A&K sets sail on Peru's Amazon Basin, where the hidden becomes seen - but only if you listen.
Pacaya-Samiria National Reserve, Peru
A&K Sanctuary’s Pure Amazon riverboat
First comes the sound: a hollow note of exhalation that echoes across water the color of milky tea. A flash of pink then teases my eye before the dolphin slips beneath the surface again.
Our skiff lingers at the point where two tributaries converge. Fish gather beneath the hull, in the swirling currents where food is abundant, and with them come the pink dolphins. We hold our breath, hoping for another glimpse, yet each sighting is only a fragment - a blush of color, a curved fin, a long and narrow beak. The elusive cetaceans are lightning-quick and uniquely adapted to this ephemeral habitat. Helen Arevalo, the only female naturalist guide in the Peruvian Amazon, explains that unfused neck vertebrae allow pink dolphins to rotate their heads nearly 180 degrees. Couple that with their elongated fins, and they can easily navigate the seasonal floods that submerge the rainforest, with water levels that can exceed 15 feet.
Three-toed sloths in the jungle
Our three rotating naturalist guides, however, are immune to the rainforest's misdirection. With seemingly preternatural gifts, they discern wildlife where I see nothing at all. Even with Leica binoculars - a pair of which is furnished to each Pure Amazon guest - I still need Robinson Rodriguez to direct my gaze toward the shaggy silhouette of a three-toed sloth inching from one branch to another at dizzying heights. "It has a baby," he says. When I look again, I spot the infant, draped belly-to-belly across its mother. Minutes later, a troop of squirrel monkeys flits through the trees. I'm instantly smitten with their sweet chestnut faces, eyes ringed with pale bandit masks, peering down through a lattice of leaves.
A room with a view on Pure Amazon A modern en-suite bathroom
Our adventure had begun two days earlier in Nauta, Peru, the gateway to the richly biodiverse Pacaya-Samiria National Reserve in the upper Amazon Basin, where Abercrombie & Kent's newly christened riverboat awaited, moored in the harbor. We arrived after sunset, when only a cluster of shimmering lights hinted at the vessel offshore. As we approached, the glow sharpened into columns of glass rising from the river, each framing a softly lit room. In the darkness, the ship appeared as a floating gallery, its tranquil interiors glowing like a museum's dioramas. By day, its exterior mirrored the reserve's ever-changing scenery.
The sleek, contemporary design I'd seen from the water is softened by a neutral palette drawn from the river and jungle, complemented by vibrant accents that evoke the brilliant hues of rainforest creatures. Inside, woven textures of local reeds are set against polished mahogany. Textiles hand-painted by Shipibo-Konibo women artists, bearing kene motifs - graphic ancestral patterns that illustrate unity and connection - ground the ship in the traditions of the region's indigenous communities. Egg-shaped bronze and clay sculptures arranged in a series of inverted triangles evoke the scales of the endemic paiche, one of the largest freshwater fish in the world.
View from a suite on Pure Amazon
The motif extends to my suite (one of merely 12 cabins, collectively accommodating a maximum capacity of only 22 guests), where a glass wall opposite my bed transforms the river into a living mural. Most days, before the usual early-morning skiff ride, I lie beneath velvety sheets, admiring the waking rainforest. The canopy is a veil of black lace silhouetted against a cotton-candy sky; yet, as the light lifts, it dissolves into a sea of shifting greens. In a dugout canoe, a man paddles past my window - a reminder that, for the thousands of people who live here, the river is both highway and home.
A&K guide releasing a piranha back into the river
Naranjilla fruit, also known as lulo
Day after day, we push deeper into the wild. The ship's three skiffs (rather than the standard two for a ship this size) allow us to explore waterways the graceful Pure Amazon cannot travel. It may seem like a small distinction, yet it brings big rewards: fewer voices on the water, and the freedom for each boat to chase its own curiosity - paddling a kayak, casting for red-bellied piranhas, slipping into the river for a swim (while trying not to think of the aforementioned piranhas or paiches; do bring a swimsuit) or visiting local communities.
The spa pool on the upper deck
The ship’s dining room
I look forward to small rituals: the cooling sting of an iced towel against my sun-warmed skin, the tang of a camu camu sour from the ship's cozy bar, or a single, exquisite confection left in my suite each afternoon. The artisanal treats are a collaboration between A&K and chocolatier Fatima Carranza, who crafts them from cacao harvested by the Awajun community, along with aguaje and goldenberry, both fruits native to Peru.
Fish stew with corn beer and aji amarillo
By nightfall, exploration shifts from river to table. Under the soft glow of candlelight, the chefs present a beautiful tableau of the evening's ingredients, underscoring a commitment to seasonal Peruvian flavors - a preview of what's to come. Each five-course dinner is a well-paced performance of taste and texture: smoked paiche tartare with citrus and aji, for example, or a shrimp stew brightened with cocona fruit, or duck braised in tucupi with wild cassava. Each dish arrives beautifully plated and paired with South American wines that complement the menu's rhythm.
A&K Sanctuary’s Pure Amazon riverboat Oscar fish tiradito with camu camu berries, togarashi and Brazil nuts
When the last plate clears and we exchange good nights, I draw back the curtains in my cabin. Dark and silent, the river slips past - unseen but ever-present beyond the glass. It moves as it always has, unchanged by our brief intrusion. Come daybreak, the river will still hold its mysteries close, but this new boat has taught me how to see.
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This article originally appeared in OLTRE Volume 12 Winter 2026.
Writing and Photography: Susan Portnoy