This Cruise Visits the Remotest Corners of the Amazon Rainforest-How to Plan a Trip

"I saw them from the plane as I was flying down from Quito, Ecuador's high-altitude capital, into Amazonia, that vast region of rainforest, spread across nine countries, that is drained by the Amazon River and its tributaries. The glaciers of Cayambe, Antisana, and Cotopaxi are the sources of one of those tributaries-the Río Napo. From the sky their Andean summits floated by at eye level above the cloud cover."

"I was heading downriver for a week on the a luxurious riverboat that takes travelers to some of Ecuadoran Amazonia's most remote stretches, along the border with Peru. On my first afternoon aboard, I found my favorite perch-the wheelhouse-where I would sit with the pilot, Angel Abarca, and watch the panorama of this wide, generous river unfold as it carried us deeper and deeper into the forest."

Glacier-armored Andean volcanoes supply tributaries of the Amazon, including the Río Napo. A rapid descent from Quito to Coca moves from high-altitude plains into humid, scented jungle air. Luxury riverboats navigate remote stretches of Ecuadorian Amazonia near the Peruvian border, with the wheelhouse offering direct observation alongside pilot Angel Abarca. Beyond roads, inhabitants rely on longboats with awnings and outboard motors. Towering royal palms and massive kapoks rise above dense trunks, reeds, and vines, with riverside trees leaning toward the currents. Amazonia contains an exceptionally rich tree diversity, far surpassing that of the continental United States.

Read at Travel + Leisure