Ports of call in the Amazon include Yasuni National Park in Ecuador, Iquitos in Peru, and Manaus in Brazil. Unlike traditional cruise stops, the Amazon’s popular destinations focus on the natural wonders that brought explorers to South America from around the world after Francisco de Orellana’s journey down the length of the river in 1541.
Ecuador
- Yanacocha Biological Corridor
The Panacocha Biological Corridor is a crucial pathway between Yasuni National Park and the Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve that gives the creatures of the jungle the freedom to migrate and move between regions of the Amazon. Cruise ships traverse the waterway, stopping for excursions by boat to discover the incredible wildlife and flora that lie within the reserve’s borders.
Covering almost two and a half million acres, Yasuni National Park is home to the Waorani, Tagaeri, and Taromenane indigenous people and within its borders, there is a massive amount of flora and fauna. New species are discovered every year and visiting puts you in the midst of monkeys swinging from the trees, pink dolphins surfacing in the rivers, and birds of every color flying overhead.
A tributary of the Napo River on the northern border of the park, the Indillama River is a popular stop on Amazon cruises for kayaking and bird watching.
A shared observation tower within the Yasuni park for nearby lodges and cruises, the observation tower puts those who visit high in the canopy where expert guides point out the different species of birds that soar overhead and rest in the treetops.
- Limoncocha Biological Reserve
The Limoncocha Biological Reserve is often explored in tandem with Yasuni National Park. The reserve is home to over 450 species of birds and a large number of caiman, which are often spotted on the shores of the Limoncocha Lagoon on canoe excursions.
The Yasuni Parrot Licks is the most accessible of their kind in the Ecuadorian jungle. Cruises make stops here early in the morning when hundreds of colorful birds visit en masse, a spectacle that is seldom seen elsewhere in the country.
Peru
Iquito is a river city on the Amazon that is only reached by air or water as no roads connect it to the rest of the mainland. During the rubber boom, it prospered as a port to supply communities up and down the river. Today it retains its European charm and is a starting and finishing point for cruises to the Peruvian part of the Amazon.
The Yanayacu River is a tributary of the Amazon that boasts pristine natural forest along its banks, river otters, and pink dolphins in its brown waters, and opportunities for canoeing and kayaking in an area where little human settlements exist.
Part of the five million acres Pacaya Samiria National Reserve, the Samiria River is often an early glimpse into the natural variety of the jungle and the creatures who live there. A tributary of the Amazon trips by skiff takes you away from the traffic of the main waterway and into the peaceful confines of the outlying areas.
- Maranon River and Ucayali Rivers
These two rivers are the boundaries of Samiria National Reserve and combined are an important and interesting area to explore on Amazon cruises. The reserve covers 8042 square miles and is the largest protected area in Peru. Five hundred species of birds fly in the sky, monkeys swing from the trees, and tapir, deer, pumas, and jaguars roam the ground.
BrazilAmazon cruises in Brazil take you on the Amazon River to remote tributaries and communities where nature is the star attraction. Each day brings a new adventure-highlighting the diversity and cultures that have lived in relative isolation for centuries.
Manaus is the main hub on the Amazon in Brazil that grew out of the rubber boom. A starting point for Amazon cruises, the town has an interesting mix of European and Peruvian influences-there is an opera house built with marble from Italy, bricks from Europe, and glass from France. Other things to check out are the Municipal Market and the botanical gardens.
Located upstream from Manaus, Anavilhanas Archipelago is one of the curious natural wonders of the Amazon. During the wet season, this section of the river stretches to almost twenty miles wide. Islands rise out of the river bed, making a series of channels and green lands that harbor wildlife that comes out from under the canopy to feed and breed.
Jacqui is a region along the Rio Negro River where flooded forests present opportunities to explore amid palm trees by boat in search of the exotic bird and animal life of the jungle. Cruise ships have skiffs and motorized boats with experts in the region that point the wildlife at every juncture in the excursion.
For more information about the places you can visit and the cruises that Adventure Life can arrange for a trip in the Amazon,
contact a member of our team.
