Travel and Adventure by Various Travel Authors

By Steve Bergsman

The first time I sailed through the great Amazon watershed, it was on a small boat of uncertain vintage with all the comforts of a garbage scow. The craft slept six guests in tight quarters and putt-putted strenuously out of Manaus, Brazil, for a couple of days up the Rio Negro. It was a hot, sweaty journey with no relief from the tropical climate and buggy air.

That was more than 30 years ago. This time I began my journey in Nauta, Peru, on the Rio Maranon and then the Rio Ucayali, a river of lost canoes. When the two rivers unite farther to the east, the new waterway carries the name Amazon. And this time my journey was aboard a brand-new boat, the Aria, which boasted all the comforts of a first-class resort.

The Aria stood three decks high, boasted 16 guestrooms, a lounge and four-star cuisine that would have pleased Anthony Bourdain. Inside the Aria, my room had floor-to-ceiling windows, a king-size bed and the constant hum of air conditioning.

However, some things on Amazon journeys really don't change. Just like last time I went on early morning hikes in the jungle and chased wildlife in a motorized skiff. For an especially rare treat, I got to go piranha fishing.

My luck hadn't changed from 30 years ago. Despite attaching meat or chicken to my hook time after time, I couldn't catch a piranha then, and this time around, with everyone on my boat jerking up one silvery carnivore after another, I found myself piranha-less once again. The fishing gods of the Amazon ignored me once more.

Thirty years ago we fished for our dinner, barbecuing the piranha catch for our meal (tasty, but bony). This time, after the "winners" had their pictures taken with the sharp-toothed little devils we tossed them back into the water to live and gnaw again.

Piranha never seemed to be on the exquisite menu designed by Pedro Miguel Schiaffino, the Aria's award-winning chef from Lima, but there was plenty else to satisfy our appetites, staring with an appetizer taster of pickled watermelon and fresh hearts of palm, bananas in wild honey with micro shrimp and salted paiche (fish) brandade. One of the main courses was paiche in sachaculantro and cecina broth or stewed hen in panca chili-pepper and yogurt. Desert one night was guayabas in white wine with cream cheese and local mint, all washed down with Pinor Noir Reserva from Patagonia or Viognier from Mendoza, both Argentine wines.

The second night on the river we boarded our skiffs and made for the shoreline at a long turn in the river so we could view over the far shore to the sun setting dramatically in the west. At the right moment, when the red medallion of sun disappeared behind the tall trees, out came the stemmed glasses and champagne (not from Argentina) so we could toast our difficult travails on the river.

Thirty years ago, when we visited a village of thatched huts and weather-beaten planks, we had to trudge in from the river's edge over a wet, slippery trail. This time around, the village of thatched huts and weather-beaten planks had laid a concrete sidewalk for the one-third-mile walk from the riverbank.

Traditionally visitors to the Amazon go caiman (alligator) hunting in the middle of the night. On my first time through, we left our boat to drop down into long dugout canoes. Night in the rainforest, black as the darkest ebony, was made even more eerie by a steady drizzle.

Softly paddling, we made our way through piranha-infested waters to the shallows, where our guide reached into the mud and pulled up a baby caiman about a foot long. While triumphantly holding it up in the incandescence of our flashlights, the caiman squirmed and our hero dropped it onto the floor of the dugout. People jumped up squealing - not a good thing in a dugout. Fortunately, the guide quickly recaptured the caiman and no one fell into the water.

This time around, we left our boat, dropped into a motorized skiff and set off into the gloaming. When night descended after another magnificent sunset, off we went in search of caimans. We gradually worked our way into some shallows, and our guide reached into the mud and pulled up a baby caiman about a foot long. Not only didn't he drop it, but he offered it up to the rest of us to hold.

The Aria is a big boat for the Peruvian Amazon, so since visitors want to see as much of the flora and fauna of the rainforest as possible, it's necessary to use the smaller skiffs that can go deep into tributaries such as the Pacaya River or skirt closely to the shorelines of the main channels, which often stretch 200 yards across.

The river safaris are run early in the morning and late in the afternoon when the animals are likely to be more active. The Aria plied waters of the Pacaya Samiria National Reserve, home to more than 269 species of fauna along the Amazon river basin. Except for the birds, however, they are hard to spot. During my first visit I was disappointed to see so few of the native animals.

The Pacaya Samiria region, about the size of Belgium, hasn't been over-hunted, so this time I ended up seeing a lot more animals and fowl. Two species of dolphin followed alongside us on the rivers, including the very rare pink river dolphin. We didn't see any anacondas, which inhabit the area in great numbers, but our guides found us a number of snakes, the most interesting of which was an extremely poisonous, thin, green colubrid, similar to a fer-de-lance, which did end up being dropped on the floor of our boat — more excitement.

Three species of monkeys — common squirrel, mustached tamarin and brown capuchin — entertained us every day, and much to my delight we spotted two of my favorite rainforest animals, the three-toed sloth and the capybara, which looks like a giant rat.

I could also go on about the 2,070 species of fish found in Peru, most of which are in the Amazon basin, but we didn't need to search for them. They were served up on our boat for lunch and dinner.

WHEN YOU GO

Getting there: I flew LAN Airlines from Los Angeles to Lima and then on to Iquitos. A shuttle takes you from Iquitos to the port city Nauta, where you board the Aria: www.lan.com.

How to explore: The new Aria passenger boat is run by Aqua Expeditions: www.aquaexpeditions.com.

Where to stay: Depending on your air travel from the Unites States, it is sometimes necessary to overnight in Lima, which was what happened to me. I stayed at the very pleasant, centrally located Sonesta Hotel El Olivar in Lima: www.sonesta.com/lima.

Steve Bergsman is a freelance travel writer. To read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

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