Cruising the Peruvian Amazon

We had booked a four-night cruise on the Aria Amazon, a river cruise ship operated by Aqua Expeditions. To get to the river and the cruise ship, we had to fly from Lima to Iquitos. Iquitos is a large city in the Peruvian Amazon. The region has a population of 470,000. The only way to get to Iquitos is either by plane or by boat on the river. We arrived in Iquitos in the late afternoon and were met at the airport by an Aria Amazon guide.

The trip started in Nauta, 1.5 hours south of Iquitos. The river there is called Rio Maranon, a tributary of the Amazon. After our transfer we arrived at a small boarding area in Nauta. On arrival, we were given life jackets to wear and transferred across the river to the boat. It was quite an exciting first sight to see the ship floating on the river at night.

Arriving late, we only had a few minutes to get to our cabin and be ready for lunch and instructions afterwards. After a delicious dinner and a good night’s sleep, we were ready to hit the jungle.

The excursions on the Aria Amazon

As the excursions are the most exciting part of the cruise, I will tell you about them first. The Aria Amazon tour guides always made two tours a day, one in the morning, starting around 9am, and one in the afternoon, starting around 2.30pm, to avoid the biggest heat after lunch. The boat was always on the river or moored on the bank, so we always went out in smaller boats. During our cruise there were only 10 guests on board, so we had plenty of space.

The excursions were for wildlife watching, so we went up and down smaller arms of the river to find the wildlife. The guides had an amazing eye for wildlife and named all the animals we saw. We saw lots of birds like egrets, vultures, and smaller ones and monkeys. We stopped a lot and had plenty of opportunities to take pictures.

At night in a boat in the jungle

On the first afternoon we were supposed to go on a night trip. Really exciting! So we set off again in the middle of the afternoon, just as it was getting dark. We were going up a small river with not enough water, which slowed us down – the captain had to keep the propeller of the boat from getting stuck in the mud. To be honest, it was a bit boring because it took so long. But there was a lot of activity on the riverbank, children playing and coming down to say hello, people bathing in the river and small boats passing by. One boy had caught a baby anaconda and was showing it off to us (see picture). We gave the children some pens and coins.

As darkness fell, we were expected to look for caimans, whose eyes sparkle in the night when the light of a torch finds them. So, our guide sat at the front of the boat looking for caimans. We found a baby caiman; the adults were too fast and dived down.

The guides were expecting us to go to a small lake where we could cross to get back to the boat. Unfortunately, it was overgrown, and we had to go the long way back. It was very late when we got back, and we just had dinner and went to bed.

Kayaking on the Amazon River

On another trip we went kayaking on a small tributary of the river. It was amazing, sometimes we couldn’t see the others because the river was winding, and it felt remote. But nature was alive, there were so many humming and buzzing sounds of birds, butterflies, and insects. And there were some little fish jumping out of the water a bit, but so fast you could hardly see them. A true paradise. A really great experience! And we can tell stories about how we kayaked the Amazon. Who else can say that?

Exciting jungle walk with rubber boots

A jungle walk was also on the list for one day. We were given rubber boots and told not to touch anything in the jungle. Our group was accompanied by a local and our guide from Aria Amazon was also raised in the jungle. He showed us a hairy baby spider that made us wonder how big its mum must be. We saw a slug hanging sleepily from a tree.

Our guide also named many of the ants we’d seen. Some friendly creatures like the leaf-cutter ants and others like the cannonball ants. They are called that because a bite from one of them can make you sick for two weeks and hurts like hell.

Our guide told us the story of growing up in the jungle and having to take a test of courage as an adult. They had to stick their hand into a hole where cannonball ants lived. They can smell when you are under stress and will bite. The Amazonians give their youngsters a little alcohol before they do this, to keep them from getting too nervous. However, our guide accidentally put his arm too close to one of these ants and was bitten. He told us in so many words what it felt like and that he was sick for two weeks. And we moved away from the ants…

It was interesting what our guide told us about life in the Amazon. We asked lots of questions and had a great time.

Visit local people with a cuddly pig and fishing piranhas

On one trip we spontaneously went ashore because one of us had to go to the toilet. Our guide took the opportunity to talk to the locals. We went to see his domesticated monkey, which was running around and climbing trees like crazy. There was also a black pig, a funny one. It sniffed at everyone and stroked our legs for a cuddle. Letting a bit of mud with his dirty nose on my trousers. Funny one, like a cat 🙂

On another trip we went piranha fishing and visited another small village where a cute sloth lived.

Overall experience of the excursions

It was amazing to see life in the Amazon, and I would not have missed that experience! However, the three days we spent on excursions is the right amount of time as there was nothing “new” to see afterwards. I say this in comparison to, for example, a river cruise on the Mekong in Asia that we did once, where there is much more going on the river itself. The people on the Amazon live a truly simple life.

The ship Aria Amazon

I am sure you will also want to know about the ship itself. All staterooms on Aria Amazon are outside staterooms with large floor-to-ceiling windows. There are no balconies because it is too hot to be outside and you do not want any insects like mosquitoes in your cabin.

The cabins are of a reasonable size with a king-size bed, a small sitting area, and a bathroom with shower. The housekeeping staff made up our rooms at least twice a day, sometimes three times, which was wonderful. There is no minibar in the room, but we always had a bottle of water filled and could have asked for anything we wanted.

The ship has a restaurant where all meals are served. There is a nice lounge and bar on the upper deck and a small hot tub outside. Nobody used it during our cruise as it was too hot outside anyway. There is also a small shop where you can buy souvenirs.

The food on Aria Amazon

The food on the Aria Amazon was excellent and special. The chefs prepared healthy Peruvian three-course menus for dinner and lunch, which always included some meat or fish, local vegetables and rice or potatoes. There was only one menu, but usually there were many different dishes to choose from. Breakfast was buffet style and included eggs of your choice, pancakes, and a selection of cereals too.

Pisco sour and ceviche – Peruvian food musts

One day before dinner there was a cocktail making and cooking demonstration: Pisco Sour and Ceviche. The chef gave an impressive demonstration of how to cut the raw fish and all the ingredients such as chilli, onion, ginger, etc. and prepare the dish. We guests had a little competition to shake the pisco sour – the egg whites must foam – and had a lot of fu

What you need to know if you want to cruise the Amazon:

• The only way to get to Iquitos is by plane, which takes about 1.5 hours from Lima (there are no direct flights from Cusco).
• It is hot and humid in the jungle, it was over 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit), and you will sweat a lot (even the locals do), most of us showered twice a day.
• Riding around in the speedboats in the sun is sometimes really exhausting, furthermore you must feel confident in riding a speedboat.
• Bring what Aria Amazon recommends: long trousers and shirts, a wide-brimmed hat, mosquito repellent, sunscreen. They told us before each trip if we needed to wear the long trousers and shirts or if we could wear a t-shirt and shorts. Before every excursion they provided with additional mosquito repellent and a bottle of fresh water.
• Not only do you need to take malaria prophylaxis with you, but you need to take it as this is considered a high-risk area. Along with the heat and food, which may not be the same as at home, it is a good idea to take some medication for headaches, diarrhoea and other side effects described with the anti-malaria prophylaxis.

Want to know more? Have other questions? Write me an e-mail or ask me on Instagram. I will love to hear from you…

Yours, Yvonne