Day 1 - Saturday
IQUITOS/AMAZON RIVER -
Cruise map
4:05 p.m. Flight from Lima LP 394
5:50 p.m. Arrival
Your guides await you, as your flight from Lima glides in for
landing at Iquitos International Airport. After you’ve claimed your
luggage, you will board an air-conditioned bus for your journey to
the river.
6:00 p.m. Transfer to Iquitos’ main wharf. There the M/V Aqua awaits
you.
6:20 p.m. Embarkation and check-in
As you settle into your over-sized suite, your vessel will start on
its journey toward the Yanayacu River, deep in the heart of
Amazonia. Over the next three days, you will also sail along the two
largest tributaries of the Amazon, the Ucayali and the Marañon, as
well as on the mighty Amazon itself. You are embarking on a
spectacular adventure, to a place visited by only a few of even the
most experienced world travelers.
7:30 p.m. Safety Drill and Briefing on the Top Deck
Before dinner we will perform a routine safety drill. Following
that, your Cruise Director and Guides will give a brief orientation
talk about life on board, where you will go and what you will see on
your Amazon journey.
8:00 p.m. Welcome Dinner
Peruvian cuisine is considered one of the world’s best. Here it is
presented with a touch of European flair, and a vegetarian dish is
always available. Raise a glass of fine South American wine to toast
the beginning of a beautiful journey, then look out the window and
watch the river go by as you experience your first wonderful meal
aboard the M/V Aqua.
Perhaps enjoy a nightcap on the Upper Deck, under the stars, before
retiring.
UPDAY 2 -
SUNDAY
AMAZON/TAHUAYO RIVERS AND CHARO LAKE
6:30 a.m. Early Morning Skiff Expedition on the Amazon River
Be up early to catch your first glimpse of the majestic Amazon
River, as you watch the sun rise over this green world filled with
wonderful wildlife. This initial contact with Amazonia is only a
brief sampling of what the rest of your journey will hold.
8:00 a.m. Breakfast
Our sumptuous daily breakfast buffet features a wide choice of
traditional breakfast egg dishes, plus Peruvian specialties, and
fresh-squeezed fruit juices.
9:15 a.m Tahuayo River Exploration and Fishing Trip at 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. Life
jackets, ponchos, rubber boots, and plenty of cold potable water
will always be available for you on board the skiffs.
As we float down the Tahuayo, occasional fishermen
paddling in their dug-out canoes will give us a cheerful greeting.
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 (and other fish as well). As you fish, trained
guides will also tell you the story of the lake and its inhabitants.
11:30 a.m. Return to the M/V Aqua
Icy cold towels await you, as you transfer from your skiffs into the
M/V Aqua. As the vessel continues up the Amazon River, you have some
time to relax, or perhaps even take a nap, before lunch.
12:30 p.m. Lunch
Enjoy lighter mid-day fare in our air-conditioned dining room.
4:00 p.m. Yacapana Islands Exploration and Dolphin Sighting
Locals call the Yacapana Islands the “Iguana Islands,” because of
the huge population of these reptiles—like tiny dinosaurs—crawling
over the ground and resting in the tree tops. We will pass by in the
skiff, giving you a chance to snap good photos. As the sun sets, you
will have the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see and photograph
both gray and pink freshwater dolphins. The people of the Amazon
believe that these dolphins turn into humans to steal handsome men
or pretty women from their villages during celebrations.
6:30 p.m. To the Headwaters
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.
Perhaps sip a pre-dinner pisco sour on the Upper Deck, while you
watch the sun set.
8:00 p.m. Dinner
UP
Day 3 - Monday
MARAÑON RIVER/PACAYA-SAMIRIA NATIONAL RESERVE (YANAYACU-PUCATE)
6:30 a.m. Breakfast
7:30 a.m. Guided Jungle Walk in the Primary Forest
This morning your Naturalist Guide will tell you all about
sustainable resource management projects in Amazonia. You will visit
one of these projects, where villagers are planting palms to obtain
oil. Your Guide may also show you the artificial nests created on
the sand to protect turtle eggs. Then we will 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.
12:00 p.m. Return to the M/V Aqua
12:30 p.m. Lunch, followed by a Siesta
3:30 a.m. Monkey / Dolphin and Caiman Expedition
In this late afternoon skiff excursion, you are likely to see howler
and capuchin monkeys, the squirrel-sized monkeys called tamarins,
and a vast variety of birds. You are also apt 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 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. As the sun sets and our searchlight comes on, keep
your eyes out for caimans, tree boas, tarantulas, and frogs. After
this night adventure, the M/V Aqua will start sailing downstream on
the Marañon River, back toward the headwaters of the Amazon.
7:30 p.m. Arrive at the M/V Aqua.
8:30 p.m. Dinner
UP
Day 4 - Tuesday
YUCURUCHE LAKE / BIRTHPLACE OF THE AMAZON / PUERTO PRADO VILLAGE
VISIT / IQUITOS
6:30 a.m. Ucayali River and Yucuruche Lake
Rise early and be on your skiff at 6:30 AM. This morning we will
travel by skiff along the Ucayali River to Yucuruche Lake, where we
will walk a little way 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.
8:30 a.m. Breakfast
9:15 a.m. Birthplace of the Amazon/Puerto Prado Village
This morning, the M/V Aqua skirts the edges of the vast
Pacaya-Samiria Reserve, a flooded forest covering five million acres
at the headwaters of the Amazon basin. We board the skiffs to view
one of the great spectacles of the Southern Hemisphere: the
birthplace of the Amazon River. Here—where the union of two major
tributaries, the Ucayali and the Marañon, form the world’s greatest
waterway—nature is at its most dramatic.
Your morning excursion will be accompanied by
abundant bird song, as you glide in small boats past river banks
populated by large-billed terns, laughing falcons, gray tanagers,
sandpipers, five kinds of parakeets, the exotic short-tailed parrot,
and dozens of other birds.
We will then travel by skiff to Puerto Prado
native village, where you will meet and interact with the hospitable
native Cocama Indians. They will share their culture, traditions,
and folklore with you, and you will have the opportunity to purchase
some of their handicrafts and delightful folk art.
11:00 a.m. Return to the M/V Aqua
11:40 a.m. Lunch
Share a final onboard lunch with the friends you have made on your
Amazon journey.
1:15 p.m. Disembarkation/Manatee Rescue Center/Transfer to the
Airport
We will visit the Manatee Rescue Center, where biologists and
volunteers care for endangered Amazon manatees that conservation
authorities have seized from local people and fishermen. Biologists
will give a presentation about the project and its efforts to help
these helpless mammals. You will also see how the manatees are cared
for and are prepared for re-introduction into their natural habitat.
5:00 p.m. Check-in at Iquitos International Airport
Your guides will help you with check-in, and will stay with you
until you have boarded your flight back to Lima.
6:20 p.m. Your Flight Departs for Lima LP 371
Note: All itineraries are subject to change, due to weather and
other conditions. All times indicated are approximate, and are also
subject to change. |
