Amazon Tours & River Cruises in Peru

Wonderful trip to the Amazon rainforest! We were on the Amatista riverboat with an amazing crew and fun excursions.

I had a wonderful time. So many great experiences, swimming in the Amazon, ziplining in the jungle, nature hikes, animal sanctuaries. The hotel grounds are wonderful. And the food is delicious. Staff is super attentive and friendly. Great place if you just want to chill but also lots of optional activities.

Extremely enjoyable. I don't quite know how to rate this: as an experience, it was absolutely out of this world magical. Being able to swim in the Amazon and simply be in the Amazon jungle was incredible. However as a tour I can't give it five stars as I felt the information was a bit lacking. One thing I need to flag is that the tour information states that all soft drinks are included, and even explicitly says you don't need to bring any cash unless you want a small amount to purchase local trinkets. This is NOT correct - all soft drinks including water is charged separately, and can only be bought with cash. All the meals are served completely dry (dry meaning no drinks at all, not non-alcoholic); if you want water, juice, coffee, you have to pay cash. I didn't bring that much cash with me so I had to ration how much water I drank (which in the jungle has pretty serious health consequences!) which was pretty scary, feeling I didn't have access to enough drinking water. I am not judging the resort at all for charging for water, I just think the trip guidelines should have explicitly spelled out that you can't drink water unless you pay cash, so bring lots of cash to pay for it. (I recommend bringing $5 per day) because right now the trip notes say the exact opposite, and it's dangerous. I would also mention that the activities are very short and you will spend 90% of the time chilling out at the lodge (which is fine since honestly it's so hot you don't want to do much), but for example if the schedule says "an encounter with monkeys" that means you'll be taken by boat to a place with half a dozen rescue monkeys, spend 20 minutes taking photos, then be back at the lodge by 11am and spend the rest of the day reading or splashing in the padding pool. The animal encounters are mostly in zoos or similar. You probably won't see any wild animals except birds insects (oh and one time I saw a tree frog). So don't come expecting to see loads of wild animals and be disappointed. I enjoyed visiting some of the animals but I do have to say I was extremely disappointed that the trip included a visit to a place where they put a sloth on you for a photo. There's a huge amount of evidence that sloths find being handled extremely distressing and that sloths who are handled regularly die after a couple of years, or even after a few months. I was upset to see the sloth being yanked off its tree and thrown between tourists like it was a toy, knowing how abusive this was and that it would certainly kill the sloth. They tell you the sloths are "rescues" but this is unlikely, and a genuine animal rescue place would never let tourists handle sloths. The sloth incident and the water stuff were dark spots, and it's a shame since Avatar Lodge is a gorgeous place and the staff are incredible. I cannot say enough good things about all the staff, and especially about the wonderful tour guide an also the boat driver. The facilities are very good and the rooms are beautiful (though please note the toilet is only a few feet from the bed, and isn't separate - there's a short piece of plasterboard around it for privacy, but if you are unwell it does get very smelly, especially since the bins for toilet paper don't have a lid on them). The pool is quite small and not for swimming but fun to chill out in on a hot day. The food is extremely good, with huge portions! I don't eat meat or fish, and apart from the breakfasts (cheese and eggs on toast) all the food was vegan, with gorgeous salads, vegetable or lentil soups, and meals in the evening with many kinds of vegetables in. Meals are all served with the most delicious super fresh fruit.