Cradled in lush vegetation and living humid air, binoculars ready for the next thrill, you float smoothly down the great jungle rivers, life source of the Peruvian Northern Amazon Basin and the pristine Pacaya-Samiria Reserve. Cruises offer naturalist guides, innovative Amazonian cuisine and even luxury, as you explore the seemingly endless maze of jungle waterways, including the Amazon River as well as the Ucayali, Marañon and Yanayacu-Pucate Rivers.

From the boat and during stops along the riverbanks, spot caimans, tropical songbirds, black collared hawks, sloths…and performance troops of monkeys! By day, go fishing for Amazonia’s notoriously ferocious piranhas. As the sun sets, set off for an evening’s wildlife excursion with extraordinary stargazing. Rise with the sun for early morning bird watching. On daytime jungle walks, get up close and personal with medicinal trees, insects, and poison dart frogs, and learn more about the different rainforest strata (layers). Swim, canoe or kayak in Yanayacu-Pucate River as you look for legendary pink river dolphins.

You can also visit local communities to get a taste for their way of life in the jungle. The reserve is home to an estimated 42,000 indigenous people within its distinct and dynamic ecological habitat, and park staff helps maintain a healthy natural balance, leading initiatives such as the integration of sustainable agriculture.

The gateway to the Peruvian Northern Amazon is the bustling city of Iquitos, a commercial port on the shores of the Amazon River, so immersed in the deep rainforest that it is only accessible by plane. Cruising through the Northern Amazon not only allows you to gain insight into the vast scope of this great jungle, it is an un-deniable and almost too-close-for-comfort immersion into nature at its most impressive and wildest.

The Southern Amazon region of Puerto Maldonado, with the Tambopata and Madre de Dios Rivers and adjacent National Reserves, remains to be one of the wildest areas of the world, yet with some surprising infrastructure for ecotourism, which allows travellers to have one of the most direct and personal experiences with the rich surrounding nature. The Southern Amazon area in Peru is offers comfort but above all, a genuine close contact with the rainforest, the freedom to explore and slow down, taking time for one to appreciate the beauty of life firsthand. From consciously connecting with an indigenous community and their living ancestral traditions, to indulging in yoga and gourmet nutrition at one of the region’s wellness centers, the Southern Amazon invites you to connect to something profound and powerful, as the external setting—the vastness and shear power of the jungle—moves you to the core.

From your lodge home among biologists and researchers, dine on fresh and exotic fruits and feel life at its fullest, creeping in around you and your definition of reality. Take day and night walks as well as boat rides to witness nature up close and personal, spotting daring monkeys, the gorgeous macaws feeding on clay licks in one of nature’s most celebrated spectacles, stealth caimans, and if you are fortunate and blessed by the spirits of the forest, the elusive and graceful jaguar. At night, in the comfort of your mosquito netting tucked tightly around your mattress, enjoy the symphony of the jungle after dark—there is nothing like it. Dare to let your imagination carry you away as you wonder what creature is making each unique noise, from the subtle to the wild.

The magic of the Amazon isn’t just in the bigger animals and the immense trees; there is so much richness of life in each square meter—the termites and spiders and butterflies—all part of a mind-blowing ecosystem. A far leap from the modern world, delight in the deep sense of peace and perspective offered by the lodges of this region, where YOU get to be slow and still while everything around you is moving and breathing, in a stunning symbiosis that reminds us of the power and magic of nature.