Aria Amazon, Amazon River Expedition (High Water) ex Iquitos Return

7 Night Cruise sailing from Iquitos roundtrip aboard Aria Amazon.

High Water Itinerary

Day 1 Friday: IQUITOS - AMAZON RIVER
In the evening, we will board Aria Amazon. Settle into your generously sized suite as you begin one of life’s greatest adventures. Following an introduction from our naturalist guides and a routine safety drill, gather at the restaurant for the first of many Amazonian cuisine experiences created by Aria Amazon’s renowned consulting chef, Pedro Miguel Schiaffino.

Day 2 Saturday: AMAZON RIVER - YARAPA RIVER - NAUTA CAÑO
Aboard our comfortable skiffs, we set sail from the Amazon River to the Yarapa River. Keep your binoculars ready to spot tropical songbirds, black collared hawks and sloths. We’ll go fishing for Amazonia’s notoriously ferocious piranhas while our naturalist guides share stories of Lake Moringo. As the sun sets, we head off on an evening’s wildlife excursion with extraordinary stargazing on the black waters of Nauta Caño.

Day 3 Sunday: MARAÑON CREEK - CASUAL JUNGLE WALK - YANAYACU-PUCATE RIVER
Rise with the sun for an early morning birdwatching session along the Marañon River. Visit an Amazonian village where you can interact with natives and see the process of Aguaje palm harvesting. Next, go kayaking, canoeing, or swimming in Yanayacu-Pucate River.

After lunch, take a jungle walk while looking for flora and fauna which may include medicinal trees, insects, and poison dart frogs. Learn more about the different rainforest strata and ecosystems. Before dinner, meet the incredible crew who’ve been working behind the scenes to ensure your exceptional experience aboard Aria Amazon.

Day 4 Monday: NAUTA TOWN - VILLAGE VISIT - BIRTHPLACE OF THE AMAZON
In the morning, take a guided visit to the local market and marvel at the regional produce of the Peruvian Amazon, and sample exotic snacks if you wish. After lunch, witness one of the great spectacles of the Southern Hemisphere: the birthplace of the Amazon River. At night, meet the new passengers joining you for the next four nights.

Day 5 Tuesday: YANALLPA RIVER - DORADO RIVER
In the morning, head out for an optional birdwatching session. By skiff, we explore the black waters of the Yanallpa River, disembarking to walk deep into the Amazonian rainforest. Later, we board the skiffs again to cruise along the El Dorado River for a dusk excursion in search of exotic nocturnal wildlife.

Day 6 Wednesday: PACAYA RIVER - UCAYALI RIVER - TAPICHE RIVER
The rewards of our early start today are plentiful, including a full day excursion by skiff along the Pacaya River, and going deeper into the pristine landscape inhabited by great egrets, capuchin monkeys and taricaya turtles. After lunch, enjoy a paiche fishing demonstration. Later, we venture out by skiffs on the Ucayali River keeping an eye out for pink river dolphins.

Day 7 Thursday: CLAVERO OR YARAPA RIVER - AMAZON RIVER
Choose to go jungle walking, canoeing, kayaking, or swimming in the morning. Visit a remote Amazonia village in the afternoon. Before dinner, meet the incredible crew who’ve been working behind the scenes to ensure your exceptional experience aboard Aria Amazon.

Day 8 Friday: ARRIVAL IN IQUITOS - MANATEE RESCUE CENTER -
In the morning, take a guided visit to the local market and marvel at the regional produce of the Peruvian Amazon. If you wish, head over to the community of San Francisco to visit an experienced beekeeper.

Return to Aria Amazon for breakfast before disembarkation. En route to the airport, visit the Manatee Rescue Center, where orphaned Amazonian manatees rehabilitate before they are released back into the wild.

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.

Aqua Expeditions was launched in 2007 by founder and CEO, Francesco Galli Zugaro, to fulfill his dream of bringing unparalleled travel experiences, in the utmost comfort, to modern-day adventurers cruising the world’s greatest rivers.

Beginning with the Peruvian section of the Amazon River, one of the world’s last great unexplored regions, Galli Zugaro commissioned the custom design of the Aqua Amazon, the first cruiseship to set sail on this stretch of the Amazon.

Increased demand for Aqua Expeditions uniquely intimate, life enriching river safari led to the launch of a second custom designed vessel, the Aria Amazon in 2011, with 16 suites designed by Puig with a similar five-star boutique hotel sophistication, and cruising the same captivating stretch of the Peruvian Amazon amidst equally thoughtful comforts and fascinating wildlife. With hand-crafted Amazon River itineraries from and to the remote Amazonian city of Iquitos, the Aria Amazon carries travelers to the source of the Amazon and the remote Pacaya Samiria Reserve. Expert professional naturalist guides lead guests in small groups by skiff up Amazon River tributaries to first-hand encounters with Amazon wildlife from pink dolphins and piranha, to capuchin monkeys and three toed sloth hiding in the rainforest canopy, and hoatzin, toucans and macaws gliding seemingly effortlessly across the cloudless, cerulean sky.

Success on one of the world’s great rivers encouraged Galli Zugaro to set off across the continents in search of the next once-in-a-lifetime luxury river experience for Aqua Expeditions. On the Mekong River between Cambodia and Vietnam, he found that elusive journey, one that would capture imaginations as profoundly as did the Peruvian Amazon. In October 2014, Aqua Expeditions launched a third luxury vessel, the 20-suite Aqua Mekong on the historic Mekong River between Siem Reap, Cambodia and Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam. Floor to ceiling picture windows aboard Aqua Mekong allow guests to enjoy captivating panoramas of emerald flooded forests, colonial churches and stilt villages in the privacy of their suite. Guided shore excursions include enlightening visits to remote Buddhist temples and onto Cambodia’s vast Tonle Sap Lake before continuing on to Angkor Wat.