Day 01: Arrival/Nauta/Embarkation/Maraņon River (Tuesday)
5:00 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 a scenic one-and-a-half hour drive through the Peruvian countryside to the small village of Nauta, where the M/V Aqua lies at anchor, awaiting your arrival.
7:30 p.m. Check-In
Take a few moments to settle into your over-sized suite before dinner. Over the next four days, you will sail along several tributaries of the Amazon, as well as on the mighty river itself. You are embarking on a spectacular adventure, to a place visited by only a few of even the most experienced world travelers.
8:00 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.
8:30 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.
Day 02: Ucayali River/Yanallpa Area (Wednesday)
7:00 a.m. Breakfast
Our sumptuous daily breakfast buffet features a broad choice of traditional breakfast egg dishes, plus Peruvian specialties and fresh-squeezed juices.
80:00 a.m. Jungle Walk to Yanallpa Lake
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.
11:00 a.m. Return to the M/V Aqua
12:30 p.m. Lunch
Enjoy lighter mid-day fare in our air-conditioned dining room.
4:00 p.m. Ucayali Exploration and Discovery Tour
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.
6:00 p.m. Return to the M/V Aqua
7:30 p.m. Dinner
8:30 p.m. Night Trip at Sapote River
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.
10:00 p.m. Return to the M/V Aqua to sail upstream on the Puinahua River.
Day 03: Puinahua River/Hatum Posa Lake And Pacaya River (Thursday)
7:30 a.m. Breakfast
8:30 a.m. 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.
11:00 a.m. Return to the M/V Aqua
12:30 p.m. Lunch
4:00 p.m.
Pacaya River Exploration, Plus Night Trip from Ranger Station No. 1 to Yanayacu Lake.
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.
7:30 p.m. Return to the M/V Aqua.
Tonight the vessel will be docked by the No. 1 Ranger Station in Pacaya Samiria National Park.
8:00 p.m. Dinner
Day 04: Puinahua/Pacaya Rivers And Carocurahuayte Lake (Friday)
6:30 a.m. Pacaya Exploration; Breakfast on the Skiffs
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.
11:00 a.m. Return to the M/V Aqua
We will begin our homeward journey, sailing toward Iquitos.
12:30 p.m. Lunch
3:30 p.m. 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.
6:30 p.m. Return to the M/V Aqua
We will sail downstream all night, as we make our way to Iquitos, and your onward flight.
8:00 p.m. Farewell Dinner
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
9:00 p.m. Crew Presentation
Tonight, the guides will introduce some of the crew members you haven't yet met on the trip, but who have worked behind the scenes to give you an unforgettable experience.
Day 05: Arrive in Iquitos City/Check-Out and Disembark at the main
Wharf/City Tour and transfer to the airport (Saturday)
7:30 a.m. Breakfast
8:30 a.m. Last Skiff Trip (optional)
A brief skiff trip along the majestic Amazon will give you a last chance to photograph the wildlife of the jungle.
10:00 a.m. Return to the M/V Aqua
You have time to pack and prepare for the next stage of your journey.
12:00 p.m. Light Lunch
Please leave your packed luggage in your cabins, to be transferred to the bus, before coming to the dining room for a light lunch.
12:40 p.m. Disembarkation/City Tour and Transfer to the Airport
Your afternoon in the remote city of Iquitos, accessible only by river or air, will not disappoint. This bustling town, complete with a house built by Gustave Eiffel, was once a rich center of the rubber industry. After a city tour, we will make a stop at San Juan Amazonian Indians' Market for some last-minute shopping.
4:00 p.m. Arrive at Iquitos International Airport, where your guides will help you check-in and will wait with you until you flight departs. 5:30 p.m. Flight Departs for Lima
Note: All itineraries are subject to change, due to weather and other conditions. All times indicated are approximate, and are also subject to change.
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