Holiday Itinerary
Day One - Your Peru Holiday Begins!
Arrive in Lima on an evening flight as you begin your holiday in Peru! You will be met at the airport and driven to your hotel in the trendy Miraflores area of the city in time to take a walk around the elegant Parque Kennedy and perhaps to take in an evening meal on your first night in Peru. Of course, since this is your first night on holiday in Peru, then if you're feeling up to it then Miraflores is a great place for a night out...
Day Two - Into the Amazon
After breakfast, a short flight carries us over the Andes to Iquitos. On arrival we will take you straight to our riverboat. Once onboard we will sail up the Amazon from Iquitos past small farming villages and fishing groups. You will have lunch on board our boat as you float down the river and begin to drink in the incredible spectacle that is the Amazon basin. In the evening, we will pass the juncture of the Ucayali and Maranon rivers, which means our journey is really beginning as we head out onto the Amazon itself. Travelling a little further, we will then tie up by the river banks and set up camp..
Day Three - Floating down the river
You will wake up this morning on the banks of the mighty Amazon itself, and as our journey continues downriver, you can enjoy the ever-changing panorama of jungle life. Before breakfast, we will take you for a bird watching excursion in a motorized canoe. Egrets, Cormorants, Striated Herons, Black-Colored Hawks are common and there is always the chance to see some rarities like Umbrella birds and Horned Screamers. After breakfast we will take a short excursion to the small village of Solterito where you will get to meet some local people for that important taste of the Real Peru. The remainder of the day is spent on board, where your Peru holiday continues as we enter the winding narrow waterways of the Pacaya Samiria Reserve.
Day Four - Ranger Station Number Two
After breakfast this morning, we will cruise up the Samiria river past past Ranger Station Two to the sight of literally thousands of great Egrets flying ahead of, behind and all around the ship. Densely packed vegetation lines the river bank while clouds of butterflies rise from the shallow beaches as we pass. The river itself is home to Gray and Pink Amazon River Dolphins which will often swim around the boat. In the afternoon we will take a short hike along an easy trail through the seasonally flooded Varzea forest. In the evening you will retire again to the boat to relax under the inummerable, shimmering stars above...
Day Five - Enter the Maranon
Today we will move deeper into the Samiria's black waters. After breakfast, those who wish can go swimming with piranhas. If that sounds a bit much you can go piranha fishing instead - it's safer, and definitely tastier! Besides red bellied Piranhas, we might catch some small Catfish, Peacock Bass or Sardines. There are no people living anywhere remotely near the spots we will be visiting today, only the Reserve's rangers and a vast variety of flora and fauna. After lunch, we will have an excursion to the long, narrow Fortuna Lake. As well as the huge variety of birds who make the lake area their home, with a little luck we may also encounter Saki monkeys, a unique primate that frequents these seasonally flooded forests. Higher in the canopy, Capuchin Monkeys may be seen in small family groups feeding on leaves. Lined with tall trees, trailing lianas and floating meadows, the beauty of this area is hard to exaggerate.
Day Six - Nauta and San Miguel
An early wake up call today as we set out to explore Nauta Cano. The hike takes us past a series of small waterfalls and down the steep slopes along which forest streams flow. As we trek along below the high canopy in this section of the forest we can see countless varieties of plants, butterflies, birds and other small animals. We'll keep an eye out for Paddington as well! Later in the day, you stop at the small village of San Miguel to stock up on fresh provisions.
Day Seven - Back to Iquitos
Turning back onto the Amazon itself, we will pass the small village of Tamshicayu and head into Iquitos. We should arrive in the middle of the afternoon, following lunch served on board, we will take care of your disembarkation and take you to your hotel for some well-earned rest!
Day Eight - Back to Lima
After a final free morning in Iquitos, you will be driven to the airport to catch an afternoon flight back to Lima. This evening, if you haven't already, then one thing you must try before your Peru holiday is over is the Peruvian national dish: cebiche. It's an exquisite dish of white fish marinated in lemon and lime and it tastes out of this world.
Day Nine - Last day on holiday in Peru
We have left the rest of your last day on holiday in Peru free for you to explore on your own. A last chance to do some shopping, perhaps? If you'd prefer us to organise something for you, of course, we'd be more than happy to. Most international flights for the UK leave fairly late at night so we will pick you up from your hotel in the evening to make sure your Peru holiday ends perfectly by getting to the airport in plenty of time to catch the flight back home.
Options
Easy upgrades
As we've said, we can tailormake your itinerary to your exact specifications, and you can have a look at our Peru Guide or some of our other Peru Holidays for ideas about how to add to this holiday, but we can also offer you some easy optional extras which fit into this exact itinerary:
Tour of Lima - from £40pp
On Day Eight, if you prefer, we could arrange a guided tour of the best of colonial and modern Lima. This would give you a chance to see some of the grand colonial buildings and squares in the historical centre, as well as the beaches and cliffs of the city's Pacific shoreline.
Jungle Lodges - from £280pp
If you're keen on a jungle adventure but would rather stay in a comfortable jungle lodge rather than camping out in the rainforest then just let us know - we work with the best lodges in the Amazon and other reserves to give you an amazingly comfortable jungle adventure...
Tailormade for you
Of course, what we want you to remember is that we're here to offer you any guidance and advice you need. We're not about trying to sell you more than you want - we want you to have the holiday that's right for you, so give us a call or send us an email and we can start to find out what sort of Peru holiday is right for you!
Prices
Because all our Peru holidays are tailormade, our prices are flexible and depend on the accommodation and activities you want. If you want to change the length of this holiday, or the activities you do, or the type of accommodation you use - let us know! We can send you a tailormade itinerary, including price, absolutely free!
Our standard price for this trip is £1195 per person. This price is based on two people sharing a double or twin room in our standard 3-star accommodation (details available on request).
And what does it include?
We know that you need to be able to see how much things are going to cost you, so everything that you read about on the previous page is included in this price. The only "biggie" that we don't include is your international flight to and from the UK as these can vary depending on the time of year. However, we will do all the research for you and find you the best deal going, so you don't to have expend any effort here.
Just to be absolutely clear, here is what you're getting for your money on this holiday:
- Accommodation in Lima and Iquitos we have personally checked out
- All transfers
- All internal transport, including flights
- All entrance fees
- Six-day guided tour of the Pacaya-Samiria Reserve
- All equipment for the tour
- All meals in the Reserve
- Full buffet breakfast on all other days