Pacaya-Samiria National Reserve

Pacaya-Samiria fills the low ground between the Marañón and Ucayali rivers, a basin so flat that when the water rises it floods almost the entire reserve and the forest floor disappears for months at a time. It is one of the largest protected areas in Peru. There are no roads: travel is by river boat and then by paddled canoe up blackwater channels into oxbow lakes. Wildlife is the reason people come, with pink and grey river dolphins, black caiman, giant otters in some lakes, several monkey species, hoatzin, macaws and the giant Victoria water lily. Communities living inside the reserve manage parts of it and provide most of the guides.

What you actually see

• Blackwater channels - narrow paddled routes into the flooded forest away from the main rivers.
• River dolphins - pink and grey dolphins where the channels meet the larger rivers.
• Oxbow lakes - cut-off river bends holding caiman, otters and fish, best at dawn.
• Victoria water lilies - the huge floating pads in sheltered backwaters.

When to go

High water from December to May lets canoes travel among the tree crowns and reach places otherwise unreachable. Low water from June to November exposes beaches, concentrates wildlife on the banks and makes fishing easier. Neither is better, but they are different trips. Anything shorter than four days barely gets you past the edge of the reserve.

Honest expectations

Reaching the good parts takes days of boat travel, and short trips barely enter the reserve at all. Conditions are basic: hammocks or simple camps, no power, constant humidity, and insects that no repellent entirely defeats. Wildlife is not guaranteed and river dolphins surface only briefly. Costs rise steeply with distance. Yellow fever vaccination should be arranged in advance.

Nearby

Nauta and Iquitos are the gateways, and the Amazon proper begins where the two rivers meet.