March 29, 2025 to April 4, 2025: Floating down the Amazon in Peru

The entire month of April we are celebrating Filip and his 60th birthday with a trip to Peru. 

Our first flight was at 5pm Friday from Miami to Lima and our second flight at 9am Saturday morning to Iquitos. The airport Wyndham hotel was comfortable and close. We spent a lot of time waiting on Saturday before our "panoramic city tour" of Iquitos and being delivered to our boat. The streets in Iquitos were like those in India with many people and many tuk-tuks. Our guide told us that little attention is paid to the traffic lights, particularly on Saturdays because Iquitoians drink a lot of beer. The highlight of the tour was a huge bridge over the Amazon that literally went nowhere. We got over the bridge and had to turn around because the street ended.

View of Iquitos from the bridge to nowhere

Streets in Iquitos

We are on the Aqua Nera for seven nights. The ship has 20 rooms, but only 8 are occupied right now, and we are enjoying having a small group.  Our cabin (and the boat in general) is very comfortable and spacious. 

Our first full day on the boat began very early, meeting at 6am at the muster station to explore the Amazon from skiffs, where we saw dolphins, monkeys and many birds and enjoyed the sounds of the Amazon. 

Sunrise over the amazon

Approaching the Aqua Nera from the skiff

We opted to skip the second excursion and had the boat to ourselves for the next few hours, most of which we spent enjoying the view from the front deck as we cruised down the Amazon.  

Front of the Aqua Nera as we cruised down the Amazon

Patarusca - a fish dish cooked in banana leaves- was served lunch, after the quick cooking demonstration on how to make it.

Filip with the catfish and (an almost empty) Chilcano after cooking demonstration 

For the afternoon excursion we climbed aboard the skiffs again to go down the Yarapa river off the Amazon where we saw a large tree iguana, a 3-toed sloth, Amazonian water lilies and a little pig struggling to swim through the water lentils and get across the river.  The sun set at 6pm so the end of our excursion was in the dark and the star gazing was great, despite some cloud cover.

Sloth in the treetops

Amazonian Water Lilies

Jacana bird on the water lentils

We spent much of the boat ride going through the water lentils

Day 2 began with a skiff ride to a lagoon at 7:30 where we were going to have breakfast over the water, but unfortunately it was too wet so we headed back to the Nera for breakfast. 

A little damp for the morning ride

At 9:30 we tried again with the skiffs and the rain held off. We went fishing for piranhas with beef tenderloin and then for a short (but touristy) canoe ride.  We opted to skip the swim in the Amazon.

Feeding the piranhas in the Amazon

On the dugout canoe

For April Fool's Day we had the boat to ourselves, as everyone else on the boat had selected a 3-night cruise. This meant we had private excursions for the day before a new set of passengers joined in the evening. In the morning we went hunting for jungle animals and were rewarded with a large sloth and several big monkeys in the treetops. 

In the afternoon we went to visit a local bee farmer who raises stingless bees. They had 5 different varieties of bees over 2 hectares. 

Heriberto Vela showing us one of his hives

On the skiff in the late afternoon

For Filip's birthday we had a private tour of the flooded forests in the national park. We saw lots of dolphins (both pink and gray) and many egret. Sadly the dolphins are very hard to get on camera- we have tried many times. We also went to a village where a local man, Pele, demonstrated how to climb a palm tree to get snake fruit.  Our afternoon was spent lounging on the boat with a bottle of champagne to celebrate 60 followed by a private dinner for Filip's birthday, .

 

This is 60

Sunset over the Amazon

Private dinner in the media room onboard the Aqua Nera

Filip's gift from the crew

On Thursday we were fortunate to have a private skiff again. The plan had been to leave at 9am for a long day on the water but, as we are in the rainforest, it was pouring and the departure was delayed. We tried out the fitness center and headed out at 10:30 when the weather was clear. The morning was beautiful, lots of sun, and we saw a cayman lizard, some bats, a few very wet sloths, and some monkeys. 

Caman lizard

Sleeping bats

A very wet sloth

Lunch was on the water - which was fun, but the rain reappeared right when we attached ourselves to the chef boat, so a little wet.   

The kitchen crew ready to serve lunch

Filip enjoying his lunch before the rain

In the afternoon we had a ship tour, a chocolate tasting and a crew performance on the front of the deck. 

Aqua Nera band

Early Friday morning we tried our luck again at pirhana fishing but sadly we had even less luck this time. A "jungle walk" in crew-provided rubber boots came next. We saw an anaconda, several poisonous dart frogs, a tarantula- and while we got to see them all up close, it left us wondering if some of the sightings were staged. 

Yellow dart frog

Anaconda

Red dart frog

The afternoon activity was canceled because of the rain and in the evening there was a slide show and more music. 

In general the meals on board the Aqua Nera were great, the boat and cabins were very comfortable, the staff really went above and beyond and we lucked out as the ship was only 1/4 full.