By Shirley Linde, SmallShipCruises.com

We were 16 days on the cruise and 10 of them were on jungle rivers or exploring wildlife in some way. The wake-up calls on exploration days sometimes came at 5:30 a.m., with passengers having a quick breakfast of fruit, melon and pastries, then boarding zodiacs and heading for the shores or tributaries of the Orinoco and Amazon Rivers. Many days there were two scheduled zodiac trips, one in the morning and one in late afternoon, to check out wildlife or to visit local villages.

This is not a casino/cabaret/dancing-till-dawn kind of  cruise. It’s an ecotourism-style voyage on the Clipper Adventurer, the expedition ship of Clipper Cruise Line that was a former Russian research and passenger ship. Renovated and refurbished, carrying naturalists and culturists as guides and lecturers, the ship now takes 122 passengers (max) on adventure cruises into off-the-beaten-path places where big ships don’t go.  Read about the rest of the adventure here.

by Bob Linde and Shirley Linde

It pays to walk a trail with a naturalist guide. A good guide will help keep you out of danger, help you spot wildlife and tell wonderful stories about what you see.

We have hiked through rainforests of Costa Rica and Belize and through jungles along the Amazon and Orinoco Rivers with naturalist/guides.

Here four of the naturalists we have travelled with … Marcel Lichtenstein, Carla Weston, Conrad Weston, and Dr. Charles Leavell … share their tips on the ways to walk a trail like an expert and have satisfying sightings of wildlife in even the most remote areas: 

1. Go with only a few other people. Big groups don’t work.

2. Go at sunrise and sunset if you can. As sunlight arrives, monkeys are screaming and birds are chirping; at sunset they are giving their goodnight calls.

3. Know where you’re going. Is it a loop trail or must you return the same way you came? Watch for landmarks on the way to make returning easier.

4. Stay on the trail. Watch where you walk. When you’re looking up at the trees, don’t move your feet. When you’re moving your feet, look down. If you’re going to touch something, take a close look before doing it…

To see the rest of the 14 tips on jungle walking go to http://smallshipcruises.com/walkthisway.html

It was a pitch black night and we sat there in our canoes in the inky dark river waters. The guides shined  search lights onto the shoreline and the trees, and eyes reflected back at us from the darkness – cayman cooling off in the water. (Cayman are a crocodile-like creature that can grow to 18 ft. in length.) As we sat silently in the canoes we could hear the sounds of the night forest — crickets, frogs croaking, birds calling.  As our eyes became accustomed to the night, we saw some tree frogs and birds, and the area seemed actually bright in the light of the almost full moon. There were lightning flashes in the distance. Awesome.

We were on a seven-day expedition trip in the Amazon with Amazon Nature Tours on the Motor Yacht Tucano. We were cruising the Rio Negro, a tributary of the Amazon River. Alone it is the second largest river in the world with the Amazon being the largest. The color of the water is that of strong tea, giving it its name Rio Negro or black river. We go on the Negro because it is much more remote and pristine than the Amazon River. An added benefit — the chemistry of the waters is such that the Rio Negro has no mosquitoes. The entire river system is part of the Amazonas Region, the largest state in Brazil.

The Tucano is a classically constructed wooden river boat. It is 84 ft. long and has 3 decks. There are 9 cabins accommodating 18 passengers. The top deck includes a large shaded observation area. There is a crew of 8, including our 2 naturalist guides.

Follow this Amazon cruising adventure and see more photos on Smallshipcruises.com