an eye out for pink river dolphins.

As the day begins, embark on a morning wildlife excursion on the extraordinary black water Nauta Caño River. If you wish, go on a bike ride from Puerto Prado Village to Santa Cruz Village along the riverbank.

In the afternoon, take a jungle walk while looking for flora and fauna which may include medicinal trees, insects, and poison dart frogs. Learn more about the different rainforest strata and ecosystems. Before dinner, meet the incredible crew who’ve been working behind the scenes to ensure your exceptional experience aboard Aqua Nera.

In the morning, take a guided visit to the local market and marvel at the regional produce of the Peruvian Amazon, and sample exotic snacks if you wish. You can also have the option of either cruising along the Itaya River to see the floating houses of the Belen neighborhood or visiting the Chullachaqui Ecomuseum to learn about the ancestral hunting practices of the Yagua ethnic group.

Return to the Aqua Nera for breakfast before disembarkation. En route to the airport, visit the Manatee Rescue Center, where orphaned Amazonian manatees rehabilitate before they are released back into the wild.