Amazon Rainforest Cruise

[paul929207]

We recently returned from a 6 night cruise thru the Amazon Rainforest. The cruise was part of Overseas Adventure Travel's Peru & the Amazon Rainforest Tour. I posted comments on the Lima portion yesterday. We also did the pretour to Bolivia and Lake Titicaca and will post comments if anyone is interested. Finally, we did the post tour to Cusco & Machu Picchu and I will post comments in the next few days.

 

As to the cruise, we flew to Iquitos from Lima. Iquitos is located on the upper Amazon in Peru. It is about 2300 miles from the Atlantic. It is less than 100 miles from where the Maranon & Icalaci (spelling?) Rivers join to form the Amazon. It is a city of about 400,000 people.

 

The cruise was on the La Esmerelda. It is a small ship, carrying just 24 passengers. We had 22 on board - all were Americans. There was a crew of 10 plus our trip leader and a naturalist. The ship is very basic. There are 12 small cabins all with outside views through floor to ceiling windows. Each had a private bath. In addition there was a single seating dining room, a covered outside area with a small bar and a tiny sundeck. I don't think anyone used the sundeck.

 

All meals were buffets. The food was good, but nothing outstanding.

 

All shore excursions were included. We had two or three excursions each day. Most were on an open boat. Much of the area is a nature preserve, so there was wildlife everywhere. We also visited a couple of small villages where we got to meet some of the locals. One day we had a home hosted lunch. We were divided into two groups of eleven with each group going to a different home for lunch. The food was supplied to the hosts by OAT and prepared by the host. OAT screens the families they select as hosts. They make sure the food is prepared in a sanitary way.

 

The home we went to was large by their standards. It ha three rooms - a kitchen, living room and bedroom. They had 8 children. The living room had a bench running down each side and no other furniture. We had fish, which was wrapped in banana leaves and roasted over an open fire in the kitchen. We also had vegetables and fruit. The house had electricity each evening for 2-4 hours. It varied depending on how much diesel fuel the village could buy. The had two lights and a radio.

 

OAT also brought two couples on the ship one evening to talk with us. We learned that they had never seen ice before. Their village has no electricity. They had never seen or heard of computers. They rarely saw any money. What they did not grow, catch or make for themselves, they bartered for.

 

It was a wondreful trip.

[pacmom]

Paul,

 

Thanks for posting. The boat we will be on in Oct. has 20 cabins, so about twice the size of yours. We will spend 6 days on the Amazon and like you then on to Machu Pichu. When you post about the rest of the trip can you give the name of the hotels you stayed in. Agains, thanks. Pat