Loreto, Peru

Food & Drinks

Your wildlife adventure begins in the morning with pickup from your hotel in Iquitos and heads to Nauta Port. Admire the stunning scenery during the 2-hour drive, then embark on a boat ride along the beautiful Marañon River. As you sail through the jungle waters, watch out for pink and gray dolphins as they catch the waves from the bow of the boat. From your local tour guide, learn everything there is to know about dolphins and how important they are for the Amazon environment. Upon arrival at the reserve, enjoy a short hike through the vast greenery of the landscape and look for capybaras, monkeys, birds, grasshoppers, crickets, frogs, sloths, spiders and snakes. Learn about the array of wildlife that lives here in the park, and the diverse role they all play in the biosphere of the jungle. As you wander through the park, discover the medicinal plants that grow here and listen to stories about how they have been used by indigenous people for thousands of years. Midway through the tour, enjoy a picnic lunch against the stunning backdrop of the park and immerse yourself in this truly amazing natural wonder.

Get picked up from your hotel in Iquitos in the morning, and begin your day with a visit to the Rescue Center Amazon, CREA Iquitos. This foundation develops programs that rescue, rehabilitate, and release aquatic mammals and endangered wildlife, particularly the Amazonian manatee. Head then to Belen, and discover magical colors of the fruits, vegetables, and fish found only in the Amazon. Experience how locals live in the largest floating shantytown village. From Belen, embark on the biggest and most powerful river on earth: the Amazon River. Occasionally pink and gray dolphins are seen. Finally, visit Pilpintuwasi, a butterfly farm, where you'll discover the life cycles and breeding habits of these beautiful creatures.

Your wildlife adventure begins in the morning with pickup from your hotel in Iquitos and heads to Nauta, a town considered to be the main gateway to the Amazon River from Peru. Explore Nauta’s market, and taste the variety of fresh fruits that exist only in this part of the world, grown by local farmers. From Nauta, embark on a boat ride along the beautiful Marañon River until you arrive at the confluence with Ucayali River. As you sail through the jungle waters, watch out for pink and gray dolphins as they catch the waves from the bow of the boat. From your local tour guide, learn everything there is to know about dolphins and how important they are for the Amazon environment. Arrive at Pacaya Samiria National Park and wander through the vast greenery of the landscape, looking out for capybaras, monkeys, birds, and snakes. Learn about the array of wildlife that lives here in the park, and the diverse role they all play in the biosphere of the jungle. Midway through the tour, enjoy a picnic lunch against the stunning backdrop of the park and immerse yourself in this truly amazing natural wonder. Then visit the indigenous village of Cocama to meet the local people and experience their unique way of life, learn about their use of medicinal plants, and listen to their language.

After meeting your guide, you’ll head straight to the Nanay River Port, where you’ll hop on a boat bound for the jungle. Head up the Amazon River for a brief half-hour cruise before arriving at your lodge for the night. After finding your room and settling in with a small snack, you’ll head off on a guided walk through the jungle. Coming back to the lodge, you’ll enjoy a lunch of fish, legumes, and rice. Heading back into the jungle, you’ll find some of the largest trees in the area, as well as climb to the top of an exquisite viewpoint. On the way back, you’ll admire the technicolor jungle sunset, keeping your eyes peeled for green tree frogs. After dinner, you’ll retire for the evening in your river-view room. Waking up bright and early at 5:00 AM, you’ll catch the sunrise from the top of the lodge over breakfast. You’ll start the day’s touring by visiting a farm for lizards, piranhas, and pirarucus, one of the largest freshwater fish in the world. Afterwards, you’ll visit an animal rescue center, home to sloths and giant anacondas. After lunch, you’ll have some free time to wander and relax before heading back to Iquitos.

After convenient pickup from your hotel in Iquitos, you’ll head straight for Nauta to board a boat used for the day’s cruising. To enter the jungle, you’ll navigate a massive tributary of the Amazon, the Marañon River. Gaze at the vast wilds that surround you as you near the starting point of your jungle hike. Once you arrive at one of the jungle’s best places to observe the poisonous frogs, you’ll disembark from your boat. The frogs themselves are tiny, the largest of which grow only to be 2 inches in length—but what they lack in size, they make up for with their vivid coloring and deadly poison. They cannot be found throughout the entirety of the Amazon, but strictly in certain small habitats that you’ll be visiting over the course of the day. As you walk through the jungle, your expert guide will take you to the best frog-spotting locales—but keep your eyes peeled for other species that call this vibrant ecosystem home, like anacondas, sloths, and unique insects. Along the way, you’ll have a delicious picnic lunch, and meet some of the indigenous people of the Amazon River. After a full day of exploration, you’ll head back down river, bound back for drop-off at your accommodation.