River cruise is the best way to see the Amazon

Pink-toed tarantulas can project their faeces as protection when threatened. Piranhas are prettier than you expect, but every bit as bitey. The paiche is one of the world’s biggest freshwater fish, can breathe air, and was a contemporary of T.rex. Potato can be eaten, and enjoyed, as dessert.

I learned many things on my cruise along the world’s biggest river, but really the main takeaway was that an expedition with Delfin Amazon River Cruises is the best way to do it.

Five days with them exploring the headwaters of the Amazon in Peru was a truly memorable experience, and not just because of the contrast between the stylish onboard luxury and the rampant jungle all around.

Built for comfort, not speed, the 22-suite Delfin III is a wide, blunt riverboat, spacious in both private and public areas. Simply but elegantly decorated, the varnished wood interior blends seamlessly with the abundant nature outside the floor-to-ceiling windows, while the open-sided upper deck is the perfect place from which to watch it all glide past.

Flying to Iquitos, we were driven to Nauta to begin the cruise into Pacaya Samiria National Reserve, South America’s largest. The Ucayali River is small in comparison with the Amazon proper, which officially begins downstream at the confluence with the Marañón; but it’s still wide, deep and swiftly-flowing, even in the dry season when the level is as much as 15 metres below the high-water mark on the trunks of the flooded forest trees along the banks.

Though we were soon far from civilisation, there was no roughing it, especially in the dining room. Each meal was a visual delight, the presentation fully matched by the flavours. Delicious local fish, vegetables and fruit were brought to the table by white-gloved waiters Pablo and Pierre, hotel manager Christina following to explain what we were eating. Absolutely no-one goes hungry on this cruise.

Nor do the local people, whose villages we visited. Dotted along the river, and clustered at every tributary junction, they sat in their wooden dug-outs hauling in nets flapping with a variety of fish destined for both kitchen and market.

Around them the muddy waters briefly swirled as both pink and grey dolphins came up to breathe. Oddly-shaped and quite different from their marine cousins, the pink dolphins are quick and hard to spot; but we had plenty of opportunity to score sightings. Every day brought two excursions in kayaks or slim skiffs, or ashore, timed to catch the greatest activity amongst the wildlife.

The richly silted banks were the place to see vultures, patiently waiting for discarded fish to decompose, holding their wings up to dry like cormorants. There were actual cormorants too, the rabbits of the river, flying ahead of the skiff, not thinking to turn aside.

Colourful rufous-collared kingfishers swooped across in front, scooping fish from the water. Graceful egrets and disdainful hawks sat in trees, watching us watching them. A huge jabiru struggled to swallow a large fish; a flock of ungainly hoatzins, like startled chickens, flapped clumsily in a bush. Above, pairs of blue and yellow macaws and flocks of green parakeets crossed the sky.

It wasn’t all birds: troupes of spider monkeys swung noisily through the trees, a three-toed sloth in comical slo-mo moved from branch to branch at the top of a tree, and a line of cunningly camouflaged little bats clung to a tree trunk, waiting for dark.

The real stars of these expeditions were the naturalists and the drivers. Full of information, their greatest skill was in spotting the wildlife as we skimmed along. Suddenly the skiff would slow and swirl in to the bank, and Chino or Denis would patiently describe where to look, so that we could find the potoo brilliantly disguised as a tree trunk, or the hunched shape of a red howler monkey.

They had their party tricks, too: spotting in his torchlight the red eyes of a small caiman, a type of crocodile, on the way back from an evening excursion, Luis lay on the bow and scooped it out of the water for a photo opportunity. Stroking its smooth, soft skin was a special moment for all of us.

So too was our piranha encounter. In a shallow side-stream, we baited our cane rods with scraps of beef tenderloin and dropped the hooks into the water. In seconds, they were bare again, but when we got the knack of jerking at just the right moment, we pulled in striking red piranhas for closer – and careful – inspection. Tiny but immensely sharp, their white teeth were formidable: one fish fell from the hook into someone’s bag and was fetched out with a scrap of torn nylon lining clenched in its mouth.

It was just one of a wide variety of memorable moments: feeding water lettuce to gentle, whiskery manatees; seeing the captain suddenly find his mojo during the impressively talented crew concert; sipping a pisco sour as an immense red sun sank into the silhouetted jungle.

Probably the best day for most of us was the side-excursion on the Pacaya River. Here both the air and water were teeming with wildlife, but this time there was the added novelty of breakfast on the skiffs moored beneath a huge fig tree.

On woven platters and colourful plates, the fruit kebabs, juice, sandwiches, coffee and pastries were served with typical style. “This isn’t the best breakfast you’ve had on Delfin,” Chino announced, “but it’s the one you’ll remember forever.”

He was right. To sit on the water in the warm shade, bird calls echoing through the jungle as we ate and drank was unique and unforgettable. And then it got even better. Further along the river, we entered a lake, the water no longer muddy, but tea-brown with tannin from the vegetation.

Colourful foam noodles were produced, and in we jumped, relishing the chance to get wet, confident of our safety, and already looking forward to boasting back home about swimming in the Amazon.

For easy travel, Viva Expeditions offer 4- and 5-day itineraries on the Delfin III departing from Iquitos in Peru, from NZ$4838 per person. These cruises can be easily added to Viva’s 9-day Signature Peru itinerary, making an incredible two-week trip.

Delfin cruises are great any time of year. High and low water seasons offer different experiences, but if you want to combine with exploring more of Peru (Machu Picchu or the Signature Peru tour) the best time to go is May to October (dry season). See: ;