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December 2008, February and December 2009
Peru,
Amazon River
aboard the JEWELS
OF THE AMAZON
The Amazon River is at the heart of one of earth’s most exotic natural realms and our planet’s largest rainforest ecosystem – the mysterious Amazon River Basin. The longest navigable river, the Amazon winds more than 4,000 miles from its source in the Andes Mountains to the Atlantic Ocean and its tributaries fan out over 1.5 million square miles to sustain the lush flora and extraordinary fauna of this fragile environment. From delicate pink orchids to incredible transparent glass frogs and pink river dolphins, a boundless diversity of nature’s most beautiful offerings can be explored from the treetops of lush rainforests to the depths of innumerable black-water tributaries.
Join us for this unforgettable experience aboard one of the finest expedition vessels in this part of the world. The JEWELS
OF THE AMAZON are impeccably crafted riverboats that evoke the 19th-century’s great age of discovery, yet feature 21st-century comforts, and are a few of the very limited number of passenger vessels allowed to cruise this portion of the Peruvian Amazon. In an enchanting atmosphere of exploration, we will voyage beyond the confluence of the Río Ucayali and Río Marañón—the legendary inception
of the Amazon River—along black-water tributaries where the primeval calls of birds and wildlife echo across the rainforest. Cruise far beyond civilization to the Pacaya-Samiria Wetlands Preserve, the largest wetlands refuge in the world, and navigate to black-water rivers and remote forests where the number of butterfly species climbs into the thousands, and other species have yet to be classified or discovered.
From our ship, expert Peruvian naturalists lead us through the rainforests to see indigenous species not found anywhere else on the planet, and guide us down the Amazon’s secretive, sinuous tributaries aboard special small excursion boats. We will also visit local villages to gain insight into the traditional way of life of the ribereños (river people) and see a shaman perform an ancient ritual of purification.
In addition to the mystifying reaches of the Amazon, this unique program also features two nights in Lima, Peru, a historic city known for its colorful street life and magnificent colonial architecture.
Space is extremely limited for this definitive journey along the legendary Amazon River through the world’s greatest rainforest—reserve now while Early Booking savings are available. |
