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Day 1 - Depart from U.S./Lima, Peru
Day 2 - Lima/Iquitos/Embark La Turmalina
Upon your arrival to this frontier city on the Amazon, transfer to the pier and embark on your finely crafted expedition vessel. Lunch will be provided, and all meals are included throughout the cruise.
Day 3 - Cruising the Amazon/Ucayali River
Awake this morning as an enormous panorama unfolds; the vast Amazon itself, calm and mysterious; and the overgrown banks of the lunch rainforest, both concealing and revealing the greatest diversity of plant and animal life on earth. Cruise up the Rio Ucayali, beyond its wide confluence with the Rio Maranon, where intriguing pink and gray freshwater dolphin can be seen gliding alongside the ship. Passing by the town of Pagazan near dusk, watch for fish-eating bats beginning the night's foraging.
Day 4 - Ucayali River/Requena
Visit a tributary of the Rio Ucayali. Board excursion boats to venture up this smaller tributary and visit a small community of riberenos, or river people, to see what life is like in a typical Amazon village. In the afternoon, arrive in a virtually uninhabited portion of the Amazon.
Day 5 - Pacaya-Samiria National Reserve
This morning, the ship arrives at the Pacaya-Samiria National Reserve, the largest wetlands preserve in the world. Only this ship and its sister ships are allowed within this virtually uninhabited portion of the Amazon. Venture out with our native Peruvian guide for a leisurely hike through varzea or seasonally flooded forest. Enjoy a picnic lunch at a ranger station before heading back o the ship.
Day 6 - Tapiche River/Ucayali River/Maranon River
This is a true black-water river, tinted by tannins that have leached out from the tree roots, bark and leaves. Choose from several morning activities, including swimming in the river, paddling an Amazonian dugout canoe or visiting a river village.
Day 7 - Maranon River/San Regis
Enjoy a spectacular walk through the depths of the Amazonian rainforest, through the terra firma of the true jungle. Soaring ceiba trees, forming a vast canopy, trail epiphytes and vines down their twisted column trunks.
Day 8 - Iquitos/Disembark La Turmalina/ Lima/Return to US
Day 9 - Arrive US
Machu Picchu Post Tour Option
Enjoy two nights in Lima, including an excursion to the Rafael Larco Herrera Museum. After one night in the Sacred Valley of the Incas, travel by deluxe rail service, with glass-dome viewing cars, to the "Lost city" of Machu Picchu. Spend two nights in Cuzco, the former Inca capital.
This six night post-tour extension includes first-class accommodations. |
