Peru Amazon: four nights on the river below Iquitos

1. Day 1: Arrive in Lima

   Jorge Chávez International Airport to your hotel in Miraflores

   • Drive about 1 h
   • Welcome dinner
   • Stay in Lima
   Day 1 details

   Fly into Jorge Chávez International Airport (LIM), where a driver meets you in arrivals for the drive to Miraflores, about 20 km and up to an hour in Lima's traffic. If you are joining after one of our Andes trips, you may already be in Lima, and we collect you from your hotel instead. Plan to land by mid-afternoon so you can join the evening; the latest arrival time is confirmed with your final itinerary. Miraflores sits on cliffs above the Pacific, and the malecón, a clifftop path of parks and lookouts, is a short walk from the hotel. In the early evening your See Sight Tours guide meets the group for a briefing on the days ahead: how the lodge works, what to pack in the soft bag, how the canoes run and what the river is doing this month. Then we walk to a local restaurant for a welcome dinner, a good place for a first ceviche, and an early night before the morning flight.

   Included

   • Pick-up at Jorge Chávez International Airport (LIM) or your Lima hotel
   • Welcome briefing with your guide
   • Welcome dinner in Miraflores

   Free time: Free until the evening briefing; the Miraflores malecón is a short walk away

2. Day 2: Fly to Iquitos and down the Amazon

   Lima to Iquitos by air, then by boat down the Amazon to the lodge

   • Drive about 1.5 h
   • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
   • Stay in Amazon river lodge
   Day 2 details

   We leave Miraflores at about 6:30 to 7 am, an early start set by the airline schedule and the only departure before 8 am on this trip that is not for a dawn outing. The flight of about an hour and fifty minutes crosses the Andes to Iquitos, a river city reached only by air or by water. Lodge staff meet us, our large bags go into storage at the lodge's town office, and a short drive takes us to the river port. From there a covered speedboat runs down the Amazon, between one and a half and three hours depending on the lodge we confirm, past floating houses, fishing canoes and long beaches or flooded banks, depending on the season. Lunch is served on arrival. After settling into rooms with their own bathroom, a resident naturalist guide leads a first walk on the trails near the lodge, teaching the group to move slowly and listen. After dinner we go out again with torches on a night walk for tree frogs, stick insects, spiders and roosting birds.

   Included

   • Flight from Lima to Iquitos
   • Luggage storage in Iquitos
   • Speedboat down the Amazon to the lodge
   • Afternoon forest walk with a naturalist guide
   • Guided night walk
   • All meals at the lodge

   Easier option: Skip the night walk and stay at the lodge after dinner; the boat ride is seated and covered, with life jackets.

   Free time: An hour or two free at the lodge before the afternoon walk

   Activity: The 6:30 to 7 am start from Miraflores is set by the morning flight schedule; it is the trip's only early start that is not for wildlife. The first walk is about 1 to 1.5 hours on flat trails.

   

3. Day 3: Dawn canoe and the river dolphins

   Amazon river lodge: a creek or lake by canoe, the river by boat and the forest at night

   • By boat
   • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
   • Stay in Amazon river lodge
   Day 3 details

   We are on the water by first light, in two canoes of up to six, gliding along a quiet side creek or oxbow lake while the forest wakes up. This is when the birds are loudest and easiest to see: kingfishers, herons, parrots flying over in pairs, hoatzins grunting in the bushes, and with luck a sloth or a troop of squirrel monkeys in the trees above. Back at the lodge for a late breakfast. Late in the morning we take the boat out onto the main river to look for pink river dolphins and the smaller grey ones, which surface to breathe where rivers meet or the current slows. The hottest hours are free for a hammock, a shower and a book. In the late afternoon the naturalist guide leads a walk through the forest to see the giant trees and the plants local families use for food and medicine. After dinner we take the boat out with a spotlight to find the red glow of caiman eyes along the banks.

   Included

   • Dawn canoe on a creek or lake with a naturalist guide
   • River dolphin search by boat
   • Late-afternoon forest and plant walk
   • Caiman-spotting boat trip after dark
   • All meals at the lodge

   Easier option: Sleep in, skip the dawn canoe and join the group for the dolphin boat after breakfast.

   More active option: A longer late-afternoon walk of about 3 hours deeper into the forest with the naturalist guide.

   Free time: Midday free at the lodge

   Activity: A 5:15 to 5:30 am start for the canoe. Canoes are low and stable; you sit for about 2 hours, so bring a cushion if you have a bad back.

   

4. Day 4: Sunrise on the canopy walkway and a riverside village

   Amazon river lodge to the canopy walkway, then a riverside community

   • By boat
   • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
   • Stay in Amazon river lodge
   Day 4 details

   An early start again, because the treetops are busiest in the first hours of light. We reach the canopy walkway at or soon after sunrise, climb the tower stair and cross a chain of suspension bridges strung between tall trees, high above the forest floor. From up here you look across the tops of the trees as mist lifts off them, and the birds that live up high come close: toucans, tanagers, parrots and, on good mornings, monkeys crossing the branches. Your naturalist guide carries a telescope to bring the distant ones closer. Breakfast is back at the lodge or packed for the walkway, and lunch is at the lodge. After the midday rest we visit a riverside community the lodge works with. A local host shows us how families here fish, farm their plots and live with the rise and fall of the river, and we visit the school when it is in session. The visit is paid to the community, and crafts are on sale with no pressure to buy.

   Included

   • Canopy walkway at sunrise with a naturalist guide
   • Visit to a riverside community with a local host
   • All meals at the lodge

   Easier option: Stay on the tower's first platform or at its foot while the group crosses the bridges; the village visit is mostly flat and short.

   More active option: Stay longer on the walkway with the guide while the rest of the group heads back for breakfast.

   Free time: Midday free at the lodge

   Activity: The walkway means a long stair up a tower and narrow, swaying bridges with side nets; tell your guide if heights are a problem. Exact height and access depend on the lodge we confirm.

   

5. Day 5: Flooded forest or forest trails, your choice

   Amazon river lodge: a dawn canoe, a free morning and a last night walk

   • By boat
   • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
   • Stay in Amazon river lodge
   Day 5 details

   The last full day has a second dawn canoe, chosen by the season. From about December to June, when the river is high, we paddle between the trunks of the flooded forest, where fish swim among the roots and birds nest just above the water. From about July to November, when the water drops, we go to a lake or a sandbank where birds gather, and walk a trail that is under water for half the year. After breakfast the day is yours: rest at the lodge, fish for piranha with a local guide using a simple line and bait, or take a longer walk with the naturalist guide. The heat is strongest in the early afternoon, so most groups keep moving in the morning and late afternoon. At sunset the boat goes out on the main river to watch the sky colour over the water. After the last lodge dinner there is a final night walk for anyone who wants another look at the forest after dark.

   Included

   • Second dawn canoe: flooded forest at high water, a lake or sandbank at low water
   • Piranha fishing with a local guide
   • Sunset boat on the main river
   • Guided night walk
   • All meals at the lodge

   Easier option: Skip the dawn canoe and spend the morning in a hammock; join the sunset boat in the evening.

   More active option: A longer morning walk of about 3 hours with the naturalist guide, looking for monkeys and birds.

   Free time: Morning after breakfast and the early afternoon free at the lodge

   Activity: Another 5:15 to 5:30 am start for the canoe. The night walk is optional.

6. Day 6: Back up the river and fly to Lima

   Amazon river lodge to Iquitos by boat, then by air to Lima

   • Drive about 30 min
   • Breakfast and lunch
   Day 6 details

   After an early breakfast the speedboat carries us back up the Amazon to Iquitos, a last chance to spot dolphins and herons from the deck. We collect the large bags and, on the way to the airport, stop at a manatee rescue centre on the road out of town, where orphaned Amazonian manatees are raised before being returned to the wild; the visit is short and the animals are fed in front of you. Lunch is in Iquitos before an early-afternoon flight to Lima of about an hour and fifty minutes. The trip ends at Jorge Chávez International Airport in the mid to late afternoon. Flights from Lima to North America mostly leave in the evening or late at night, so book one leaving after about 9 pm. If you are going on to Cusco and Machu Picchu, an evening flight or a flight the next morning works, and we can add a night at the Miraflores hotel as a priced add-on, not included in the trip price.

   Included

   • Speedboat up the Amazon to Iquitos
   • Manatee rescue centre visit
   • Lunch in Iquitos
   • Flight from Iquitos to Lima
   • Drop-off at Jorge Chávez International Airport (LIM)

   Activity: Book a flight home leaving Lima after about 9 pm.

Wildlife and weather: Iquitos is hot and humid all year, around 30 degrees by day, and rain can fall in any month, usually as heavy showers rather than all-day rain. The river sets the plan: from about December to June the water is high, canoes go into the flooded forest and animals crowd onto higher ground; from about July to November the water drops, more trails open and sandbanks appear where birds rest. River dolphins live here in every season and are usually seen.

• Lima1 night
• Amazon river lodge4 nights