DAY 1: Fly to Lima, Peru, and transfer to the hotel for the night. (D Aloft)
DAY 2: Take a tour of the city, where the Cathedral and Plaza Mayor are among the highlights. Enjoy lunch at a local Peruvian restaurant and spend the rest of the afternoon at leisure. (B,L)
DAY 3: Fly over the Andes Mountains to Iquitos. After a brief tour, board a riverboat, home for the coming week. Tonight, cruise slowly up the Amazon, gazing at the stars of the northern and southern constellations. (B,L,D)
DAY 4: Awake on the Amazon to the ever-changing panorama of jungle life. Small villages dot the shoreline, and channels weaving through island mazes provide close-up views of a variety of marsh birds. Enter the Río Ucayali and see gray and pink dolphins cavorting near the boat. Take an excursion into the surrounding rainforest in search of giant water lilies and elusive monkeys and sloths. This afternoon, visit a small river village or perhaps call on a local shaman. (B,L,D)
DAY 5: Explore a small tributary of the Ucayali and search for wildlife. Continue up river to the Pacaya- Samiria Reserve. An excursion into this largest wetland reserve in the world provides the opportunity to see primates including monk sakis, red howler and squirrel monkeys. A nocturnal visit to the reserve may reveal caimans, capybaras, common potoos, frogs and other wildlife. (B,L,D)
DAY 6: Board excursion boats and spend the day exploring this flooded realm. Parrots are common, including the endangered scarlet macaw. Listen for leaves rustling high in the trees to spot monkeys foraging for food. Look for a recently discovered area with a family of giant river otters as well as the rare harpy eagle. Later enter a seasonally flooded forest, where plant life is very different from what we see along the main course of the Amazon, and take a walk through the forest. (B,L,D)
DAY 7: This morning, the boat comes to the river Marañón, where we visit a local village. This afternoon, arrive at La Posada Lodge and meet the local shaman. Learn of his importance to the people of the Amazon. Take a nocturnal walk through the rainforest for a chance to see leaf-mimic katydids, walking sticks and frogs. (B,L,D)
DAY 8: Enter the Terra Firma (high ground) to see large buttress trees festooned with epiphytes, palms, woody vines and a vaulted canopy. Our trail winds through the forest, arriving at a suspended walkway that allows you to explore the world above the forest floor. This afternoon, an excursion on a blackwater river provides another chance to enjoy the beauty of the tropical rainforest. (B,L,D)
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