Luxury Amazon Cruise

Day 1 Depart UK
You board your flight from London to Lima; arriving in the late afternoon. You will then be met at the airport and taken to your luxurious hotel, the Miraflores Park, where you’ll spend 1 night. Unwind in the spa or take a dip in the rooftop pool before watching the sun set over the Pacific Ocean dining in the Observatory Restaurant.

Meals: none

Day 2 Lima to Iquitos
This morning you’ll explore Lima’s colonial treasures and soaring skyscrapers on a city tour. Highlights include admiring the Spanish baroque architecture of San Francisco Convent and drinking in balcony views over the Pacific Ocean from Parque del Amor. After lunch, you’ll take a 1 hr 45 minute flight to Iquitos, in the heart of Peru’s Amazonian rainforest. From here, you will be met and taken by air-conditioned transfer to your ship, the luxurious M/V Aqua, to begin your Amazon adventure. The first true luxury Amazon River cruise ship, the M/V Aqua offers superlative cuisine and excellent service to its 24 guests who are accommodated in oversized suites with sitting area and large picture windows. You’ll get to meet the resident naturalist guides for your first nightly briefing in the air-conditioned lounge before savouring world-class cuisine conceived by one of Lima’s finest chefs over dinner together with excellent South American wines. After a night cap on the upper deck, you settle into your air-conditioned en suite, oversized cabin for your first night in the Amazon.

Meals: Dinner

Day 3 Amazon – Tahuayo River – Charo Lake – Yacapana Island
Enjoy your first morning in the Amazon, watching the sun rise from your cabin’s picture window. Or join an early morning skiff (small boat) expedition for your first experience of the river. After an abundant breakfast, you’ll take to the expedition skiffs to sail along the Tahuayo Black Water River past fishermen paddling dug out wooden canoes to spot orioles and black collared hawks by the waterline. You’ll then reach Charo Lake for a guided fishing trip to try and hook a piranha. Your guides will help teach you the basics. You’ll return to the boat for a leisurely light lunch then head out in the skiffs once more. This time, sailing close to the shoreline of the Yapacana Islands where iguanas rest in the tree tops and gray and pink freshwater dolphins play off shore. You’ll then return to the ship for a sun downer before dinner as you sail towards the headwaters of the Amazon River where the Ucayali, Maraňon and Amazon meet.

Meals: Breakfast, lunch and dinner

Day 4 Marañon River/Pacaya-Samiria National Reserve (Nauta Caño And Yanayacu-Pucate)
Today you’ve a choice of contrasting activities at two different ranger stations. At the first, you’ll sail by skiff to remote Yarina, where you may see howler monkeys and pink river dolphins, to learn about the medicinal value of the jungle plants and hike to the famous kapok trees; the tallest trees in the Amazon. At the second, you’ll enjoy a dolphin watching excursion before exploring the jungle canopy where there are up to 200 different bird species and 13 different monkeys from tamarins to marmosets. You return to the ship for a nature briefing before another delicious dinner on board.

Meals: Breakfast, lunch and dinner

Day 5 Birthplace of the Amazon – Puerto Miguel Village – Nauta Caño
An unforgettable vista greets you this morning, as you board the skiffs for an early morning river expedition towards the headwaters of the Amazon River. Watching the sun rise over the birthplace of the Amazon River, where the Ucayali and Maraňon meet to form the world’s greatest waterway is an image that will stay with you for a lifetime. Then, as gray tanagers and short-tailed parrots flit through the trees, you sail on to Puerto Miguel village. After meeting local people and learning about Amazon culture and traditions, your route back to the ship takes you along an unspoilt ‘connecter canal’ that is home to Victoria Regis (the largest water lilies in the world). In the afternoon, you’ll discover the Nauta Cano, dubbed ‘mirrored forest’ due to its glistening black water lagoons, where toucans perch in the tree tops and iguanas bask by the water’s edge. You’ll also drink in a fabulous sunset before returning to your ship in time for dinner.

Meals: Breakfast, lunch and dinner

Day 6 Ucayali – Yanallpa/Dorado Rivers – Pacaya Samiria National Reserve
Today starts with an exhilarating skiff boat ride through a ‘gallery forest’ or tunnel of leaves at Yanalpa where parrots and monk saki monkeys are almost close enough to touch as you cruise along this narrow black water stream. After lunch on board the M/V Aqua, you depart by skiff once more in the late afternoon to cruise slowly through the black water river pools and lagoons of the mirrored forest where sloths hang lazily in the towering trees above you and parrots and blue-yellow macaws chatter in the treetops. Returning to the ship in time for dinner, you may enjoy twilight encounters with caimans, frogs and fishing bats along the way as night falls over the Amazon.

Meals: Breakfast, lunch and dinner

Day 7 Puinahua River/Hatum Posa Lake/Pacaya River
Today begins with an early morning cruise of Hatum Posa ox-bow lake where neo-tropic cormorants, egrets, herons and hawks fish by the shoreline. Then, after breakfast your guides will take you on a jungle walk to meet local villagers cultivating the lands and teach you more about the wealth of fruit trees and medicinal plants hidden in the forest. You’ll enjoy lunch in the comfort of the M/V Aqua. Then in the afternoon, you’ll join a skiff expedition that will take you deep into the jungle at Yanayacu Lake. This trip into remote rainforest has been timed to allow you to experience the sounds of the jungle as night falls and the skies are alive with the tremendous roars of howler monkeys and the croaking of tree frogs. You’ll spot capuchin and monk saki monkeys swinging through the trees. And, returning in twilight, your guides will search the river by torch light for caimans as you glide along in the near darkness. Arriving back in time for this evening’s nature briefing, you’ll then enjoy another fine evening meal as the M/V Aqua cruises gently along the river.

Meals: Breakfast, lunch and dinner

Day 8 Puinahua/Pacaya Rivers And Carocurahuayte Lake
A breakfast with a difference today, as you set off by skiff as the sun rises for some dolphin watching and enjoy a light ‘picnic’ breakfast. You’ll also spot macaws and toucans and some monkey species you’ve not yet encountered. Returning to the ship for lunch, in the afternoon you’ll join the skiffs once more to sail to Carocurahuayte Lake. This tropical basin is home to over 3,000 species of fish from freshwater barracudas to banjo catfish. Not to mention a number of carnivorous varieties including the infamous piranhas. Your guides will show you a few before you sail back to the ship for a final nature briefing in the top lounge. Then it’s time for a gourmet farewell dinner together with your naturalist guides and crew as the M/V Aqua sails on towards Iquito overnight.

Meals: Breakfast, lunch and dinner

Day 9 Disembark – Fly to Lima
This morning you’ll enjoy one last expedition by skiff, this time to explore the floating houses and colourful markets of the lively riverside village of Belen; a regional hub for the remote villages that line the Amazon River. Then, after a light lunch on board, you’ll say a fond farewell to the M/V Aqua and leave the ship for a final time to spend the afternoon touring the remote city of Iquitos; accessible only by plane or boat. Once the centre of the rubber industry and complete with a house built by Gustave Eiffel, today this bustling little town is known for its Manatee Rescue Centre, which you’ll visit before boarding your return flight to Lima. Arriving in the early evening, you will be taken to the Miraflores Park where you’ll spend your final night in Peru over dinner at leisure.

Meals: Breakfast and lunch

Day 10 Depart Lima
After a free morning, you’ll be taken to the airport for your return flight to London.

Meals: Breakfast

Day 11 Arrive London
You’ll return home in the early afternoon.

Tour includes:

All flights specified
Private transfers
Local expert guides in resort
Inspirational sightseeing programme
9 breakfasts, 7 lunches, 7 dinners
Amazon River cruising
Rainforest excursions
Stylish expedition cruising
Remote parts of Amazon

On a Journey of Distinction, you are not merely a bystander. They believe that the wonders, customs and cultures you experience will live on in the core of your being. They even go so far as to say that one of their holidays will change your life forever.

Their combination of Tour Managers and Local Guides is what makes Journey of Distinction so distinctive. When you’re embarking on a voyage of discovery, it’s reassuring to know that a seasoned traveller is with you every step of the way; planning, organising, checking details and offering their advice and support. Their groups all depart from the UK, and no one joins us along the way, so you have the reassuring constancy of always knowing your travelling companions.

Our Opinion
“Limited to just 25 travellers per departure, every Journeys of Distinction escorted tour has an intimate, personal feel that makes for a more enjoyable experience.”