Aria Amazon Peruvian River Cruise
4 Days - 3 Nights
- Based on Double Occupancy
Explore the tributaries of the Amazon River aboard the luxury, all-suite Aria Amazon for 4D/3N Starting at $3,645.00 per person.
In 2015, the Aria Amazon, which first set sail in 2011, was completely refreshed with new upgrades from bed linens to state of the art lighting.
The 45 meter (147 foot) long Aria was designed by the innovative Peruvian architect Jordi Puig. Extremely generous dining and lounging areas include an outdoor river facing Jacuzzi.
Floor to ceiling windows face the Amazon River in the ship’s 16 Design Suites, each measuring 23 square meters (250 square feet).
Four suites can interconnect for families. Upgrades to the spa include new decor for enhanced relaxation.
This striking black hulled ship accommodates a maximum of 32 guests plus 26 crew including a paramedic and four English-speaking naturalist guides. Aqua Expeditions highly experienced river pilots and the most rigorous cruise ship standards ensure smooth travel and safety on the waters of the Peruvian Amazon.
Lost World Adventures itineraries can be tailor-made according to your plans and preferences: budget, hotel selections, travel dates, optional excursions, length of trip, etc.
The Following Itinerary Is A Combination Of The 3 And 4-Night Cruises
Day 1 : Iquitos – Amazon River
Aria Amazon Embarkation and Check-In
From the moment you step on board, enjoy the Aria Amazon’s low-key luxury. As you settle into your handsomely appointed, generously proportioned suite, you will feel the vessel begin to move the beginning of one of your life’s great adventures. We suggest you stand on the Upper Deck to take in the view, as the Aria Amazon leaves Iquitos behind.
Over the next seven days, you will also sail along the two largest tributaries of the Peruvian Amazon, the Ucayali and the Marañon, as well as on the mighty Amazon itself. You are embarking on a spectacular journey to a place visited by only a very few of even the most experienced world travelers.
Safety Drill and Briefing on the Upper Deck
Before dinner we will perform a routine safety drill. Then it’s into the air-conditioned lounge, where you will learn about life on board, and will have the first nightly briefing about your next day’s Amazon adventure.
You will meet our naturalist guides and your cruise director, who will use video, photos, and maps to introduce the details of your journey deep into the Peruvian Amazon.
Welcome Dinner
Sit down, relax, sip fine South American wine, toast the beginning of a beautiful journey and enjoy the innovative Amazonian cuisine, created by our Executive Chef Pedro Miguel Schiaffino, whose restaurant, Malabar, is the one of Lima’s top ranked dining experiences. Schiaffino’s imaginative use of local products – fruit, fish, spices – makes every meal a delightful adventure. (The menu always offers choices, including a vegetarian option.)
Perhaps sip a nightcap on the Upper Deck, under the stars, before retiring.
Day 2 : Amazon River – Yarapa River – Ucayali River
Amazon River Expedition
Get up early to watch the sunrise for the first time on the Amazon River. This is just a sample of what lies ahead. Return to the Aria Amazon
Breakfast
Wake up early and enjoy the beautiful view of sunrise. Our sumptuous daily breakfast buffet features a wide variety of dishes, plus Peruvian specialties and fresh fruit juices.
Yarapa River Exploration
This morning you will board our comfortable skiff to sail from the Amazon River to the Yarapa River. Life jackets, ponchos, rubber boots, and fresh water are always available in our private boats. As you float down the Yarapa, past the occasional fishermen paddling in their canoes, keep your binoculars ready to spot wildlife: terns, tropical songbirds, black collared hawks and sloth share this wonderful world with us.
Return to the Aria Amazon
While the boat continues its journey along the Amazon River, you will have free time to rest or take a siesta before lunch.
Lunch in the comfort of our air-conditioned dining room. Lecture in the lounge by our naturalist guides.
Canoeing and swimming at Lake Clavero
We sail on to Lake Clavero where villagers paddle in their traditional dugout canoes. You may wish to swim in the lake’s calm waters and visit the community to interact with our Amazonia neighbors who will be pleased to welcome you.
Return to the Aria Amazon. Before dinner, sip a classic Peruvian pisco sour on the Upper Deck while watching the sunset.
Day 3 : Yanallpa – Dorado River – Pacaya Samiria National Reserve
Breakfast
Ucayali River Expedition / Yanallpa
This morning, board the skiffs to explore a fascinating black water stream, part of the vast Amazon flooded forest within the Pacaya Samiria National Reserve. Your guides will tell you about the jungle as we explore what scientists call a “gallery forest,” because of its dense vegetation that creates a tunnel of leaves. As we explore this type of riparian vegetation, watch above for parrots, macaws, and fluffy monk saki monkeys.
Return to the Aria Amazon
Optional Peruvian cooking lessons
Lunch, followed by an optional siesta
Lecture in the lounge by our naturalist guides.
Dorado River Exploration and Night Excursion
This afternoon we take a magical journey through the “Jungle of the Mirrors,” where towering trees are reflected in the dark river. We move on to Dorado River where you may observe enchanting parrots, macaws and a variety of primates, unperturbed by our presence. As we make our way back to the Aria Amazon, you may see alligators, frogs and fishing bats.
Return to Aria Amazon
Crew presentation
Towards the Birth of the Amazon River and Dinner
While you dine, we continue our journey upstream, toward the headwaters of the Amazon River, where the Ucayali and Marañon Rivers merge.
Day 4 : Source of the Amazon – Village Visit with Shaman – Nauta Town
Breakfast
Travel briefing for the day
Birth of the Amazon River
This morning, the Aria Amazon skirts the edges of the vast Pacaya Samiria National Reserve, a flooded forest covering five million acres at the headwaters of the Amazon basin. You will see one of the great spectacles of the Southern Hemisphere: the birth of the Amazon River.
Here, at the junction of two major tributaries, the Ucayali and the Marañon, form the greatest waterfall in the world – nature at its best. Your dawn excursion will be accompanied by abundant bird song, as you glide in small boats past large-billed terns, laughing falcons, exotic short-tailed parrot, and dozens of other birds.
Village visit & Shaman experience
We will travel by boat to a community located along the Marañon River, where you will meet and interact with local villagers in this remote part of the world and learn about their traditions and folklore.
Walk around with our naturalist guides to see how Aqua Expeditions works with these communities to improve their natural resource management. We will have the opportunity to learn about medicinal plants from a Shaman or local medicine teacher, whose knowledge of spiritual healing has been passed down from generation to generation since time immemorial.
You will also have the opportunity to shop for handicrafts directly from the artisans.
Return to the Aria Amazon
Lunch
Visit to the City of Nauta
This afternoon, we will visit the town of Nauta, founded in 1930. Nauta is the main point where villagers from around Amazonia come to sell the products they harvest in their rural communities.
We’ll walk around Nauta to gain insights into the life of these coastal peoples. We will also visit the local fresh market, with your guides on hand to point out the different fish caught by the fishermen of Amazonia, and all types of indigenous fruits.
Later, you may visit the Sapi Sapi Lagoon.
Return to Aria Amazon
Dinner
Meet new passengers who have signed on for the four-night trip, and enjoy your gourmet meal as we start our journey along the Marañon River.
Day 5 : Yanayacu – Pucate River – Marañon River – Pacaya Samiria National Reserve
Breakfast
Expedition on board our boats to Yanayacu – Pucate River
This morning, visit the Yanayacu – Pucate River within Pacaya Samiria National Reserve. Here on this black water river you can observe many species of flora and fauna, especially macaws and several species of primates like squirrels monkeys, capuchins monkeys and the famous river dolphins, either pink or gray. Your naturalist guide will tell you about sustainable development projects carried out in this part of the Peruvian Amazon.
Return to the Aria Amazon
Lunch
Enjoy a light lunch in our dining room with air conditioning.
Lecture in the lounge by our naturalist guides.
Marañon river exploration and Village Visit
We have chosen this time of day to observe the wildlife activity to sunset, including friar apes, monkeys capuchin and howler monkeys. As the sun sets, you will hear the second symphony of the Amazon rainforest, as other nocturnal animals send their shrill calls across the treetops.
En route back to the boat, you can see nocturnal creatures, including, perhaps, huge caimans and alligators.
Return to Aria Amazon
Dinner
Day 6 : Samiria River – Nauta Caño – Pacaya Samiria National Reserve
Exploration, breakfast on board and walk along the Samiria River
This morning your naturalist guide will talk about sustainable development projects in the Amazon. You will visit one of the projects, where villagers are planting palms to obtain oil.
Your guide will also show you the artificial nests created in the sand to protect turtle eggs. Then we go into the jungle to encounter wildlife and learn first-hand about the value of medicinal plants found in the jungle.
Keep an eye out for the famous Ceiba tree, the highest in the Amazon. We will have the opportunity to make brief trips in traditional Amazonian canoes and to swim in the waters of the Samiria River.
Return to Aria Amazon
Lunch
Excursion to Nauta Caño and night exploration
Nauta Caño is part of the Pacaya Samiria Reserve, also known as the forest of mirrors due to its dark lagoons, which reflect the beautiful scenery. In this area we will observe toucans, macaws, and iguanas, among many other species. As we make our way back to the Aria Amazon, you may also see alligators, frogs and fishing bats.
Return to Aria Amazon
Dinner
Day 7 : Marañon River – Tahuayo River – Amazon River
Breakfast
Marañon exploration and trail walk
We sail along the Marañon River, watching the different species of flora and fauna as we approach the Casual community where we will hike on land. Here you will see a plethora of wildlife, so keep your binoculars ready to observe tanagers and orioles as well as various reptiles and amphibians.
Keep an eye out for the beautiful and eye-catching but poisonous frogs along this fascinating trail, as well as trees and medicinal plants.
Return to the Aria Amazon
From this point, start sailing downstream toward Iquitos.
Cooking Lessons
Lunch
Tahuayo river exploration and piranha fishing
This afternoon you will board our comfortable boat to sail from the Amazon River and enter to Tahuayo River. Life jackets, ponchos, rubber boots, and fresh water are always available in our boats.
As you float down the river, occasional fishermen paddling in their canoes. Keep your binoculars ready to spot a vast variety of wildlife: terns, tropical songbirds, pipites, black collared hawks and sloth share this wonderful place with us. After our arrival at a particular spot, you may use your hooks to try to catch some of the ferocious piranhas and other fish species.
Return to Aria Amazon
Once back on board, the ship will continue its journey down stream, sailing toward Iquitos through the night.
Meet in the lounge with our naturalist guides for the Crew Presentation
The guides will introduce some of the crew members whom you may not have met, who worked “behind the scenes” to ensure your memorable trip has been filled with countless exceptional experiences.
Dinner
Day 8 : Disembark – Iquitos City Tour – Transfer to Airport
Breakfast
Travel briefing
Morning Excursion – dependent on the river level
We will have the opportunity to visit an animal rescue center called “Fundo Neycer” on the Amazon River. Here, monkeys and birds receive much needed care from experts in the management and recovery of wildlife species.
Return to the Aria Amazon
Sadly, it’s time to finish packing. Please leave your packed suitcases in your suite for pickup before going to lunch.
Light Lunch
Disembarkation / City Tour / Manatee Rescue Center / Transfer to the Airport
This afternoon, we will take you on a tour of Iquitos, glorious city in the days of the rubber boom. Visit the Manatee Rescue Center, a kind of animal orphanage for Amazonian manatees to rescue, rehabilitate and release them back into the wild. Later, we stop at the Amazonian Indian Market San Juan, where, you may wish to shop for local crafts before leaving.
Guides will help with check in at the airport and stay with you until you have boarded your flight back to Lima.
Aria Amazon Cruises
All cruises begin in the remote colonial city of Iquitos, Peru, from where you will be transported in exceptional comfort deep into the Amazon rainforest.
3-night Discover
Cruise along the Ucayali River, the Amazon’s largest tributary, as well as other neighboring rivers – the Yarapa and Dorado – each one rich in vibrant wildlife and thriving rainforests.
Go fishing for the many species of Amazon fish, explore into the dense jungle on foot in search of three-toed sloths, toucans, macaws then come back in the comfort of skiffs to meet taricaya turtles in their natural habitat and hunt for endangered pink dolphins, unique to the Amazon, at play.
As the Aria Amazon journeys towards the union of the Ucayali and the Marañon Rivers, considered the birthplace of the Amazon, learn from experienced, English speaking naturalist guides about the diverse Amazon wildlife and birds of the Pacaya-Samiria National Reserve.
4-night Explorer
Cruise along the Ucayali River, the Amazon’s largest tributary, as well as four other rivers, each one rich in vibrant wildlife with thriving rainforests.
Go piranha fishing, trek into the dense jungle in search of Amazon monkeys, three-toed sloths, crown headed hoatzin birds, toucans, macaws and giant water lilies. Return in the comfort of skiffs to cruise up close to view Taricaya turtles and spectacled caimans in their natural habitat while pink dolphins, at play, challenge your photography skills.
As the Aria Amazon journeys towards the confluence of the Ucayali and the Marañon Rivers, considered the birthplace of the Amazon, learn from our experienced, English speaking naturalist guides about the diverse Amazon wildlife and birds of Pacaya-Samiria National Reserve.
7-night Expedition
The most comprehensive Amazon journey among the Amazon River’s three powerful tributaries: the Marañon, the Ucayali, and the Puinahua as well as several hidden black water lakes.
Enjoy a tour by skiff of the Yacapana Isles, the “Isles of the Iguana”. Meet the gray and pink freshwater dolphins of the Yarapa River. Visit Madgalena Village and her giant water lilies and meet the Cocama Indians of Puerto Prado.
Travel down the Ucayali River spotting monkeys and learn about the Amazon River headwaters. Probe deep within the Nauta Caño within Pacaya-Samiria Reserve, known as the mirrored forest, fish for piranha in Charo Lake and learn about sustainable resource management projects in Amazonia.
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Although not mandatory, tipping is highly appreciated in all cases. Our general advice to travelers is to tip what you feel is appropriate and based on performance – using the guidelines below – and do not worry about offending anyone.
