We were met at Iquitos airport by our guide and naturalist for the next four days exploring the Amazon on our river cruise . There are only 4 suites on our exclusive vessel which I would describe more as a houseboat than a cruise ship.
Our suite was amazing complete with our own jaccuzi on the huge verandah.
The meals were all amazing using mostly local freshwater seafood and tonnes of local fruits that not even the Peruvians had eaten before. As usual – far more than you would need!
The staff changed not only the table settings for every meal. They even changed the drapes and seat covers in the dining room to match the mats and serviette rings all made by local artisans!
Our naturalist was a good communicator and could see sloths and birds in tree tops that we would have missed for sure.
Our days were spent rather like being in an African safari camp – early morning rises to board our little skiff – an aluminium long boat with twin out board motor that zipped us up the river and into lagoons and tributaries where we took off our life vests to relax and look for wildlife and interesting birds and trees. Peaceful and quiet – I could have stayed out all day. Back for breakfast and a relax before lunch – or perhaps a DVD on the Amazon – or a visit to a local village….. dunk in the jaccuzi …. lunch…. snooze…. too hot for anything else in the middle of the day… evening skiff wildlife excursion…..shower… pisco sour at the bar..dinner… early bed. My kind of day on holidays!
One morning we had breakfast on the skiff – great fun – followed by a swim diving off the skiff in the middle of the river – a tributary of a tributary of the R. Amazonas! The water was dark due to the tannins from the leaves and timber but so refreshing (and miles upstream from any human habitation). Pink dolphins were swimming nearby. I kept on counting my toes.
Another highlight was the pink and grey dolphins that were feeding right outside our cabin where we tied up for the night at the junction of the Dorada and Ucayali rivers.
Glorious sunrises, wonderful sunsets – we were blessed with fine weather and good company. A lovely way to relax after a big trip to Latin America.
Cruising the Amazon
