In 2024, we felt very clever when we booked our first trip of 2026, a cruise to the Amazon River. We were planned out for our next four trips! We had previously been to the Amazon headwaters in both Peru and Ecuador, staying in a jungle lodge and next travelling by dugout canoe. We thought that a luxurious cruise with friends to see the Brazilian Amazon from the deck of an Oceania ship would be a nice way to return to the rainforest. Life has a way of catching one by surprise though, and plans changed!
We still visited the Brazilian Amazon, but went on an expedition ship about 1/10 the size of the Oceania vessel that we had booked. And we added some other stops in South America; Montevideo, Uruguay for their Carnaval, Paraguay, a return to Iguazu Falls in Brazil, and ended the trip in Rio de Janeiro.
What is the attraction of the Amazon? It is debatably the longest river on earth, but definitely the largest volume river in the world. According to Wikipedia, the Amazon carries more water than the next seven largest river systems combined and is responsible for about 20% of the Earth’s fresh water entering the ocean. But more importantly, the Amazon basin is famously “the lungs of the earth” and has more species than any other ecosystem on earth. In a week, we only saw a tiny fraction of the enormous 7,000,000 km2 drainage basin of this mighty river.
Although the Amazon was a highlight, the other stops on this trip were also memorable. Links to our posts for this trip, all with some great photos, are below.
See our posts for this trip (shown in reverse chronological order, i.e. newest first, oldest ones at the bottom):
UN Country #130; Paraguay
Rio de Janeiro
The Amazon; Rio Solimoes
The Amazon; Rio Negro
Return to Iguazu Falls
Montevideo, Uruguay
Videos from Desfile de Llamadas 2026, Montevideo
Visit to a Uruguayan Estancia
Travel Trend – UNESCO World Heritage Sites
Home for Homeless Homing Pigeons
Amazon Cruise (ver 2.0)
