My first cruise ever was a true luxury experience on the Delfín III.

Delfín Amazon Cruises is one of the best ways to experience the Peruvian Amazon.

The cruise was in Pacaya-Samiria National Park, a massive nature reserve in northern Peru the size of New Jersey. I traveled with my friend Susan for her first trip to the Peruvian Amazon and my fifth.

As with any cruise, there were plenty of group excursions and we went on most of them. There were a few jungle walks, a short paddle on an oxbow lake, some suspension bridges in the forest canopy, a visit to the Amazonas village and several others. We weren’t interested in piranha fishing, so I asked if there might be an extra guide and skiff available to take Susan and I birding.

The Delfín III was small enough that even through every room was full, they were able to personalize the trip for us birders.

We got two private birding trips during the 4-day, 3-night cruise. The first was before breakfast one day, which is the best time to spot birds. The guide took Susan and I in a skiff across the river and stopped in the middle of a marsh where we saw dozens of species of birds. The second was after lunch, when a guide took us on a walk through the forest. We saw completely different birds from the marsh, and a few were birds we’d never seen before. Both birding trips were with expert guides who helped us identify birds and clearly knew where to find them.

We saw pink river dolphins every day on the Delfín.

The first morning we went out early to look for pink dolphins and we saw a few adults teaching juveniles how to hunt. I was disappointed that I didn’t get any good pictures that morning, but shouldn’t have worried. We saw pink dolphins every day and it was easier to get photos from the upper decks of the Delfín III than from the smaller skiffs.

The guides explained that pink dolphins are only pink when they’re active because the pink isn’t pigment in their skin. It’s the capillaries under their skin, so they’re only pink when their blood is pumping. It’s the same as people getting red in the face when running. Even when they’re gray, they’re easy to tell from gray river dolphins because pink dolphins hardly have any back fin. The gray river dolphins have a prominent fin like bottlenose dolphins.

One excursion was visiting a village called Amazonas.

Like the shaman visit, I was afraid the village visit would feel cheesy or exploitative. Instead, it was another opportunity for people who live in the Amazon rainforest to teach tourists about their culture. We learned how to make masato, a fermented beverage made from yuca. We also learned how palm fibers are processed so people can weave everything from hammocks to rugs and fans to baskets. One of the jungle plants used to dye the fibers is achiote, which I saw on my previous visit to Iquitos at Alpahuayo-Mishana.

Peruvian cuisine is world famous, and the Delfín chef lived up to my high expectations.

I love Peruvian food and I love all the unique ingredients available in the Amazon rainforest. My favorite is the camu camu fruit, a berry the size of a grape that grows on tall bushes. We got camu camu sorbet with lunch one day and camu camu juice for breakfast the next. As a pescatarian, they served me a lot of Amazonian fish, and every time it was excellent. It’s a good chef that can make fish I want to eat three days in a row. Everything was beautifully presented, as you can see in my photos above.

Our room on the Delfín III was perfect.

I loved the river view, the fluffy bathrobes, the comfy beds and the air conditioning. We moved the couch to face the window, so we could birdwatch from the comfort of our own room.

The room was smaller than the usual 5* hotel, but considering how hot it was, a bigger room would have needed two air conditioners. The temperature in our room was perfect and I slept better on the Delfín than in any of the six places I’ve stayed in Iquitos.

The Delfín III had a wonderful masseuse.

I booked an evening massage, but with my face down I didn’t care that there was no river view. Thanks, Susan, for getting a picture of my massage!

Not everything was perfect.

As a predominantly solo traveler, it was hard for me to adjust to being part of a group. The cruise had one large group of alumni from the University of Wisconsin and one family from Spain. Susan and I joined the Spanish family, which was a smaller group than the alumni. The only thing I really didn’t like was the Pisco sour class, which included some cheesy Macarena dancing. I’ve seen many Pisco sour lessons and think that the dancing bartenders and 90s music was unnecessary.