Magnificent Amazon

The Amazon Basin is a "gigantic expanse of river and forest", covering 2.7 million square miles in nine different countries. The sheer size and scale of this magnificent place is daunting, but a trip along the river in northern Peru offers you the chance get "up close and personal", says Simon Horsford in the Sunday Telegraph.

Founded by Jesuit missionaries in the 1750s, Iquitos is a bustling tropical port in the jungle region, accessible from Lima by plane. From its docks, travellers can step aboard La Turmalina, a three-deck Peruvian vessel, "built to resemble a 19th-century Amazon river boat and looking like a cross between a Chinese junk and a Viking longboat".

A six-day exploratory trip covers 600 miles of river, but the immensity of the Amazon hits you as soon as you leave port. The river here is relatively narrow, around half a mile wide, broken up by the occasional island. "Encased by a vast canopy of trees on either side, it’s an awe-inspiring spectacle." During the day, you can take a trip into the flooded forest on a skiff, to explore hidden corners of this treasure trove, fish for red-bellied piranha amid a carpet of water hyacinth, or look out for pink and grey dolphins. There are also guided walks through the forest floor.

"This isn't like Africa with its big game"; the creatures here are "smaller (though no less dangerous) and better hidden with devilishly clever camouflage". By contrast, the birds that soar above you are raucous and vibrantly coloured – even non-twitchers will be carried away by the excitement of seeing an Amazon kingfisher or macaw. There is little sense in travelling far in the suffocating heat of the rainforest; "this is a place just to listen and keep still against a cacophony of peculiar, haunting sounds".

Noble Caledonia (020 7752 0000) offers 15-night Amazon explorations from £2,895 per person, including flights, full board on the boat and tours of Cusco and Machu Picchu. ·