The Amazon Voyage is a chance of a lifetime
By Judy Newell

Blue and gold macaw National Geographic Adventure magazine named the Amazon Voyage as one of the “25 Greatest Adventures in the World.”

If you love up-close and personal experiences with nature, join the SPA of San Miguel on a unique 10-day expedition deep into the most pristine reaches of the Peruvian Amazon. It’s a remarkable journey into the greatest, most biologically diverse wilderness on earth.

The Amazon Voyage takes place on La Amatista, a 28-passenger classically styled riverboat, from March 28 to April 4, 2010. You can extend your journey with a post-voyage trip to incredible Cusco and Machu Picchu April 3-9. The deadline for reservations is December 15.

After an overnight in Lima, fly over the Andes to Iquitos, the world’s furthest inland seaport, to begin your voyage. The riverboat travels upstream along the Amazon’s tributaries, navigating 450 miles into the remote Pacaya-Samiria Reserve—the largest protected wetland reserve in the world.

Although the count is far from complete, Pacaya-Samiria is the known home to 450 species of birds, 102 species of mammals, over 130 species of reptiles and amphibians and countless plants.

Three-toed sloth

The Amazon Basin is a labyrinth of forests, wildlife and people. You’ll visit remote villages, where you can donate school supplies to the children and see the daily life of the Ribereños, take sturdy excursion boats on daily excursions, and walk jungle trails to explore the thick rainforest that has lured adventurers and scientists for decades.

Sightings include jabiru storks, giant water lilies, three-toed sloths, the endangered scarlet macaw, monkeys, marmosets and tamarins, black caimans, butterflies, toucans, capybara, the endangered giant otter and enough bird life to engross the most avid birder, including the rare harpy eagle. Cavorting near the boat, the pink river dolphins are among the most endangered species of all the world’s cetaceans.

If at least 12 guests take the trip, the SPA will receive a contribution of up US$400 per person, in your name, for the care of homeless and injured animals in San Miguel. If a minimum number opt for the Machu Picchu extension, the SPA will also benefit. Rates for the Amazon Voyage are from $3,298 per person, plus airfare.

You can make the most of your travel to South America by combining your Amazon cruise with the Machu Picchu extension. The grandest of all the Inca sites, Machu Picchu perches atop an Andean mountain, its 200 stone masonry structures hidden until it was rediscovered in 1911 by Hiram Bingham. A great deal more is seen in Cusco, the heart of the Inca Empire and the oldest continuously inhabited city in the Western Hemisphere.

In the Sacred Valley of the Incas, you can shop for the best of Andean handicrafts in an Urubamba Valley market and discover the mighty archaeological wonders of Ollantaytambo and Sacsayhuamán. The five-day trip is $2,298 per person, plus airfare.

Local travel expert Judy Newell of Perfect Journeys is planning these special programs benefiting the SPA for all adventure lovers. She organized the private journey that took 14 sanmiguelenses to Argentina and Antarctica in December 2007 and she recommends this as a perfect journey for eco-travelers and photographers.

Both tours are operated by International Expeditions, a highly respected company that in 2008 was voted the “Best Adventure Travel Company on Earth” by the editors of National Geographic Adventure magazine and listed as one of the “World’s Best” tour operators and safari outfitters by Travel + Leisure magazine for the past five years. It’s guaranteed to be a superb trip with excellent naturalist guides.

Full details, itineraries and prices are posted on the SPA website www.spasanmiguel.org  or you can request a brochure by emailing judynewell@perfectjourneys.net  or calling (415) 111-8765. Talks on the trip will take place at St. Paul’s Church community center at 5pm on Monday, November 9 and Monday, December 7.