Amazon Expeditions

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April 8, 2022

Iricagua Creek, Peru

-4.433° S -73.436° E

Ramiro Adrian, Naturalist

We're a winner of Conde Nast Traveler's 2022 Readers Choice Awards

Sail into the Amazon’s cathedral of green

There’s a pulse to the Amazon, an undercurrent. Inky waters backed by layers of green forest. Wild bird calls fill the air. A leafy branch shakes to reveal a troop of clamoring monkeys. The river water levels can rise by feet overnight, creating new networks of tributaries in what used to be only forest. With nimble, custom-made skiffs we explore this flooded forest, venturing into places no human has seen. With the exquisite Delfin II as your base camp, you’ll discover the pristine upper reaches of the legendary Amazon in style.

Amazon

Special Ships

Upper Amazon Aboard the Delfin II

Duration

10 days

Year Round

From

$8,640

Prices are per person

Highlights

Amazon

Special Ships

Upper Amazon Aboard the Delfin II

Duration

10 days

Year Round

From

$8,640

Top Highlights

Explore the seasonally flooded forest of Pacaya-Samiria National Reserve at the headwaters of the Amazon with a team of experienced naturalists
See elusive, iconic Amazon wildlife like pink river dolphins, monk saki monkeys, piranhas, and scarlet macaws
Meet the welcoming ribereños, natives of the reserve, and learn about their ways of life along the river
Get photo tips in the field from a Lindblad-National Geographic certified photo instructor
Explore even more—seamlessly combine your Amazon expedition with an exploration of Galápagos or Machu Picchu & Peru’s Land of the Inca

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Special Offers

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Amazon

Peru

Special Ships

Wild Escapes

Wild Peru Escape: Amazon & Machu Picchu

Duration

9 days

Feb
Apr
Aug
Oct

From

$10,004

Prices are per person

Highlights

Amazon

Peru

Special Ships

Wild Escapes

Wild Peru Escape: Amazon & Machu Picchu

Duration

9 days

Feb
Apr
Aug
Oct

From

$10,004

Top Highlights

Explore iconic Machu Picchu with a full day to explore the extensive archaeological site with hand-picked guides
Sail the headwaters of the mighty Amazon River aboard the splendid Delfin II, venturing out daily in narrow, nimble skiffs that are able to explore the tributaries rife with wildlife
Explore the Sacred Valley of the Inca, including the Temple of the Sun, as well as Cusco’s magnificently ornate 17th-century cathedral on the Plaza de Armas
For two nights, use the Inkaterra Machu Picchu Pueblo as your base camp. Its Andean-style casitas are set along a reserve with 300 species of orchid

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Special Offers

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Expedition Highlights

Peru’s Pacaya-Samiria Reserve is the largest protected seasonal flood forest in South America. The legendary river provides sustenance and utility for the communities who live along the banks and fosters a staggering level of biodiversity. The exquisite 28-guest Delfin II is perfect for our daily explorations; it's designed for the river environment and to keep you connected to it.

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Life Aboard

Delfin II is a most gracious and lovely river ship. Spacious and clad in gleaming hardwood, she is both modern and authentically of the Amazon. Her public spaces are beautifully appointed—with tropical flowers and native handicraft decorative details.

Ready for the adventure of a lifetime?

1.800.397.3348

1.800.397.3348

A skiff on the Amazon River at dawn

The Best Time to Visit the Amazon: High Season Vs. Low Season

The Amazon, the “King of All Rivers,” supports the world’s most biodiverse rainforest. All life along it adapts to its seasonal fluctuations. What are these river fluctuations in this seasonally flooded forest, and when should you go?

Exploring the Upper Amazon

When you explore the Upper Amazon aboard Delfin II, you'll experience spectacular wildlife, top-notch accommodations, and unparalleled expertise from our team of naturalists.

6 Fascinating Birds to Find on an Amazon River Expedition

Exploring the Amazon’s Pacaya Samiria Natural Reserve has an uncanny way of inspiring travelers who’ve never gone bird-watching before to start scanning the trees and the sky for the most stunning, elusive, eccentric birds. Here are a few to look out for on your adventure.

Upper Amazon: Regional Flavors

Experience food that is locally sourced and represents the biodiversity of the Upper Amazon.

Upper Amazon Aboard Delfin II

Sail in tropical style & comfort with a small band of explorers. Delfin II accommodates just 28 guests in 14 beautifully appointed outside suites. This stately riverboat redefines modern elegance. Airy open spaces are detailed with clean lines in tropical hardwoods.

Discover the Amazon

Any given visit to the many small and medium-sized streams, known locally as 'caños,' is simply fascinating! This morning we spotted many colorful bird species: woodpeckers, tanagers, cotingas, jacamars, and kingfishers.

Carlos Romero, Expedition Leader, January 27, 2022

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Expedition Leader

Veteran expedition leaders are the conductors of your experience. Many have advanced degrees and have conducted research or taught for years. They have achieved expedition leader status because they possess the skills, the experience, and the depth of knowledge necessary to continually craft the best expedition experience for our guests.

Certified Photo Instructor

Every Amazon expedition offers an exclusive service—a Lindblad Expeditions-National Geographic certified photo instructor. This naturalist is specially trained to offer assistance with camera settings and the basics of composition to help you become a better, more confident photographer.

Naturalists

Most of the naturalists were born in towns along the riverbanks and educated in schools in Iquitos. Each hand-picked guide is specially trained before joining the Lindblad expedition team. All are fluent in English, and their personal knowledge, gained from village elders, along with their scientific training makes for fascinating storytelling, as authentic as it is well informed.

Praises to the chef and his crew for the best Lindblad foods so far. Wow! I loved the use of local fruits, etc., and special sauces. Keep the chef. He is excellent and we are foodies.

Kay G.

Making a Difference

Lindblad Expeditions supports stewardship efforts in the places we explore, and one way we do that is through the Lindblad Expeditions-National Geographic (LEX-NG) Fund. Traveler contributions to the LEX-NG Fund in the Amazon currently support our regional partner, Minga Peru, in its efforts to promote sustainable change for indigenous women and their communities.

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Daily Expedition Reports

Daily Expedition Reports

10/8/2022

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Delfin II

Amazon Village and Casual Forest

We have had an astonishing week full of the kind of unfathomable experiences that only happen once in a lifetime. Tomorrow, we will be back to another jungle built with cement and other kinds of wildlife. But this morning, we are visiting a very small community at the foot of the Amazon River. People living here are poor in possessions but rich in a very natural way of living, and you see very happy people everywhere. Our guests enjoyed interacting with locals, eating their food, and learning how they use local materials found in the jungle for agriculture, fishing, and handicrafts. Minga Peru is a non-governmental institution. The Lindblad Fund supports these communities in the Upper Amazon through education and by empowering people, especially women, to develop job skills, create jobs with better incomes, and eradicate domestic violence. In the afternoon, we went to Casual Forest. With the help of some local, expert guides, we explored the jungle. The site is home to many creatures, like tarantulas, tiny frogs, and boas. We observed many medicinal trees. This outing was a great learning experience for our guests. Once we got back on board, we enjoyed a farewell cocktail party with all the crewmembers. Our guests were very happy after a great week exploring the Amazon of Peru. Our week was very special. We found capybaras and large caimans during our nocturnal outing, and the highlight was spotting a big jaguar resting on the riverbank of the Pacaya-Samiria Reserve. To celebrate the end of our memorable journey, our talented crew performed in the dining room. They played some local music and danced. We will depart in the morning for Iquitos, where we will visit the Manatee Center and the city’s boulevard. We had a wonderful time together. We made new friends and will remember this trip forever. Cheers to Peru!

Daily Expedition Reports

10/7/2022

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Delfin II

Yanayacu River & Amazon Park

We departed in the early hours for our exploration of Yanayacu River, a tributary of the Marañón River. As soon as we boarded the skiffs, we spotted pink river dolphins foraging in the shallow waters with neotropic cormorants. At this time of year, the landscape is dotted with different species of birds, including large flocks of great egrets. We entered the kingdom of the endless forest, through which most of the rivers flow to form larger ones. The Ucayali and the Marañón Rivers eventually merge, giving origin to the mighty Amazon. This jungle is vibrant and full of life, from birds to monkeys. This morning was a special one, as hundreds of egrets mixed with cormorants, wood storks, and kingfishers. All of them foraged in the early hours. In the afternoon, we visited Amazon Park to explore the forest and suspension bridges. This forest is a pristine one, as no tree has ever been cut. The ecosystem is just like it was thousands of years ago. This is the kingdom of the giants! All the trees in this forest are around a hundred feet tall. We were happy to visit such a pristine spot in the Amazon. Indeed, we felt small as we walked under the canopy. There is so much foliage that there is not much light near the ground of the forest. The rainforest is just amazing!

Daily Expedition Reports

10/6/2022

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Delfin II

Magdalena and Yarapa Rivers

After exploring the Pacaya River and finding jaguars, capybaras, and river otters, we are again near the Marañon River, another major tributary of the Amazon that we are exploring at the end of our week. We came to Magdalena, a secondary water stream that feeds the Ucayali, to explore it early in the morning. This site is very famous for birdwatching. We observed the shoreline from our skiffs and spotted all kinds of river birds and land birds. We observed many types of herons, such as the cocoi heron and the multicolored black-capped heron. We also saw egrets and cormorants fishing. These waters are rich in nutrients coming from the Andes, which mix with the sediments of millions of plants to create an abundance of phytoplankton, food for aquatic creatures. Along the grassy areas, we found brilliant birds, including cardinals, wrens, woodpeckers, oropendolas, toucanets, and euphonias. We came back on board, and our cabin stewards did a presentation on origami towels. They do a great job creating animals of the jungle, such as sloths or monkeys, with the towels in each of our cabins. In the afternoon, we disembarked at a very small reserve to walk into the jungle. Squirrel monkeys came so close to us. At the end of the trail, we found a very small lagoon, where a unique type of plant grows: water lily pads, or Amazonian Victoria regias. Some of our guests kayaked along the Yarapa River, and others explored the area on skiffs. For the first time this week, we got rain! Thunder and lightning invaded the skies of the jungle, also known as the rainforest! Our intrepid guests went out to experience a storm in the Upper Amazon. It was a great experience, and even the sudden change in weather did not diminish the adventurous spirits of our fearless explorers.

Daily Expedition Reports

10/5/2022

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Delfin II

Pacaya Samiria Reserve

Today was a very special day of our expedition in the Upper Amazon. We visited the most remote region of the rainforest, and we got to see the best of the reserve. In the morning, we set off on our journey at 6:00 a.m. to explore the Pacaya Samiria Reserve. As soon as we started, we had our first wildlife encounters with raptors and shorebirds. Farther up the river, we were surrounded by the flocks of cormorants and egrets that come to the river looking for their morning meals. The early hours are the best time to enjoy the wildlife in this region. As we explored the Pacaya River, we spotted monkeys and a number of diverse birds. The visitor site hosts flocks of birds and an amazing collection of trees of different sizes and colors. We observed amazing fig trees with tangled roots and various palm trees. Often, the giant ceiba tree is home to the largest of the storks. At this time of the year, jabirus perch on the tall ceibas or nest along the riverbank. The highlight of our morning was a troop of squirrel monkeys foraging in a Ficus tree with blue-and-yellow-macaws. The best part was standing underneath the tree as the monkeys foraged! We had more than 100 monkeys running and jumping above us. What an experience! In the afternoon, we headed back into the Pacaya River for a different type of experience, a merging of late afternoon and evening exploration. We can see different wildlife and different behaviors at this time of day. We were in search of a diversity of rainforest sounds and the reserve’s icons: caimans and howler monkeys. We can see these animals better at night, in addition to bats and many types of herons that are nocturnal hunters. Most of the creatures we have found here eat fish, such as the armored catfish, which is also a popular dish for local people. The night is full of surprises, and this one was no exception. It was an amazing outing, and I’ll do it again!

Daily Expedition Reports

10/4/2022

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Delfin II

Belluda Area and Dorado Beach on Ucayali River

The Ucayali River is one of the two main headstreams of the Amazon River; its source is the confluence of the Tambo and Urubamba at the Peruvian Andes. The river is 1,391 nautical miles in length. Along the riverbanks, there are reserves, several towns and villages, and the Pacaya-Samiria Reserve, one of the most pristine and protected areas in Peru. We visited Belluda early in the morning when the wildlife is most active. The area is full of wildlife, including tanagers, hawks, and ospreys. It is also well known for its colony of red and blue macaws, one of the most attractive birds in the world. They make a very loud squawking sound that is easily distinguishable from similar birds in the Psittacidae group, like parakeets and parrots. We explored the riverbanks on skiffs and walked into the jungle. The big surprise of our morning was finding a troop of saddle-back tamarin monkeys. Some of them were so curious and fearless, and they came very low to see us. Once we returned on board, our local guides offered talks about people living in the jungle. In the afternoon, we went to the beach to swim and have fun. Our guests loved this outing. Here in the Amazon, the beach is surrounded by jungle. Instead of pelicans or frigatebirds, you can see jabirus, wood storks, terns, and macaws soaring the skies. After the beach, we came back to our beautiful ship for a very quick change. We went back out to walk along the sandy dunes, following the green line of plants and trees to observe more wildlife. We spotted tons of dusky-headed parakeets eating seeds from the grass, orioles, yellow-hooded blackbirds, and many tiny birds, such as seedeaters, finches, wrens, etc. The Amazon basin is not so far from the equator in Peru, and the sun goes down quickly. As we watched, the sky suddenly turned reddish and blue-orange as tons of birds migrated back to their nests and shelters. The landscape was magical.

FAQs

FAQs and key information

From climate conditions, to electrical outlets, to packing the right footwear, find answers to the questions Expedition Specialists get most often.

The jungle at the headwaters of the Amazon lives and breathes. It is an entity unto itself.

Sven-Olof Lindblad

1.800.397.3348

1.800.397.3348

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Upper Amazon 2022-23

Amazon

Upper Amazon 2022-23

2022-23 Voyages

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