A shore excursion can be anything from exploring remote tributaries to spotting monkeys and birds along a jungle trail, from visiting a local village to fishing on one of Amazonia’s beautiful lakes. They vary in level of difficulty, but most travelers who are reasonably fit will have no trouble participating in every excursion. Passengers will be divided into three groups of eight to 10 people for shore excursions, with each group led by a trained and knowledgeable naturalist guide. Guides will rotate among the groups, so that each passenger can benefit from their specialized knowledge. Our guides speak fluent English. We recommend that groups requiring any other language bring a translator, if necessary. Each evening, your guides will brief you on what to expect on the next day’s excursions. Typically, we will navigate the Amazon River or one of its tributaries at night, arriving in a new location, for a new adventure, in the early morning. Passengers opting to go on the early morning excursions will get a wakeup call at approximately 5 a.m. The ARIA AMAZON is equipped with four auxiliary aluminum skiffs that will take passengers along the waterways or ferry them to the landing point for onshore excursions. These comfortable speed boats are equipped with 4 stroke low-emission engines and constant radio communication with the main vessel. Each boat has capacity for eight-10 passengers, plus guide and launch pilot. Excursions last three to four hours, allowing plenty of time to explore, listen to your guide’s explanation, and photograph the abundant wildlife. While most excursions involve “dry” landings, some require “wet” landings, where you will have to step into water that may reach as high as your knees and then wade to shore. Your guide and skiff driver will assist you. When the excursions are in the Pacaya Samiria Reserve, we follow marked trails, walking at a leisurely pace for up to one hour. Guests should be in good physical health in order to be able to make the most of their Amazon cruise. The daily nature excursions may include walking on irregular terrain and getting in and out of the skiffs occasionally requires some physical effort. We provide rubber boots for wetland excursions and recommend taking comfortable walking shoes for walking on the dry paths. We also provide waterproof ponchos with hoods to protect against rain.