Our Amazon River cruises have monthly, year-round departures.
AMAZON FRONTIERS CRUISE
(Iquitos to Leticia / Tabatinga)
AMAZON PACAYA SAMIRIA CRUISE
(Iquitos to National Reserve)
AMAZON TAPICHE CRUISE
(Iquitos to Tapiche River system)
The riverboat cruises on the Amazon River depart from Iquitos, Peru. All the ships we use have air-conditioned cabins with private baths. They are designed for people with a love of nature who are looking for adventure in relative comfort. Have fun and learn about South American native cultures and Amazonia, the world's largest forest and river system.
Our most popular Amazon River cruise programs are on the ships, the M/V Arapaima and the M/V Jungle Discovery. The ships provide a comfortable base for an exceptional, educational travel experience! From Iquitos, Peru, your choice of 3 different itineraries takes you miles on the Amazon River for some of the world's best natural history tours.
Specifically designed for the waters of the Amazon, the ships are about 100 feet long, with a draft of less than 4 feet. The ships' designs provides plenty of space on their three decks and have 13 passenger cabins, all on the upper decks. All cabins are air conditioned and have private bathrooms with hot water showers. There are king-bed cabin suites available. The dining rooms, where delicious buffet style meals are served, are air conditioned as well. Complimentary coffee, tea, and bottled drinking water are available throughout the day. The ships' bars are well stocked with cold drinks and there is ample deck area, covered and uncovered, with comfortable deck chairs and hammocks for a leisurely look at life on the river. The ships are connected by radio with the main office in Iquitos. The 15 passenger excursion boats used for outings provide a closer look at the Amazon rainforest and its peoples.
M/V Arapaima
M/V Jungle Discovery
Click below for detailed Amazon River Cruise itineraries.
AMAZON FRONTIERS CRUISE (Iquitos to Leticia / Tabatinga)
AMAZON PACAYA SAMIRIA CRUISE (Iquitos to National Reserve)
AMAZON TAPICHE CRUISE (Iquitos to Tapiche River system)
Private River Boat Charters:
For families, organizations, and small private groups (best with 15 or more participants) we can arrange for your own ship and custom itinerary to suit your interests. Imagine a sailing with your own private party on the Amazon River!
We also offer cruises on luxury Amazon riverboats, the Aqua, Aria, and the Delfin I & II.
The area of the Amazon rainforest – roughly 2.3m square miles – is larger than Western Europe and the forest stretches over nine countries: Brazil, Peru, Colombia, Bolivia, Ecuador, French Guyana, Guyana, Surinam and Venezuela. There are approximately 1,250 tributaries that service the main river, 17 of which are more than 1,000 miles long. The river is bigger in volume than its six nearest rivals combined and discharges into the ocean about 20% of the total freshwater of all the rivers in the world. Roughly a fifth of the earth's oxygen is produced in the Amazon rainforest and more than two-fifths of all the species in the world live there. You can find over 200 species of tree in a single hectare of Amazon rainforest and one tree can be home to 72 different species of ants alone. Over its 4,000-mile length, no human bridge crosses the Amazon river.
Iquitos has a population of well over 350,000, and is Peru’s largest jungle city, although Pucallpa has grown rapidly in recent years and now vies with Iquitos for this title. However, there is little doubt that Iquitos is the
The jungle area around Iquitos was quite densely populated before the arrival of the Spanish in the 16th century, and it is estimated that there could have been as many as 300,000 natives living here. However, the arrival of the Spanish, and European diseases with them, decimated the population. The first European to see the Amazon River was the conquistador Francisco de Orellana, who arrived at the river on 12 February 1542, after having left from the Peruvian highlands.
Although missionaries moved into the area, the jungle was largely ignored by the Spanish, and it was only in 1864 that Iquitos was founded. The city quickly found itself at the centre of world interest, as the process of vulcanisation made the rubber tree, indigenous to the Iquitos area, one of the most valuable commodities in the world. Iquitos prospered in the rubber boom, and much wealth was created in this period, when the rubber barons were born. However, this wealth did not last, and when seeds of the rubber tree were smuggled out of Peru, the monopoly enjoyed by Iquitos ended.
Unlike in most of the Peruvian Amazon, Iquitos does not have distinct dry and rainy seasons as it is so close to the equator. Instead, it can rain throughout the year,
Return to the top of this webpage :)
You are welcome to call us anytime at 1-239-992-9660, or toll free at 800-446-9660, or email us at travel@GoExploring.com
