5 Days 4 Nights on Amazon Lodge

Morning pickup from your accommodation or the airport in a private car or mini-van (depending on group size) to arrive at the port town of Nanay-Bellavista. On our way there you will get a brief description of Iquitos city and some of its main attractions.

Departure by boat from Nanay port, making a stop to see the conjunction of Nanay river and Amazon river. Continue down the river for 1 hour 30 minutes enjoying the beautiful landscapes and the possibility to see river dolphins (gray and pink), herons (like the snowy egrett), kingfisher, yellow-billed tern, turtles, and many other species along with spectacular flora. During the navigation, you will also see passing villages, like Barrio Florido, and rural jungle towns before reaching the rustic-style lodge.

Before lunch we’ll go on a brief botanic walk in the surroundings of the lodge.

Lunch at the lodge made with local products, including fresh fruit juice. Vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free options are available per request (when booking).

Boat expedition to the real Monkey Island (La isla de los monos) where you will get to know and play with macaws, amazonian parrots, sloths, and a wide variety of monkeys: Woolly monkey (mono choro), Titi monkey (mono tocon), Spider monkey (mono araña or maquisapa), Tamarins (mono pichico), Howler monkey (mono aullador), Marmoset (mono leoncito), among others. The Monkey Island is a family-owned rescue center, with all its permits up to date, dedicated to rescue, rehabilitate and release monkeys that are victims of pet trade. They have freed more than 200 monkeys since 1997.

After Monkey Island we set up to navigate back to the lodge and look for some sweetwater dolphins like the gray and pink dolphin. Now it’s chill time. This is your chance to jump into the river and relax while swimming in the longest river on Earth. We will enjoy a peaceful dawn at the Amazon river.

Dinner at lodge.

Nocturnal hike looking for spiders (like tarantulas), snakes, lizards, frogs, or rodents, hearing the different sounds of nocturnal animals.

Overnight at lodge (private room with private bathroom).

We get up very early and hop on our boat to see the sunrise and start looking for dolphins while navigating the Amazon river. This is the best time to see them playing along in the river while admiring the sunrise. Delight with the sounds of nature.

Fresh breakfast with local fruit juice. 

We will prepare for our trip to Santa Maria de Fatima community, a small 200 people village by the Amazon river. They have developed an ecotourism project and built a 15 meters wooden tower in the middle of the jungle to enjoy the landscape, and the different bird species, of the heronry (called El Garzal).

Navigation in the Amazon river to Santa Maria de Fatima. 30 minutes approx.

Once we arrive at the community we’ll start a jungle walk for approx. 40 minutes. There is a chance to see monkeys here like the squirrel monkey (mono ardilla), saddle back tamarin (mono pichico pardo or cervecerita, its local name) and others. See if you can recognize them! 

Canoeing our way to the heronry. Go up the 3-floor 15 meters wooden watchtower to enjoy the landscape and look for animals and birds. Animal spotting and bird watching while slowly navigating through the heronry dense vegetation. Here we can find Hoatzin (Shansho), a prehistoric amazonian bird, and different species of herons like the snowy egrett (garza blanca), white and brown boat-billed herons (huapapa blanca y huapapa marron) and others.

Navigation back to the lodge.

Lunch at the lodge.

We will start our journey by boat to the Yanayacu ecosystem, heading to Yanayacu-Timicuro, a small jungle town with a sustainable ecotourism project that we support. A local guide will join us here, we will see big Victoria regia aquatic plants and head into Garza cocha, a small lake where we’ll establish our first camping spot.

Nocturnal walk around our camping spot looking for frogs, caimans, snakes, insects, and spiders.

Morning canoe expedition around Garza cocha. This is the best time to look for birds, monkeys, and wildlife in general.

Fresh breakfast with local fruit juice.

We will prepare for a long morning walk around Garza cocha.  We will take a walking tour inside the “Kingdom of giant trees”, and if you keep attentive and carefully looking, you could find wildlife in the trees like sloths, monkeys, lizards, and birds. Here we will see the Lupuna (ceiba pentandra), the biggest tree species in the Amazon rainforest.

Jungle lunch.

After lunch, we will travel around the Yanayacu basin and immerse ourselves into this place, also called the “Mirror of the Jungle” (named after the clear reflections on the water).

From Garza cocha to Yahua cocha, our next destination, it’s around 45 minutes by motor boat.

On the way there we can see wildlife like different kind of monkeys playing around in the surrounding trees. Once in the Yahua cocha lake, we will be canoeing enjoying the landscape, and watching for birds like herons, yellow-billed tern, among others.

After exploring the lake we will set a camping spot.

Camping near Yahua cocha lake, in the Yanayacu basin.

Wake up your senses with a morning canoe excursion, feel the soothing smell of the Jungle welcoming the day ahead.

Fresh breakfast with local fruit Now that we are all energized we will go on a rowing adventure. We will cruise some affluents of the Amazon river slowly rowing, enjoying the peaceful landscapes the way some local people do it. It’s gonna be time to put into practice what you learned about fishing on your first days.

We will go on an artisanal fishing tour. Here we can find Acarahuazu (Oscar fish), Fasaco (Common trahira), Piranhas, and others The guide will teach you and assist you with some local fishing techniques (this activity is optional if you prefer not to do fishing activities).

Jungle lunch.

Hike into the deep zones of the Yanayacu basin. In this walk we will have the chance to explore and learn about ethnobotanics, the wildlife we encounter and medicinal plants along our way, so you can learn how to differentiate them and their uses by local people. While we explore the Yanayacu basin we are gonna learn how to orientate ourselves in the Jungle. Your guide will teach you some basic survival skills, what things can you do in case you get lost, how to recognize edible plants, how to find water inside plants and many other practical tips.

After coming back from our jungle hike we will pack our stuff and prepare for navigating back to the Amazon lodge.

Navigation back to Amazon lodge.

Dinner at Amazon lodge.

Overnight at Amazon lodge.

We get up very early and start our morning birdwatching and animal spotting expedition. This is the best time to see wildlife in his own habitat by the riverbank and inside the jungle.

Ethnobotanical walk through the jungle to see and learn about Amazonian plants and their relationship with the people that inhabit this place.

Fresh breakfast with local fruit juice.

Visit to share with some members of one of the oldest indigenous groups in the Amazon, the Yahua tribe. You will get to know some of their songs and dances, practice your aim with the “cerbatana” (blow gun) and get the chance to contribute to their preservation by buying their hand-made handicrafts if you decide to do so.

Then we will take you by boat to try some artisanal piranha fishing on the Amazon river itself, the way locals do it. The guide will instruct you, help you and provide you with all the equipment needed. You can also choose to do an alternative activity.

Lunch at lodge with typical food.

Return by boat to Nanay port and private transfer to your accommodation or the airport.