Explore Rain Forest and Ruins from the Amazon to Machu Picchu

The Amazon Basin contains the largest rain forest on Earth, covering 2.7 million square miles—that’s twice the size of India, roughly the area of the Lower 48 states. It contains 10 percent of the world’s entire biodiversity. The Amazon River flows more than 4,000 miles through this massive biome and has 1,100 tributaries. This enormous rain forest has been called the “green lungs of the planet.”

As someone who cares about nature, you know how crucial the Amazon rain forest is to the health of our planet. But did you realize this threatened ecosystem covers 60% of Peru, which also holds the Amazon’s most pristine wildlife reserve? 

The Peruvian Amazon is home to nearly 4,000 unique species. Peru is also where the mighty river begins— and its remote headwaters are our destination on Nat Hab’s Great Amazon River Expedition. 

Our luxury riverboat is chartered exclusively for 28 Nat Hab guests. A full week of discovery is led by an interpretive team that’s second to none: with two Nat Hab Expedition Leaders and three on-board naturalist guides, you won’t find a richer or more personalized experience.

Excursions bring the rain forest’s magic alive. An intimate immersion in the rain forest awaits via skiff excursions on narrow creeks and walks ashore beneath the green canopy, looking for monkeys, sloths, parrots and more. In the larger tributaries, we may spy caiman and pink river dolphins.

Our ultimate destination is the 5-million-acre Pacaya Samiria Reserve, the largest protected wildlife sanctuary in Peru. Some sectors are permanently flooded, and we explore the “mirrored forest” among blackwater lagoons home to a stunning variety of birds, river otters and caiman.

Though wildlife is adept at hiding in the shadowy green profusion, animals abound. And new ones are constantly being revealed. Between 1999 and 2009, 1,200 species of plants and vertebrates were identified in the Amazon for the first time, according to WWF, including a coin-sized pink ringed frog!

Along the way, meet local people during stops at Indigenous villages and learn more about the conservation concerns that affect them.

Many of our Amazon travelers also want to visit the legendary Lost City of the Incas, and we’ve made it easy with a seamless trip to Discover Amazon and Machu Picchu. Spend five days in the Sacred Valley, with two in-depth guided visits to Machu Picchu, before cruising to the Amazon headwaters. 

Join us for an intimate rain forest journey—and add Machu Picchu, too, either on our combo single trip, or as a longer extension to our full Amazon River expedition.  

The Amazon is brimming with marvels—come discover them with us! We invite you to experience its wonders up close on our intimate river safari.