Read a review of a 5-day Amazon River cruise on the luxurious Delfin III.
US couple Michelle Leighton & Rodger Dillon, now based in Switzerland.
Travelled in January, 2020 during high-water season in Amazonia.
“We very much enjoyed the Delfin cruise, the sites, the excursions, and the people we met.
We cannot say what we liked most as our trip involved the plans we made for Machu Picchu which worked out well.
Our trip to the Amazon had a few blips as our morning flight from Cuzco was delayed and we missed the boat connection.
However, I had already earlier been in touch with the Lima office of Delfin III and had their number to call.
The boat managers could not have been nicer about the delay and rather than keep everyone else on the trip waiting at Iquitos airport, they left a driver for us and took the rest there. Our flight was delayed only by about an hour.
The boat folks at the airport could not have been more welcoming with packed drinks and lunch for the drive, hospitality.
And from then on the boat trip was just the same - very knowledgeable guides, itineraries you could opt in or out of (we chose nearly all) and lovely food.
Standard double cabin on Delfin III.
I still think if you don’t need so much gourmet food, the Delfin II is a great option. It also seems a little more rustic.
But we must say while we thought the Delfin III would be a little too high end luxury, it was really quite a wonderful boat and we loved our floor to ceiling windows.
They definitely got us onto the Amazon confluence which was on my bucket list and popped the champagne!
We saw mostly birds and some monkeys, and then on one walk poison dart frog, tarantula and a python.
The best was simply exploring by boat the tributaries of the vast Amazon river. If people expect more terrestrial animals, I would say this is the wrong trip, however.
Visit to Amazon riverside craft market.
We did see one village, but it seemed rather mostly geared to the boats that drop off passengers.
Still, we enjoyed that too and bought homemade woven gifts.
We loved this trip because it was exciting and relaxing at the same time, great views from all over the boat of vastness of the Amazon, and to be sure it was an unforgettable adventure.
Things others should know:
The excursions often require you to rise at 6:30am most days so you could have breakfast, coffee and go out in skiffs. We are late risers, but actually most days did not mind. As we said, this was an adventure and as many on the boat, we did not want to miss a thing.
We encountered almost no insects when we were on the boat; which was so nice! Still we had much repellant just in case and out on the skiffs this was necessary.
One skiff ride was with pouring down rain for an hour, but they gave us ponchos. It was the season and this is to be expected, but it was a different kind of interesting
Guided Amazon jungle hike in bright sunlight.
So, hope this helps Miles, and thanks again for your help.”