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CAU > Seminars and Study Tours > The Upper Amazon: A Riverboat and Rain-Forest Lodge Expedition

The Upper Amazon: A Riverboat and Rain-Forest Lodge Expedition

February 24-March 11, 2007

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Overview

"An overwhelming, impenetrable wall of green laced with murky and mysterious labyrinths of waterways"—this is a fair description of what will meet our urban senses when we arrive in the world's largest rain-forest region, the watershed of the Peruvian Amazon.

Faculty

Led by CAU's stalwart biologist John (J. B. to us) Heiser, former director of Cornell's Shoals Marine Laboratory and leader of innumerable CAU adventures, we'll explore the unique world of the Amazon forests and basin. On land we'll enjoy accommodations at rustic jungle lodges. On the river, we'll be well cared for aboard La Amatista, our privately chartered, well-equipped jungle-cruise vessel that accommodates twenty-eight passengers in comfortable, air-conditioned cabins with private bathrooms. Our forays and experiences promise to be memorable. We'll learn about and observe creatures that see in the ultraviolet, hear in ultrasound, and feel via electrical discharge. We'll encounter outrageously beautiful birds, giant blue morpho butterflies, hordes of multicolored fishes, pink dolphins, and an explosion of monkeys, in exquisite settings that defy ordinary adjectives. And everywhere we go, J. B. will be there to help us examine and understand what we see.

Itinerary

We'll meet in Lima, Peru, where we'll visit the nearby Pantanos de Villa wetlands, with its gorgeous array of 155 bird species. Then we'll fly across the Andes to Iquitos, a lively frontier city 2,300 miles from the Atlantic Ocean and the last port accessible to ocean-going vessels on the Amazon. From here, we'll head deep into the Amazon rain forest for six days exploring what many botanists regard as the richest place on earth. We'll float by or hike through virgin forest and follow trails where more than three hundred different species of trees have been identified in a single two-acre plot. This is a place where scientists have discovered more than twenty-five thousand species of plants, almost one-third of the world's species of birds, more than two thousand species of fish, and the richest butterfly fauna in the world (some four thousand species). J. B. and our knowledgeable local guides will help us spot wildlife at virtually every turn, from poison-dart frogs and leaf-cutter ants to scarlet macaws and satyr butterflies.

Our accommodations for the first four days will be the ExplorNapo Lodge. We'll also spend one overnight deeper in the forest at the Amazon Conservatory for Tropical Studies to visit the rain-forest canopy walkway at different times of the day.

The rain-forest canopy walkway is the longest of its type in the world. Wooden steps will take us up from the forest floor to a multilevel system of aerial pathways and platforms that are securely suspended by ropes and cables. As we ascend the walkway to a height of more than ten stories, we will eventually reach the top of the seemingly endless canopy. Some of the trees we'll pass can hold up to two thousand epiphytic plants in their branches and harbor an estimated twenty million insect species. After four nights in palm-thatched lodges (where the showers and latrines are in separate structures), we'll transfer for two nights to the new and quite luxurious Ceiba Tops Lodge with air-conditioning, private bathrooms, and electricity!

Making our way back to Iquitos, we'll board La Amatista and cast off to cruise upriver along the Amazon to the confluence of the Ucayali and Maranon rivers, which lead into smaller and smaller channels, becoming ever wilder and more remote. For the next six days on board our river boat (and small excursion boats), we'll encounter great populations of river dolphins, the grey tucuxi and the pink boutu, and we'll use hydrophones to attempt to listen in on and try to understand their echolocations. We'll visit a small village and glide across a blackwater lake cloaked with giant Victoria regia, water lilies whose leaves can exceed seven feet in diameter. We'll spend time in the Pacaya—Samiria National Reserve, one of the largest wild wetlands on Earth. We'll explore incredibly varied habitats that support more than 340 species of birds, manatees, black caiman, capybara (the world's largest rodent), sloths, and ten species of primates, including the squirrel monkey and the monk saki, a unique primate that frequents the seasonally flooded forests. From Pacaya—Samiria, we'll return to the Ucayali, sail downriver and take a special detour to a greenwater lake filled with piranhas and other exotic fishes, a few of which we'll try to capture and attempt to listen to via interception of their electrical discharges.

Back in Iquitos we'll disembark La Amatista, fly back to Lima for our closing dinner, and head to the airport for the evening flight home.

Program Cost and Travel Arrangements

The program fee of $5,780 (per-person, double-occupancy) includes all accommodations, all meals (except one lunch), internal air, land, and water transportation in Peru, all site visits, gratuities, taxes, emergency medical-evacuation insurance, escort services, and the full educational program. Single accommodations are extremely limited and may be available only at certain lodges, but we would be glad to match you up with a roommate. International air between Miami or Houston and Lima is available at the current price of $650, but you are free to make your own air arrangements if you prefer.

Physical Requirements

This is a moderately strenuous trip; you must be in good health, able to walk distances over uneven, often wet ground, and be tolerant of heat, humidity, and modest accommodations. This isn't an expedition for inexperienced travelers, but, for those excited by these remarkable destinations, its rewards will be amazing. We'd love to have you join us.