Day 1
Iquitos / Nauta / Pacaya Samaria National Reserve
Iquitos / Nauta /Reserva Nacional Pacaya Samiria
Our personnel will meet and greet you at the Airport. Transfer to the City.
Along the way you will briefly sightsee Iquitos, looking at the most important tourist sites of this representative City of the Peruvian jungle which on the XIXth Century turned from a small outpost settlement into one of the most important river ports on the Amazon, reaching an outstanding cosmopolitan condition during the "rubber boom" era.
You will meet the expert naturalist guide in-charge of providing you the most exact information during your trip to the Amazon Rainforest. Transfer by bus to the Town of Nauta, some 40 miles from Iquitos, linked by a modern highway. After the two-and-a-half hour ride you will reach this picturesque Town on the shores of the Maranon River where you will board the boat that will take you to the Yanayacu-Pucate River Basin in the Pacaya Samiria National Reserve. Before departure you will have time to take a short walk around Nauta and have lunch.Continue up the Maranon for about two or two-and-a-half hours, when you shall be entering the Yanayacu-Pucate River, and thus into the Pacaya-Samiria Reserve (70 miles SE from Iquitos). The trip promises to be interesting from the start; your eyes will delight with the sights of endless vegetation and blue skies with white puffy clouds reflecting upon the dark water of the River. The color is a characteristic of almost all water passages and oxbow lakes in the reserve, thus it is know as "The Jungle of the Mirrored Waters" Flocks of Parrots, Macaws and Egrets flying above; up ahead a blink of pink on the water signals the presence of a mythic Pink River Dolphin.You will sail on Yanayacu making a brief stop at the Forest Police Checkpoint in the Village of 20 de Enero. Then you will proceed to a properly selected camp site. Complex lodging facilities are not allowed inside the reserve, thus comfortable tents will be installed by our crew as you move along the Yanayacu. This base camp where you will spend the first night of your itinerary is located near the Village of Yarina, the last settlement on the Yanayacu. Supper will be cooked and served by our personnel. Later you will enjoy a thrilling evening boat or canoe ride to search for Black or Spectacle caiman, bound to be found in this area. Overnight.
Meals Included: Lunch and dinner
Day 2
Pacaya Samiria (Yanayacu - Pucate)
After breakfast you will continue your journey into the Reserve. The boat will follow the Yanayacu course making brief stops to watch closely for interesting sights. There is a great chance that you may see Monk Saki, Howling, Wooly and Squirrel Monkeys. It is also possible to spot Macaws, Toucans and Capybara amongst others. You will continue to the Yarina Settlement where its inhabitants have been developing a repopulation project for the endangered Yellow-spotted Amazon River Turtle (Podocnemis unifilis). There are over 200 communities around the Reserve many of them taking part on conservation and reforestation projects.Lunch in the camp.
In the afternoon you will hike on jungle trail close to the camp.Follow endless trails of Leaf Cutter Ants along the path as the jungle gets thicker. Look at the tree canopy above you to discover primates and other interesting creatures which inhabit the area.Supper.Evening excursion by foot to listen to the sounds of the forest after dark (Hawks, Owls, Potoos, and insects).
Overnight.
Meals Included: Breakfast, lunch and dinner
Day 3
Pacaya Samiria (Yanayacu - Pucate)
Early morning breakfast followed by a two-hour hike to the Laguna Caro Oxbow Lake. Following the jungle trail you are bound to find Howler and Woolly Monkeys, medicine plants not only employed by the local but also processed by the pharmaceutical industry and sold everywhere. There are many fish species in Laguna Caro including Red Belly Piranha (Serrasalmus natteri), Silver Arowana (Osteoglossum bicirrhosum) and Peacock Bass (Cichla ocellaris) which you will not only see swimming around the canoe but you will also have the chance to catch them as locals do.
Lunch on the shores of the Oxbow lake. If fishing has been successful you may request your catch to be cooked native style.
Once returned to the camp, you may choose to rest surrounded by the splendorous jungle or continue exploring on the River.
Supper and overnight.
Meals Included: Breakfast, lunch and dinner
Day 4
Pacaya Samiria (Yanayacu - Pucate)
Early morning breakfast to proceed with Bird watching before return trip. It is possible to find some prey birds in the reserve such as the "Yellow Headed Caracara" (Mivalgo chimachima), the King Vulture (Sarcoramphus papa), the Black Collared Hawk (Busarellus nigricollis) and the beautiful Harpy Eagle (Harpia harpyja). The trip continues down River heading back to the Maranon with a few stops on the route for biodiversity sighting. The River is the habitat to other interesting species, including the Giant River Otter (Pteronura brasiliensis), a semi-aquatic carnivore usually found in social groups easy to spot by its audible groans; it is also possible to find in the reserve one of the largest snakes in the world, the famous Common Green Anaconda (Eunectes murinus) which can reach an 39-foot length spending most of its time in the water.
By noon there will be a stop for lunch and then you will continue sailing until you reach the last camp site near the mouth of the Yanayacu River. While our personnel make the arrangements to end up the adventure you may visit one of the neighbouring settlements where most of the population do farming and fishing activities. Supper and final comments on the trip in the Reserve.
Overnight.
Meals Included: Breakfast, lunch and dinner
Day 5
Pacaya Samiria (Yanayacu - Pucate)
Breakfast and last chance to take pictures in the Pacaya-Samiria National Reserve.
Sail on the Maranon River to reach Nauta. Return to Iquitos by land.
Meals Included: Breakfast
End of our services
This is the largest Protected Natural Area in Peru (2´080,000 ha), located at 300 km / 190 miles from Iquitos. Accessible only by waterways. The wealth of the low lying Virgin Rainforest gives this area an enormous bio-diversity similar to the one of the Manu National Park, where also live several species not present in this area. The National Reserve has many lakes and lagoons and vast swamp areas. Practically unexplored and uninhabited except for protected species in the interior, it offers an astonishing potential for research studies and observation of wild life, particularly of certain species in danger of extinction in other areas.
This area has more than 85 lakes and exuberant vegetation with a great variety of flora species such as the Lupuna Tree, measuring up to 160 feet tall with a diameter of 10 feet in four forest types. It also has 130 species of mammals such as the Jaguar, Ocelots, Giant River Otters and Capybara (the world's biggest rodent), and several species of monkeys in danger of extinction, like the black Maquisapa or Spider Monkey, the Yellow breast and the Common Woolly Monkey. There are 350 bird species like Toucans and Blue, Yellow and Red Macaws. All this, plus the 150 reptiles of 20 families, makes our forest one with the largest number of species seen on any tourist trip in the world. The most important source in the Pacaya Samiria National Reserve is the aquatic fauna, with 250 species of fish, such as the Paiche, the world's largest fresh water fish, weighing up to 250 lbs., and measuring up to 9 feet long, plus species of Turtles, Pink and Grey River Dolphins, and the Manatee.There are no lodgings in the Reserve, but our staff can provide tents to permit you to experience a real expedition through a temporary camp.This trip offers the opportunity to know new cultures and to explore the mysterious and magic world of the Amazon forest. It offers a variety of touching itineraries so diverse as the forest itself in the lodges strategically located and their excellent location favours the observation of birds and the carrying out of the most diverse adventure expeditions, walks, to appreciate the countless variety of flora and fauna, to go fishing, opportunities for taking of pictures, to admire the Pink River Dolphins, to know and explore Shamanism and medicinal plants or perhaps just to rest in a hammock, observing the River and listening the sounds of the forest.
All our programmes can be tailor made according to your requirements, whether regarding the length of your tour, any special interests or specific activities, flight reservations, optional destinations or tours.
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