Daily Amazon wildlife excursions on the shores of the Maranon River
The adventure holiday takes us on a journey down the Amazon River on the riverboat the Amatista. We board our vessel in Iquitos, in the heart of the Amazon. This is the largest city in the world inaccessible by road and has beautiful colonial churches and architecture. Our Riverboat will be our home for the next 6 nights as we experience the Amazon in style. Led by an Amazon Reserve naturalist guide, our cruise will include daily excursions by motorized skiff designed to reveal the exotic wildlife that calls the rainforest home, with any luck we'll spot sloths, toucans or pink dolphins. And, with two full days for exploration in Pacaya-Samiria National Reserve, we have the chance to experience the jungle up close. We also include 2 night time excursions to see the nocturnal animals.
In addition to our rainforest explorations, another important feature of the holiday will be our visits to the homes of deep forest settlers. We will visit and learn what their lives are like, living on the edge of this vast trackless forest. A walk through their gardens is always interesting and we marvel at their survival skills, which permit them to continue living in the complex tropical forest environment. All deep forest settlers collect plants for medicines and we will talk with them and a sharman about which plants they collect and their uses. We also have the opportunity to fish for piranhas, a staple fish for food here on the river. We explore the Choroyacu Creek where we paddle in a dugout canoe through the mangroves. We certainly gain a rare glimpse of how life "on the river" is lived and experience the magic of the Amazon on this once-in-a-lifetime riverboat adventure.