During this quarantine, I am day dreaming about the best trips of my life, planning a US road trip for when the bans end, and salivating over Mexican foods I miss. After quarantine, you should definitely look into a cruise of the Peruvian Amazon River!
Why visit the Amazon in Peru?
When I tell people I went to the Amazon, a lot of them assume I went to Brazil. Well, I didn’t.
On December of 2013, I went to Peru on another crazy family Christmas trip, and here are the reasons why you should choose the Amazonia Peru:
Conscious Tourism
The Amazon Rainforest Peru covers 2/3 of the country and it is home to the largest protected flooded forest in the world. Although the country only possesses 13% of the Amazon Rainforest, it protects almost all of it!
The Amazon’s Indigenous people’s are the one’s monitoring and conserving the Amazon, their leaders collaborate with the government and have achieved the legal protection of more than 54 million hectares. There is still more to do, but involving the major stakeholders in the preservation is always ideal.
Food
I have dubbed myself a foodie for a few years now. Whenever I visit a place, I try to enjoy as much of the local food as possible. My husband thought I was a picky eater until we visited Japan together. I will not say no to food, even if it’s not usually my favorite.
Well, I am happy to say Peru provided one of the best culinary experiences of my life. Every dish I tried was full of life and culture, infused by the locals’ knowledge of criolla cuisine. The ingredients used were sourced from small communities along the Peru rainforest and every meal was a surprise to both the chefs and me, as they did not know what ingredients would be available to them on a daily basis. You can enjoy so many delicacies like freshwater fish, yuca, ahí negro, camu camu, maracuya and cacao. The food is delicious and the many different dishes are exquisite.
Birthplace of the Amazon River
The Amazon River is born in Peru! It starts where two rivers meet, the Ucayali and Marañon Rivers.
Since there is a lot of protected land, you can cruise along the Amazon River in Peru encountering no human life and enjoying the Amazon in all its splendor.
* If you want to visit the Amazon, and the cruise is a bit much, the boat manager, Luis Calonge, now has his own travel agency doing responsible tourism in the Amazon!
The Amazon Journey
Again, we chose National Geographic and Linblad Expeditions for our journey into the Amazon. National Geographic cruises are the best trips of a lifetime, especially for our Amazon trip. They organize expeditions that are fully planned, equipped with wonderful staff like our expedition leader Carlos Romero, a NatGeo photographer and many experienced naturalists! Our favorite guide, Rudy, had spent 8 years in the Amazon rainforest with a shaman. He knew a lot about the medicinal and edible plants as well as wildlife.
The adventure started in Lima, where after days of mostly eating the amazing Peruvian food (ceviche anyone) and drinking the national cocktail, Pisco Sour, we boarded a plane to Iquitos. In Iquitos we boarded our Amazon River cruise, Delfin II.
The Delfin II has only 14 cabins, making it a small group to experience the magic with. Our family was taking up 3 cabins! The boat anchors on the shore, so we would wake up to trees rustling on our window, or maybe some Amazon animals or insects’ curious eyes. They also provided organic and ecological toiletries, including DEET-free insect repellent so as not to harm the ecosystem. The Delfin II tries to keep its carbon-footprint to a minimum.
On the days where we would walk in the Amazon Rainforest, the ship provided rubber boots. They were cleaned before we boarded the skiff and once on-board the Delfin II, so we wouldn’t bring into the Amazon anything that might damage it or take things out.
Amazon Itinerary
We got to experience the Amazon in different ways: by skiff (a motorized boat), kayaking, swimming, walking the rainforest and meeting communities of wonderful people in the Amazon Peru.
- Skiff through Pucate
- Skiff through Yanayacu
- Reserva Amazonas
- Night-walk through San Francisco
- Kayaks Nauta Cano
- San Francisco Community
- Swimming and Kayak Lake Clavero
- Skiff Ucayali
- Caño Belluda
- El Dorado
- Breakfast on the skiff in Atun Poza
- Skiff Pacaya
- Swimming Lake Yanayaku
- Skiff River Zapote
- Zapote Community
- Skiff Iricawa
- Puerto Miguel Community
It is wonderful to visit the communities and see how people live and survive. They take care of the Amazon as it is their source of survival, without it, they wouldn’t have food or water. The government of Peru has had initiatives to help these communities become self-sufficient like helping them collect rainwater (as the river water is toxic due to the bacteria present that help plants decompose), how to harvest fish, reforestation, helping them build schools, conservation of their native language and culture, etc. We also bought handmade souvenirs of different colorful animals made mostly from dyed palm called chambira, jewelry from seeds, small wood statues or even ones made from the jaws of the Paiche fish.
Activities on our Journey to the Amazon
Swimming and Kayaking in the Amazon
I swam in the Amazon river! Yes, despite piranhas and that infamous fish that if you pee can get into your urethra. I swam with pink dolphins around us. My sister later on confessed she peed in the water and was scared to death the fish was inside her (it wasn’t).
Piranhas only attack when the water levels in the Amazon are low and piranhas are out looking for food in the scarce water left in some areas. If you didn’t know, over 250,000 km2 of the Amazon Rainforest floods every single year. This makes it an underwater forest half of the time and it is vital for the healthy functioning of the ecosystem. We were there when the Amazon is flooded, so less chance of hungry piranhas in the same area.
We also got to kayak in the Amazon River. A wonderful way to explore the river and lake without disturbing the peaceful animals with any noise. One of the best experiences was to swim and kayak freely in the river. You feel at peace but also a bit of adrenaline, you are in the Amazon and movies have made the images of piranhas and anacondas stick in my mind.
I made the mistake of taking my water bottle with me without the cap that protects where you sip. Water didn’t get inside the bottle, but it did on where you can put your lips, and I got sick. Not-stay-in-my-room sick, like a lot of our fellow adventurers did, but some discomfort. I suspect some got sick due to the amount of Pisco Sours being drank, which has raw egg whites!
Walking in the Peru Rainforest
One of the best things was to be able to walk through the forest and see the animals, insects and plants firsthand. On our first walk some locals had seen an anaconda and grabbed it for us. (We did not pay for a selfie or give them any money so as not to encourage this type of behavior, they were just doing it to show us). We also saw a tarantula (also held by a local as it was poisonous), tiny colorful frogs, termites, birds, butterflies (one with transparent wings), insects, and many more.
Rudy showed us the vines you could cut if you needed water and to use termites as insect repellent. I even got to swing like Tarzan!
I am so graceful 
Glasswing butterfly Cicada shedding its skin 
Water vine Termites as bug spray Weird insect!
One night we got to go on a night-walk! It was truly an amazing experience to not see much without the help of a flashlight and knowing living things were out there. At one point my mom asks me (I was behind her):
“Are you messing with me and touching my back?”
“No.” How would I? We were in the AMAZON RAINFOREST AT NIGHT!
“Then I have something on my back!” She said half calm, half panicking taking her shirt off in front of our whole family and Rudy, who lingered behind as other groups got assigned their guide to be ours.
It was only a HUGE cockroach.
Amazon animal watching from the skiffs
Most of our animal sightings were done from the skiffs. It was very hard to take good pictures but we got to see sloths, iguanas, and other monkeys. We mostly saw birds like toucans, hawks, blue capped herons, hoatzin (a prehistoric looking bird), woodpeckers, and macaws.
Our guides would see them from so far away, without the need of binoculars, and could tell us with precision what type of animal they were, always showing us a book to corroborate.
We were also grazed many times by beautiful dolphins. It is crazy to see them in freshwater and they are pink! We were told that in Peru, the pink dolphins are sacred and killing one would bring bad luck. This has kept it from being endangered, unlike the manatee.
I’m the one in purple 
Capped heron Woodpecker Hawk Bats Toucan Sloth 
Amazon river dolphin Hoatzin
Visiting communities in the Peruvian Amazon
On our Amazon journey, we got to visit a couple communities. It was such an amazing experience to be able to see how they lived and talk to them. Some of the communities spoke Spanish, so I was able to communicate with them. In one we did see a poem written in their native language in their school, which was very cool to see how they are trying to preserve their culture despite how technology affects them.
In one community, the people had a medicinal garden so they could get their local medicine without affecting their environment. Local communities are being taught to reforest, even though their deforestation is minimum and for shelter and food purposes.
I think sometimes visiting these communities could also be harmful as poverty becomes a relative thing and need arises from seeing what others have. Technology can have a detrimental effect on them, but it could also help them save and protect their culture and the Amazon.
In another community we got to see a sloth up close! I got to carry and hug a beautifully slow sloth! Little disclaimer here: the sloth had become the pet of a little girl in a community because he had fallen from a tree when very young and without human intervention he would have died. Since he had grown up with this family, the sloth wasn’t able to survive in the wild and therefore stayed with them. The sloth lived outdoors, with no leashes or ropes, free to come and go and with ready-access to a cecropia tree.
On-board activities
On the boat we had all sorts of activities from lectures to towel folding into cute little animals! In one of our classes we learned how to use blow darts, I got to fold my own fish in the leaf for dinner, and prepare pisco sours! It was truly a fun, cultural and immersive experience.
One night of our Amazon river cruise we had music and dancing during dinner. Our guides and staff played the instruments, sang and even danced in traditional wear.
On another occasion we had breakfast on a skiff in the Amazon. It was our simplest meal as every meal before that had been delicious dishes using local ingredients, but it was still very memorable. If you ever have the chance, try camu camu ice cream!
My favorite on-board activity was going up to the open observation deck and look at the stars. I had never seen a sky so bright with stars and you could even see the curvature as it seemed to extend indefinitely. It was the first time I was truly without any type of communication, no cell service, no expensive wifi on board, nothing. The peace and quiet felt while cruising on the Amazon River is something I long for in my normal-every day life.
On the day we disembarked, we got to visit a manatee sanctuary in Iquitos where they rehab manatees to return to the wild. I got to feed a baby manatee!!
The people you meet and the memories you make
One of the best things about my Amazon trip was the amazing people we got to meet. They each truly made the experience unique. From our expedition leader, Carlos Romero, who always went above and beyond to make our experience truly unique, to our guide Rudy for all of his internal knowledge of the Amazon.
A journey into the Amazon is an experience I will never forget!
Captain, Rudy and me My sister, me, Luis Calonge, my brother and our expedition leader Carlos Romero
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Wow, this looks like a dream trip of a lifetime! I didn’t realize the Amazon River started in Peru. I was supposed to go to Peru this fall but canceled. Now I plan to add this to my trip when I can go one day. Swimming with pink dolphins is so cool but knowing my luck I’d probably find a piranha. Lol. Thanks for the great info!
Yes definitely don’t skip the Amazon when you do go to Peru!
Wow, these photos are great! I’d love to travel here sometime! Thank you for sharing. 🙂
Do consider it for your travels! It was amazing!
Wow! This looks like quite the experience! I think I would still be scared to swim even if the piranhas were not “active”. Awesome pictures!
Yeah, most people didn’t swim, but my family is kind of extreme!
This would be the journey of a lifetime! What an incredible experience. All the photos of the animals you saw are so crazy and cool.
It definitely was!