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Suggested Packages / Amazon / Cusco / Lima / Lake Titicaca / Arequipa / Nazca
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Amazon River Cruise -
"The Earth's Greatest Experience Yet To Be Discovered"

A remarkable voyage of exploration has been professionally organized to travel up the Amazon river and beyond its confluence of the Ucayali and Marañon Rivers into the remote Peruvian Amazon. Amazing wildlife is identified as the expedition navigates into one of the world's largest wild wetland areas - the Pacaya-Samiria National Reserve. Many species of monkeys, hundreds of colorful exotic birds and family groups of both Gray and Pink River Dolphins are observed in a single day of exploration.

Explore the Amazon in comfort aboard the authentically designed 24-guest Aquamarina. Each spacious cabin — a generous 161 sq. ft. — is air-conditioned with private baths and dramatic picture windows. During meals in the inviting dining room, enjoy the passing panorama of the rainforest while enjoying delicious cuisine. Daily naturalist-guided excursions aboard sturdy 19-passenger skiffs, equipped with 100-HP motors, are ideal for delving into narrow creeks and tributaries. With their flat bottom and spacious seating, you’ll have unobstructed views of the surrounding wildlife.

In the lovely dining parlor, you will dine in casual elegance. Your palate is rewarded with international cuisine as well as a mixture of dishes whose origin in rooted in Peruvian cooking traditions. These delicious meals are prepared each day from the freshest vegetables, fruit, fish, and other local produce. Looking through the bank of floor-to-ceiling windows, you are reminded of the ever-changing exotic and remote beauty that surrounds you.

Intimate, classically styled, this comfortable vessel offer incredible wildlife viewing from spacious open-air observation decks.. You can relax here and quietly savor the easy pace as the rainforest reveals itself to you. Or, you can enjoy the camaraderie of new friends as you discuss the wonders of the day's excursions or the adventures that await you tomorrow. In the evening, sip coffee in solitude under the expansive opal skies and watch the sun disappear behind yet another limitless expanse of vibrant rainforest.

Expert naturalist guides from the area take us on daily daylight and night time outings aboard specially designed excursion boats along the Amazon River and its tributaries. The guides have vast knowledge of the Amazon Rainforest Ecology, the most important element to ensure that we will receive the best wildlife interpretation and appreciation of their heritage.

Itinerary

Day 1 • Friday U.S. / Lima
Fly independently to Lima, Peru, the nation’s capital and largest city, and transfer to the Swissôtel for the night. (D Aloft)

Day 2 • Saturday Lima / Iquitos / Embark Amazon Riverboat / Amazon River
Tour historic Lima, visiting Casa Aliaga, a private home dating back to the Conquistadors. See the Cathedral, where Francisco Pizarro is entombed, and Plaza de Armas. Before lunch, tour the monastery and vast catacombs of the Iglesia de San Francisco. Fly over the Andes Mountains to Iquitos. Board our riverboat, Aquamarina, home for the next seven days of our Amazon cruise. During a nightly briefing, we’ll review the following day’s Amazon Voyage expedition itinerary and meet the crew. Tonight, we journey slowly toward the confluence marking the beginning of the Amazon River, stargazing and storytelling with our local guides. (B,L,D)

Day 3 • Sunday Confluence of the Amazon River / Río Ucayali
We awake this morning on the Amazon River, seeing some of the ever-changing panorama of jungle life as our Amazon River cruise ship continues upriver. Small villages dot the shoreline, and channels weaving through island mazes provide close-up views of a variety of birds. The confluence of the Ucayali and Marañón Rivers is famous as the beginning of the Amazon River in Peru. Amazingly, we are about 2,400 miles from where the river flows into the Atlantic. The river drops only about 350 feet the entire way! On our Amazon Voyage adventure, travel waterways aboard sturdy excursion boats to areas where we may find marsh birds such as oriole blackbirds, green ibis, yellow-headed caracaras, black-capped donacobis and white-headed marsh-tyrant. We turn into the Río Ucayali, where we’re apt to find gray river dolphins and Amazon pink dolphins cavorting near the boat and along the shoreline. Later we take an excursion into the surrounding rainforest in search of giant water lilies and elusive wildlife such as monkeys and sloths. As dusk approaches, fishing bats begin their night’s foraging. (B,L,D)

Day 4 • Monday Río Ucayali / Pacaya-Samiria Reserve
After a peaceful breakfast along the black-water Sapote Creek, we explore a small tributary of the Ucayali. We look for animals including primates, sloths and an enormous variety of birds. Our Amazon Voyage adventure continues upriver to the Pacaya-Samiria Reserve. Although scientific studies are far from exhausted, the Pacaya-Samiria is the known home to 450 bird species, 102 species of mammals, over 130 species of reptiles and amphibians, and countless plants. This afternoon, an excursion into this largest wetland reserve in the world provides the opportunity to see 13 species of primates, including monk sakis, red howler, saddle-backed tamarin and squirrel monkeys. We explore Caro Lake, connected to the river by way of a very small stream, where we may find flocks of greater ani, often seen following monkeys in search of insects disturbed by the monkeys’ foraging. We enjoy a nighttime boat excursion for a chance to find caimans, capybaras, common potoos, frogs and other nocturnal wildlife. (B,L,D)

Day 5 • Tuesday Rio Pacaya / Pacaya-Samiria Reserve
Spend the day exploring this flooded realm, seeing wading birds such as herons, wattled jacanas and horned screamers. Venturing deep into the rainforest, tour an igapo (seasonally flooded forest), where plant life is very different from what we see along the main course of our Amazon cruise, and walk through the forest. Once we reach the reserve's second checkpoint, hike around the ranger station. Lucky guests may release turtle hatchlings. A delicious lunch energizes us for afternoon excursions with our expert naturalists, where we may find scarlet macaws, hoatzins, black-collared hawks and red howler monkeys.(B,L,D)

Day 6 • Wednesday Pacaya-Samiria Reserve
After an early breakfast, we board our excursion boats for access even further into the heart of these vast wetlands. As our Amazon Voyage adventure cruises the narrow waterways, we’ll find birds such as canary-winged parakeets and spectacular blue-and-gold and scarlet macaws. Primates also are fairly common, including noisy squirrel monkeys. We arrive at a ranger station, where we may take a short hike to explore the forest. After a picnic lunch, we gradually make our way back to our riverboat through the maze of waterways. Visit a village along the river, with the chance to learn about the lives of the “Ribereño” people who live there. Accompanied by guides who grew up along the river, this is a fantastic opportunity to stroll through gardens learning about medicinal plants and folklore, visit a school, or join in a game of soccer. The children are especially excited to see their faces on digital cameras and to show off their school and sing Peruvian songs. Depending on the villages visited during your Amazon River tour, you may also have the opportunity to see an IE-funded water treatment plant. The clean drinking water provided by these plants is having an enormous positive health impact in remote river villages. Learn about medicinal plants and enjoy a blessing ceremony by a respected village shaman. (B,L,D)

Day 7 • Thursday Río Ucayali / Pacaya-Samiria Reserve
This morning we head back downriver, with a morning wildlife or other activity. Aboard the ship, take advantage of the open-air top deck, learning to make traditional Peruvian dishes or enjoying an enriching lecture. After dark we’ll go out in our excursion boats to listen to the sounds of the rainforest and look for nocturnal wildlife. (B,L,D)

Day 8 • Friday Amazon River
Wake up early for a morning birdwatching excursion along the Yarapa River. After breakfast, try your hand at piranha fishing in Ubos Lake. Piranha are very common in the slower-moving water. With luck, we may catch red-breasted, white or black piranha, and feast on our catch this evening at dinner. Once back aboard our Amazon River cruise ship, we enjoy a farewell dinner. (B,L,D)

Day 9 • Saturday Iquitos / Lima / Depart
In the morning we disembark in Iquitos. Enjoy a walking tour of this frontier city. Take a boat excursion to tour the Belen Market before visiting the IE-funded Las Mavinas urban garden project. After lunch, fly back to Lima and connect with your overnight flight to the U.S. ( B,L)

Day 10 • Sunday Arrive U.S.
We arrive Sunday and connect with flights home. (Meals Aloft)

Because conditions at the time of our visit and new opportunities always determine what is possible on the Amazon, our Amazon cruise expedition itinerary is flexible. The itinerary shown is a guide to what we may do, but it’s always subject to change.

2012 Prices per person in US$: $3,898
All costs are per person based on double occupancy.
Single Occupancy: $5647 - Single accommodations are limited
Kids 7-18 receive a $150 discount off double occupancy rate.

Plus In-Country Airfare: Lima / Iquitos / Lima $368, subject to change -

2012 Dates: Jan. 6,20,27, Feb. 3,10,17,24, March 2,16,23,30, April 6,13,20,27, May 18,25, June 1,8,15,22,29, July 6,13,20,27, Aug. 3, Sept. 7,14,21,28, Oct. 5,19,26, Nov. 2,9, Dec. 21,28 2013 - Jan. 11,18,25, Feb. 1,8,15,22, March 1,8,15,22 April 5,12,19,26, May 3,10,17,24,31, June 7,14,21,28, July 5,12,19,26, Aug. 2,9,16,23, Sept. 27, Oct. 4,11,18,25, Nov. 1,8,15,22, Dec. 20,27

IMPORTANT - Day-by-day itinerary may vary pending on weather, water level season and wildlife cycle to help protecting its natural habitat. Visits to villages may change randomly to avoid cross-culture.

INCLUDED - First class service on board and fully supported voyage with personal attention in small groups. Highly skilled native naturalist and experienced crew members.

NOT INCLUDED - International airfares, airport taxes. Health insurance and personal travel insurance. Other extension and optional tour arrangements. All beverages and liqueurs. Gratuities to guides and crew members.

Highlights of Cruise