EZ flight to Iquitos from Lima and we were met in baggage claim by the tour company. We met a few fellow travelers and hopped in a van for a 2 hour ride to Nauta where the boat was docked. Very rustic along the road. Apparently they have over 70,000 tuk-tuks registered locally and I think the roads would reflect that. Everyone uses a tuk-tuk to get around. It looks like they buy a motorcycle, take off the back wheel, modify the drive chain and attach a 2 wheeled cart behind it. We both felt like over-indulgent tourists passing ramshackle, tin roofed huts on our way into the luxurious boat compound. Oh well, self indulge I guess. The small complement of guests (10) were greeted with a welcome drink and introductions then off on skiffs to our 3 story accommodation for the week. 2 of the guests had been on the boat for 2 days already as they were doing a 7 day trip. They said there were 35 guests those first 2 days. Now there are 10 for the next 5 days! Spoiled.
We have Gary and Robyn from LA who have already dove in the Galapagos, climbed Machu Pichu, and have a week of charity work to pay for their sins after this Amazon cruise. There is a State Senator, Alana, from Idaho and her son, Thomas, possibly on a fact finding tour for the state of Idaho (not). There is a couple from Toronto, Wesley and Biata, though originally from Poland, and our 7 day couple, David and Tanya, who are from Mesa Arizona, don’t make a face when they say Mesa. There seems to be a thing about where your zip code is in Phoenix, Scottsdale, Paradise Valley, vs others like Mesa.
We moved into our beautiful bedroom with floor to ceiling windows and a view of the Amazon.
After a short briefing we had a family style dinner with some South American and some specifically Amazonian dishes. Very nice. To bed as the boat motored down the river for our next day excursions
6 am start for an hour skiff tour of a lake off the main river. There were 6 people in our boat along with a driver and a guide. We spotted Great Egrets up in trees and Katie picked out a large Green Iguana at the top of another tree. The other passengers were impressed with her spotting skills. There was a family of Bolivian Squirrel Monkey’s moving through the trees. After the hour introduction to the Amazon we headed back to the boat.
After a terrific buffet breakfast we set off on our second and longer excursion up the Ucayali River. We quickly found 2 different species of monkey in the same set of trees, the Saddle backed Tamarin Monkey and the Common Spider Monkey.
There was a 3 toed sloth and a juvenile Black Collared Hawk, a Seedeater, a Violaceous Trogon, a Ringed Kingfisher, 2 Green Parrots, a Red capped Cardinal, a Yellow billed Tern, and more and more. I think I’ll post some of the bird pictures and videos on the Pictures page of this website. We did find a Kutamundi in a tree which apparently is not too common and a beautiful Red Iguana hanging out.
Farther along we found a group of Monk Saki Monkey’s, also called the ‘Michael Jackson’ Monkey due to the white gloves.
The highlight was a closeup encounter with an Anteater who slowly moved down a branch to the water using his prehensile tail. He eventually entered the river and swam across our bow to the other side of the river. Fantastic. (The video is on the Pictures page of our website).
Back at Aria we had a brief rest then a Pisco Sour lesson. Katie volunteered as the teacher’s pet. She made a great Pisco Sour to much applause and a well earned certificate. The main chef then demonstrated the preparation of Peruvian Ceviche. Well done then lunch which was fabulous.
Short afternoon talk on Amazon fish after we took a short nap. Took off on a short afternoon tour and came upon pods of little grey dolphins and the larger humpback pink dolphins. Hard to get a good picture of them as they didn’t stay on the surface very long so I shot videos which primarily show water.
Also spotted quite a few Long billed Terns having a good fish feed where a creek emptied into the main River. Back to the boat for a G&T and sunset on the deck. Great dinner.
Later that night we went out for evening tour on Dorado Warmi. We passed a village on the water that had a few lights about. Apparently they utilize some solar panels along with a gas generator to provide some electricity for the village of a 100 people or so. The Amazon is receding right now but the village is over the water on stilts. In a month the dry ground will be all around the village. We will visit that village in the daytime tomorrow. Early on during our boat tour we found a zombie sloth in a tree. It appeared whitish with brown splotches on her back, very otherworldly.
We saw a baby Caiman in the floating carpet of plants along the edges of the water and Fisher Bats were flying about the boat.
There were of course birds but right now I can’t remember them all. We stopped at the halfway point of our journey and sat quietly for about 10 minutes in the drifting boat, listening to a symphony of toads and frogs. The night sky was clear with a rising full moon and Scorpio and the Southern Cross were prominent in the night sky. Definitely a highlight! Our crew tried to find a different way home through the tight flooded forest but they appeared to get lost a number of times. The water level has been dropping pretty fast this past month so the navigable path is always changing. Fantastic trip as a passenger, winding through trees and bushes that were half submerged in the water. Fortunately, they found our way back to the boat and we were greeted by the staff bearing warm tea.
Wednesday, after breakfast we were off for a long tour of Dorado Warmi and a lunch on the water. Stopped by the local village from the night before on the way. All the houses are on stilts as the water hasn’t receded enough to show the land. Kids were out in canoes to greet our boats and they held up catfish and piranhas to show us their catch. The kids were probably 6 to 12 years in age.
We found the sloth from the previous night up in the same tree. She was a little less otherworldly in the daylight. Along the way we saw other sloths mostly female but one male, notable for black spot on his back along with a touch of rust coloration.
We found another small Caiman poking his head above the floating plants but only a glimpse of the much larger adult. We plowed into the floating plants numerous times looking for an Anaconda but no luck. There were Squirrel Monkeys again along with a Brown Capuchin Monkeys, so I guess they play well together. We spotted a couple of beautiful Cream Colored Woodpeckers. We motored through many narrow passages like the night before but now in the daylight.
After a great morning tour we came upon our Chef and several staff, tucked into a shadowed pocket along the river. There we stopped and ate lunch. Again this was local foods made in traditional ways along with a rum punch type drink. Shockingly we were not molested by mosquitos and that has been true for most of our excursions.
We slowly wound our way back to the main boat where I napped. In the afternoon they gave us a tour of the bridge of the ship. Our Chef then gave a talk about Cacao along with some samples. Before dinner they put together a cocktail hour with the house band playing for us. Various members played guitar, bongos, tambourine, Maracas, and sang, and the guests danced as the sun went down. Great fun!
In the am, there were Dolphins, pink and grey, just off the back deck along with a beautiful sunrise. Our 6 am boat tour started with dolphins. We later saw 10 or so squirrel monkeys, kingfisher birds, kiss ka dee birds, and long nose bats. We looked for the Anaconda again but no luck, again. We came back for breakfast which was not only good food but good views from our chairs with the Dolphins chasing the fish just off the back of our boat. After breakfast, we were off to go fishing. Many local fishermen were out in their canoes along the shore of Clavero Lake. Mostly they place nets in the water to fish but some still use wooden poles. We tried with wooden poles baited with beef. We tried in several locations but Katie and I proved to all, we are not in the fishermen clan. The rest of the people on the boat caught at least 1 Piranha but despite many bites and the theft of our bait no fish on the hook for us. We might have to join the fruit gathering group.
We visited another local village where women came out in canoes to give us a ride. Well we were supposed to paddle and some of us did.
That left us a little hot so out to the middle of the lake for a swim. Felt much like swimming in Lake Shasta, warm on the top with a thermocline about 2-3 feet down. Gary, our fellow guest from LA, got a few nips on his back as he swam. The guides said that was the Sardines, but I don’t know, we had just caught a bunch of Piranhas with meat as bait!
Back to the main boat for lunch and a rest.
The afternoon tour was a boat ride over to a place in the rainforest that was flat and not underwater. We were met by a couple of local guides with machetes and we proceeded to hike through the dense bush. Early on we found Bullet Ants which are about an inch and a half long and apparently have a bite that is one of the worst. We learned about various plants used for pains, stomach disorders, and virility. Our guide came out of the bush with a large leaf and a huge Pink Toed Tarantula. Katie did not hold it. Shocker! We found a centipede which gives off a cyanide gas that kills its prey, but no snakes. Thank god.
After our jungle walk, we travelled by skiff for a meet up at the confluence of the Ucayali and Marañon Rivers. This is the official start of the Amazon River. The crew from the main boat met us there with drinks and snacks and we toasted our trip together.. what a great time and companions.
We packed up for a 9 am boat departure but the staff had to pack one more thing in. We took a boat ride over to the open market in Nauta. Tuk-Tuks met us and drove us over to the market. People from up and down the river bring their fish, or fruits, or crafts to sell or barter at the market. There is just an amazing array of fish and supplies (they had various pill packs for those living out in the jungle, antibiotics, pain killers, stomach medicines).
We went back to the boat for our last breakfast then vans for our trip back to Iquitos. Of course, we stopped on the way at an Animal Rescue Center. The center focused on Manatees which brought back some good memories for Katie and I of our volunteer work in Belize a few years back. They eventually dropped us off at our hotel and we flew to Bogota the next day. We did get a wild ride in a Tuk-Tuk to the airport to finish things off in Peru.
So long to the Amazon. We had a fantastic time exploring the river. Such a beautiful place.
