Day 2
LIMA
Lima is quite the cosmopolitan city and one of Latin America’s most interesting. It’s on the Pacific Coast but in a desert. Today we visit premier parks, gardens and private residence to learn how a major Latin American city in the desert manages to keep everything beautiful and green. Not an easy task. We also visit the old colonial city including the Indian Market. (Note, we could consider dropping this day from the program so it would be a shorter trip or drop the day in Lima and adding another day in the Amazon to keep the length of the trip the same.) B,L,D

Day 3
LIMA / IQUITOS / AMAZON RIVER
Our early morning flight takes us to Iquitos, a lively frontier city on the banks of the Amazon River. This isolated city, 2,300 miles from the Atlantic Ocean, is the most inland port navigable by ocean-going ships on the Amazon River. On arrival, we meet our hosts as well as our guides who remain with us for the next week. We drive through the busy streets of Iquitos to board our boat and soon we get our first view of the mighty Amazon, the backbone of the largest river system in the world. Our journey follows the meandering course of this jungle-lined “river sea,” which even this far from its mouth is over two miles wide. Soon we arrive at Explorama our lodge accommodation nestled in the lush rainforest. This is a well established jungle lodge with thatch roof rooms and lit by oil lamps. There is time to settle into our rooms and enjoy the lodge’s amenities before the jungle drums call us to dinner. Tonight we venture into the forest to look for nocturnal wildlife. B,L,D

Day 4
AMAZON RIVER
This morning we awake to the exotic sounds of the dawn wildlife chorus and join our guides and instructor on a bird walk. This morning we hike some of the extensive Bushmaster Trail. After lunch and a short rest in the hammock house, we cross the stream to visit the lodge’s neighbors in the Yagua village. Then we visit a nearby clinic run by a North American doctor who came to visit and found her calling working with the people from the villages and settlements of this remote region. We visit a facility run by another gringa – a library and women’s center where the women learn sewing and other family oriented activities as well as reading and skills they can use to become more financially independent. This evening we meet with Dr. Linnea Smith, who runs a nearby medical clinic. B,L,D

Day 5
AMAZON RIVER
Today we learn more about the local people, both Ribereño and Yagua. We travel again on the Amazon by boat for a Ribereño village visit. We pass Yanamono Island where we observe river dolphins. Piranhas are abundant in these waters, but we soon dispel the myth of these fish as the “Jaws” of the Amazon as their diet is composed mainly of fruit. The downstream end of the island is usually an excellent place to observe freshwater dolphins as they cavort in the shallows. Two species occur in the Amazon—the gray dolphin (Sotalia fluviatilis) travels in small family groups or pods and is likely to be seen leaping out of the water. The pink river dolphin (Inia geoffrensis) is larger with a pronounced bulge (melon) on its head and instead of a dorsal fin it has a dorsal hump. The pink dolphin is a more solitary animal and is not as acrobatic as the gray dolphin. Also of major ecological importance to this area is the dynamic change of water level, depending on the season. The water level of the river varies as much as 40 feet between high water and low water. This is a result of snow melt from the Andes as well as rainfall on the Guyana shield, well to the north of Iquitos. There is no distinct rainy season in the Amazon Basin itself. When we reach one of the nearby villages we are met on the river bank by the kids who attend the school. Here we meet the teachers and have an exchange with the teachers and students and learn more about how the school is supplied and the kids are taught. B,L,D

Day 6
NAPO CAMP / RESEARCH FACILITY
This morning we may join the pre-breakfast birding hike or boat ride. Later we board our boats for a voyage to the Napo River, the largest of the Peruvian tributaries. This route takes us to the village of Francisco de Orellana, named for the man who, in 1541, crossed the Andes and sailed down the Napo, becoming the first European to see the Amazon River. He followed the great river all the way to the Atlantic, an often hair-raising experience. Our boat excursion provides more opportunities to observe local life along the great river and watch for interesting animals and birds—a kingfisher perched patiently on a partially submerged tree, dolphins arching through the churning waters, or perhaps a lone sloth hanging from a high branch. We travel up the Napo and soon reach the Sucusari River, a serpentine darkwater tributary, and the location of the Napo Lodge. This rustic lodge is nestled in remote rainforest on the boundary of the Amazon Rainforest Reserve, a preserved area of 250,000 acres of uninhabited primary rainforest. The camp is built in a style similar to that of Explorama Lodge. After lunch, we set out on a 45-minute hike to the ACTS research facility, which serves as a base for scientific study and a place where interested visitors may learn about rainforests. We make our way along the rainforest trail that passes through primary forest and rolling terrain. Away from the main river, this forest is never flooded and contains wildlife not found close to the riverbanks. The rare black-necked red cotinga, giant jacamar, and Cuvier’s toucan are sometimes seen here. The understory swarms with butterflies typical of undisturbed forest, such as satyrs and morphos. Colorful poison-dart frogs hide in the leaf-litter of the forest floor, and the air vibrates with the sound of the jungle’s teeming wildlife. Suddenly, the dense trees give way to a boardwalk that leads to the research facility, which lies along the Quebrada Grande and the boundary of the Amazon Biosphere Reserve. We visit the Canopy Walkway—an unforgettable experience and certainly one of the high points of our workshop. A short walk through the giant trees brings us to the initial stage of our climb. Wooden steps take us from the forest floor to the beginning of the multilevel system of aerial pathways and platforms that are securely suspended by ropes and cables. As we ascend the walkway to a height of over ten stories, we eventually emerge above the top of the seemingly endless canopy and experience a sight few have ever witnessed. Here is an unexplored world where over 2,000 epiphytic plants may cling to the branches of a single tree. In the forest canopy it is estimated that 20 million insect species may exist, 80 percent as yet unknown to science!

This evening. we investigate a site where, as darkness falls, we see bioluminescent fungi which give off unusual light that can only be seen once our flashlights are switched off. B,L,D

Day 7
CANOPY WALKWAY / NAPO
We enjoy the chorus emanating from the vicinity of the Canopy Walkway early in the morning, often the busiest part of the day for wildlife. We return to Napo from the Canopy Walkway and spend the morning visiting the ReNuPeRu Ethnobotanical Garden. We meet the shaman and his family who tend the garden and have a chance to help in their work while learning of the plants and their uses in the Indians’ pharmacopoeia. They will also share their insights on the forest and its conservation. This afternoon we explore one of the most unusual habitats in the Amazon Basin, a blackwater lake. Lakes of this type, known as oxbows, are formed when a section of river becomes separated from the main stream; the water becomes black due to the leaching of tannins from rotting vegetation. Here the still, mirror-like waters are often crowned with giant Victoria regia water lilies, the leaves of which can exceed seven feet in diameter and support the weight of a toddler. The sharp hook-like spines on the undersides of the leaves deter herbivores. We search the vegetation surrounding the lake for primitive-looking birds called hoatzins that build their nests there. Hoatzins build their nests on limbs overhanging the water and the young will drop from their nest into the water whenever a predator appears. The young hoatzins swim quite well and they also have a unique adaptation, a claw on each of their wings that helps them climb back up to the nest once the predator has departed the area. On the way back from the lake we stop at the Orejone Village – a chance to see a community that has little contact with the outside world. We will compare this village with others who have taken a more opportunistic approach and are doing quite well from tourism – Yagua village- and others on the river that are somewhat in between. There are various levels of agriculture practiced and some even have ethnobotanical gardens of their own. Bananas and manioc are staples as well as fish. There should be time to fish for piranhas before heading back to camp where the cooks will grill our catch for dinner! Tonight we motor in our canoe a few miles up the Sucusari and drift silently back downriver searching the jungle-lined banks by flashlight for the red eyes of caiman and other nocturnal animals. B,L,D

Day 8
NAPO / CEIBA TOPS LODGE
We board our excursion boats and travel further upriver on the Napo to a point where we disembark and travel across an isthmus of land to reach Ceiba Tops Lodge back on the Amazon. It’s a beautiful place located in a small section of primary rainforest. The lodge is especially nice place to end our Educational Adventure because the cottages are air conditioned with private facilities and there is even a swimming pool. We arrive at Ceiba Tops Lodge with time to relax and enjoy the swimming pool and this evening after dinner we recap our week, drawing some conclusions from our observations and discuss our impressions of the rainforest. B,L,D

Day 9
CEIBA TOPS LODGE / IQUITOS / LIMA
We have time this morning prepare for our trip home, take another walk through the forest or just relax prior to our trip home. This afternoon we return to Iquitos and fly back across the Andes to Lima, where we have dinner and later transfer to the airport for our overnight flight back to the U.S. B,L,D

Day 9
LIMA / USA
This morning we arrive in the U.S., clear customs and join our return flights home. Meals Aloft

B-Breakfast; L-Lunch; D-Dinner