Your guides await you, as your flight from Lima glides in for landing at Iquitos International Airport. After you’ve claimed your luggage, you will board an air-conditioned bus and transfer to Iquitos’ main wharf. Before dinner we will perform a routine safety drill. Peruvian cuisine is considered one of the world’s best. Here it is presented with a touch of European flair, and a vegetarian dish is always available. Raise a glass of fine South American wine to toast the beginning of a beautiful journey, then look out the window and watch the river go by as you experience your first wonderful meal aboard the M/V Aqua. Perhaps enjoy a nightcap on the Upper Deck, under the stars, before retiring.

This morning you will travel from the Amazon through the Huaysi short-cut canal to explore the Tahuayo black water river. Upon arrival at Charo Lake, you can bait your hooks to try to catch one of Amazonia’s fearsome piranhas. Enjoy lighter mid-day fare in our air-conditioned dining room. In the afternoon, enjoy a excursion to Yacapana Islands, as the sun sets, you will have the chance to see and photograph both gray and pink freshwater dolphins. We will return to the M/V Aqua vessel and continue our journey upstream, toward the headwaters of the Amazon River.

Today you have two options:

Enjoy a Full-Day Excursion with a Picnic Lunch
Travel by skiff from Yanayacu Creek all the way to remote Chingana. On this excursion, you will see howler and capuchin monkeys, the squirrel-sized monkeys called tamarins, pink and gray river dolphins, and a vast variety of birds, and will learn first-hand about the important medical value of jungle plants.

Or enjoy a Guided Jungle Walk to learn all about sustainable resource management projects in Amazonia. You will visit one of the projects, where villagers are planting palms to obtain oil. The ranger may also show you the artificial nests created on the sand to protect turtle eggs. Lunch, followed by a Siesta. Late afternoon expedition to see the two different kinds of freshwater dolphins—including the unusual pink ones—found in the Amazon.

Dinner. In the evening, we will take the skiffs out in search of caimans, tree boas, tarantulas, and frogs. After this night adventure, the M/V Aqua will start sailing downstream on the Marañon River, toward the headwaters of the Amazon.

Rise early and be on your skiffs at 5:30 a.m. to view one of the great spectacles of the Southern Hemisphere: the sun rising over the birthplace of the Amazon River. Breakfast. Then, we will travel by skiff to Puerto Miguel native village, where you can meet and interact with local villagers from this most remote part of the world, and can learn a bit more about their culture, traditions, and folklore. Return to the M/V Aqua. Lunch. Disembarkation. Step off the M/V Aqua in the small city of Nauta, where your air-conditioned bus awaits you. Enjoy a 1 1/2-hour drive through the Peruvian countryside, before arriving at Iquitos International Airport to board your flight to Lima. On our way to the airport, we will visit the Manatee Rescue Center where biologists and volunteers take care of endangered Amazon manatees and dolphins who have been seized by conservation authorities from locals or fishermen. Biologists will give you a presentation on the project and it efforts to help these helpless mammals and you will have the opportunity to observe how these animals are taken care of and prepared for future re-introduction into their natural habitat. Finally, we will stop at the San Juan Amazonian Indian Market, for a last chance to shop for local crafts.
When arriving at Iquitos International airport, your guides will assist you with your baggage and check-in, and will wait with you until you are ready to board your flight to Lima.

Itineraries are subject to change due to weather conditions and time of year. River and tributary levels may vary, and thus navigation times and excursions may need to be modified at the captain's discretion.

We recommend that all guests fly into Iquitos on the LAN PERU flight that arrives Saturdays and Tuesdays at approximately 5:00 p.m.
We recommend that all guests depart from Iquitos on the LAN PERU flight that leaves Saturdays and Tuesdays at approximately 5:30 p.m.
Aqua Expeditions is not responsible for any activities or services for passengers arriving prior to the scheduled arrivals and departures.

Transfers are only included if arriving or departing on the above recommended flights.
All picks-ups and drop-offs will be to and from Iquitos' Francisco Secada airport.

Breakfast is served buffet style
Lunch is served buffet style
Dinner is served seated
Children's and vegetarian meals can be requested. Please request when making your booking.
Fresh fruit juices, soft drinks, water and wine with meals are included.