Amazon Expedition Cruises

The Riverboats

The riverboat also allows you to be in the rainforest but not so close to the forest, and to enjoy the comfort of "hotel" facilities while travelling on the water.

• The comfort of the riverboat allows you to have hot water, private facilities, air-conditioning and enjoy the views and the fresh air of the top sun deck.
• Bar on the top deck, restaurant with panoramic windows and spacious lounge area, are a wonderful feature of most amazon river boats.
• The air-conditioning, space and fresh air on the river keep the boats, generally, insect free.
• The mobility of the boat on the river reach areas of pristine rainforest, moving between locations, close to people or away from people.

The Excursions

Moving along the river you make stops for excursions with your expert guides, and small canoes taking you from the boat to the shore.

• You will visit remote local communities to see how life develops in isolated communities and homesteads along the riberbanks.
• You walk through the virgin rainforest admiring the complex, interdependent eco-system; the symbiosis of plants, animals and insects.
• Vegetation thrives on water and heat developing into the exuberance of plants and trees you will witness on your visit to the vast Amazon basin
• The expert guides explain the complex ecosystem, the variety of trees and the inter-dependence of flora and fauna.

The Guides

The guides are with you on the boat and accompany you the excursions. There are essentially two types of guides : those who come from the cities where they studied the rainforest ecosystem, and so can convey a more "academic" understanding; and those who were born and lived in the forest, and so convey a more practical knowledge of how people use the trees, fruits and plants for life in the rainforest.

Seasonal Variations

There are highlights throughout the year :

• The highest water level in June, is 7 to 10 meters, higher than the lowest water level in January. 
• This means that the water floods through the trees so that on the excursions, the canoes move through a maze of tree trunks, lianas and undergrowth, and a sign of pristine virgin forest is to see the branches of the tree coming right down to the water, hiding the inside of the forest.
• At lower water level in January, there is much more land exposed for a higher probability to see caymans and wildlife along the riverbanks.

Flora & Fauna

A visit to the Amazon rainforest is an experience in walks in dense forest with an exuberant vegetation. Walking under the dense tree canopy is a unique experience.

The dense vegetation reduces the visibility so that it is hard to see the wildlife:

• Caymans hide in the water, howler and squirrel monkeys live in the tree canopy and the leaves, branches backlit against the sky, make them very difficult to see.
• However, you do hear their sounds and one of the highlights is to hear the very loud cry of the howler monkeys echo through the forest.