Delfin Amazon Cruises 4 days

• Iquitos and Pacaya Samiria

The Pacaya Samiria National Reserve spans more than five million acres and is rich with wildlife and aquatic life. In winter, when the river is high, visitors can explore the small inlets and various winding river systems that make up the Reserve’s flooded forest. In summer, the river recedes and beautiful sandy river beaches form. Only about 30,000 people live in this vast tract of land. You will have the chance to meet some of them. In addition, park rangers will show you some of the conservation and sustainability projects that are part of this vast reserve.
Over the next four days, you will also sail along the two largest tributaries of the Amazon: the Ucayali and the Marañon, as well as on the mighty Amazon itself. You are embarking on a spectacular adventure, to a place visited by only a few of even the most experienced world travelers.

Iquitos and Pacaya Samiria Iquitos, the capital of Loreto, is the main port city on the Amazon River and the largest city in the Peruvian jungle. The city has an authentic jungle feeling, maybe partly because there are no roads to get here, so you will have to fly, or go by boat along the river, and the people are very friendly. Iquitos is also the starting point for excursions into the rainforest. The centre around Plaza de Armas and the Boulevard is beautiful, mostly because of the rubber boom, for example are many of the late eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century buildings decorated with Portuguese tiles. Close to the centre of Iquitos you will find Belen, or "Venice of the Peruvian Jungle", located on the left bank...
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Day 1: Iquitos - Nauta/ Boarding Delfin

After arriving at Iquitos, transfer to Nauta (the oldest city in the department of Loreto).
Upon arriving at the port of Nauta, you will board the DELFIN and settle into your wood-paneled, comfortable twin-bedded cabin provided with orthopedic mattresses and natural cotton sheets and towels, silent A/C units and private bathrooms with fine wooden furnishings, hot showers and a variety of environmentally friendly amenities for your ultimate indulgence.
Just before dusk, as the DELFIN starts its journey into the rainforest, our barman and staff will provide you with a wide variety of drinks and cocktails. Fine regional cigars will also be available.
Dinner is served in our cozy dining room located at the back of the ship’s second deck.
Our chef prides himself in serving dishes in different styles and seasoned with a wide variety of herbs and spices, as well as exotic fruits,
On the top observation deck, our guides will conduct a brief orientation, outlining details of your journey, including the places you will visit, the wildlife you will see, as well as a summary of the history and geography of the Amazon basin.
Finally, our multitalented staff will entertain you with a little live music, while you enjoy an after dinner drink and a fine Amazonian cigar.

Day 2: Yanallpa – Dorado River

During the rainy season, we will explore the Belluda Stream and start learning about the rainforest. From the skiff you can easily spot parrots, macaws and monkeys, such as the monk Saki monkey with its gray and black body, naked face and long shaggy tail. You might also see the saddle-back tamarin monkey, whose high chirping notes can easily be confused with those of a flock of birds.
It’s also a good spot to see the beautiful morpho butterfly that flaps lazily along open corridors through forest or along river edges of lowland forest on sunny days. Different species of hawks will also be found and if we are lucky we’ll see the noisy “laughing falcon,” named after its loud falsetto call as it sits solitary in secondary forest and plantations.

During the dry season, you can visit the community of Yanallpa and explore two different kinds of ecosystems: flooded forest and terra firme forest. After disembarking at this native village, we’ll start our morning hike. This walk affords excellent opportunities for spotting transitional species such as the snail kite, black tailed ant bird, manikins, tanagers, hummingbirds, woodpeckers, nun birds, orioles, blackbirds, etc.
You’ll also see tall trees filled with epiphytes, woody vines and many varieties of palm trees. After an hour we’ll reach a lagoon where two dugout canoes await us. This lagoon is filled with endangered and unique fresh water fish, such as the paiche, the largest in the Amazon basin, which can weigh more than 80kg (170 lbs). We’ll also look for the peculiar crested hoatzin bird with its olive-colored plumage.
There’s a good chance of spotting the smallest monkey in the world, the pygmy marmoset, seen only at its sap-sucking sites low on tree trunks.
We will continue upstream towards our next destination; the El Dorado River. We will head for this spectacular spot within the Pacaya-Samiria Reserve In the skiffs, where you will also experience an unforgettable encounter with gray and pink river dolphins. Enjoy a unique opportunity to swim among the dolphins.
On the river you will experience abundant wildlife and nature in all of its exuberance while we search for the Amazon river’s transitional forest specialties such as snail kites, festive parrots, endangered scarlet macaws, olive spotted hummingbirds, Amazonian parrotlets, wood creepers, among others.
Prehistoric looking iguanas laze in the sun while we travel along the shoreline searching for whatever the jungle has to offer us. Squirrel Monkeys are very active at this time of the day, when they move in large noisy troops at mid- to upper-levels of primary and secondary lowland forest.
We continue our journey up the Ucayali River towards the Puinahua River.

Day 3: Pacaya River – Atun Poza Lagoon

Early in the morning you’ll see parrots, macaws, toucans, kingfishers, black collared hawks, southern swallows, white winged swallows, and manikins. Aside from the large variety of birds, you’ll also see troops of squirrel monkeys.
Aboard our skiffs, we will go in search of magnificent views and wildlife opportunities, experiencing spectacular rainforest wilderness, while searching for different species of monkeys, such as small family groups of red howler monkeys.
We will continue along the shores of the Pacaya river, spotting huge ceiba or kapok trees, mahogany trees, strangler figs, epiphytes such as bromeliads and orchids, palm trees and woody vines.
We will start navigating back down the Puinahua River towards Nauta.

Rainy Season, Atun Poza by skiff: This afternoon we will cruise in our skiffs along a lake called Atun Poza, where we will see several species of egrets, herons, hawks, long-legged neotropical cormorants fishing for their dinner, and unusual and loud horned screamers. We will also have a chance to explore other black water lagoons linked to this huge lake, where wattled jacanas compete with a wide variety of spiders, grasshoppers, dragonflies, butterflies, moths, beetles, etc. living along the grassy edges and lily pads of freshwater swamps and marshes. We will have an excellent opportunity of seeing social spiders and how their webs embrace huge parts of a tree.

Dry Season, hiking at Atun Poza: This afternoon we will hike through this pristine and unique ecosystem, passing through a classic tropical rainforest with emergent trees and canopy trees reaching up to 55 mt in height. Many trees have buttress roots which often extend high up the trunks while palms are abundant and many of them have stilt roots. Our target is the giant ceiba or kapok tree with its large diameter. If we’re lucky we’ll also see giant otters with their large bodies, dark fur with spotted throat and noisy calls. This forest is also very good for spotting birds such as the bluish-fronted jacamar seen in pairs in middle and lower parts of forest edges, or collared trogons, red-capped cardinals, etc.
We will sail all night long as the Delfin continues its smooth journey downstream.

Day 4: Yarapa River – Puerto Miguel Village – Nauta

On board our skiffs we will stop at the village of Puerto Miguel to meet local villagers. You will have the chance to learn about their culture, traditions and folklore. You may also visit one of the villager’s homes, to see how they live and the simplicity of their lifestyle and purchase some of the handcrafts they make.
After visiting the village, we will explore the Yarapa river, where there’s a good chance that you’ll see squirrel and capuchin monkeys, herons, egrets and green iguanas. We will reach a beautiful lagoon called Uvos, named after a fruit that grows wild along its shores. Pink river dolphins ply its waters in search of fish. The forest also boasts abundant flora including a variety of bromeliads and orchids. Monkeys love these surroundings.
We will continue sailing downstream to the confluence of the Ucayali and the Marañon, birthplace of the Amazon river. Dolphins delight in this special setting.
We will disembark at our port in Nauta, where a bus will be waiting to take you back to Iquitos.

• All tours stated in the itinerary
• All transfers and entrance fees
• All meals
• English speaking tour guides

GALLERY