Aqua Expeditions wishes its Taricaya hatchlings bon voyage as they are released into the wild!

Aqua Expeditions has been assisting the Pacaya Samiria reserve rebuild the local Taricaya turtle population by incubating a collection of eggs and raising the hatchlings.

A total of 202 turtles successfully hatched in November from the incubator built next to Aqua Expeditions’ embarkation lounge and were carefully looked after by Enrique Vasquez and his son Ali Vasquez of the Aqua Expeditions team.

Just over two months since the first hatchlings emerged, the turtles were strong enough to survive on their own and were released by guests and members of the Aqua Expeditions team into three different river basins within the reserve: Pacaya River, Samiria River and Nauta Caño River. We wish them bon voyage and hope they will grow old and happy on the banks of their new home in the Amazon. Perhaps one day Aqua Expedtions will incubate some of their eggs!

Aqua Expeditions welcomes chef and restaurateur Bobby Chin aboard the Aria Amazon

In late October, Aqua Expeditions was pleased to welcome esteemed chef Bobby Chin aboard the Aria Amazon as part of his ‘World Café’ TV series.

Bobby and his team joined the Aria for a five-night cruise where they were able to experience the natural wonder of the Amazon, meet some of the locals and sample the delicious regional dishes such as tiger prawn céviche and pisco sours.

The series showcases culture and cuisine, regional ingredients, local food personalities and the country’s unforgettable hotspots. Aqua Expeditions’ passion for the Amazon and for promoting Peruvian dining made us an ideal choice to work with as they looked to film their latest guide to Peru.

The 50-minute television programme will air next year and include recipes from some of Peru’s top chefs as well as from Bobby Chin himself and we look forward to being able to share the footage with you as soon as it does.

For our Spanish speaking friends, a fun bit of advice from CNTraveler.com

According to the team at CNTraveler.com, there comes a time when you find yourself with €4,800 but no idea what to spend it on… Luckily, they have kindly provided the perfect solution – a cruise aboard Aqua Expeditions of course!

We are delighted to be able to share this brilliantly illustrated piece, written by Gontzal Largo on what you can expect from cruising through the Amazon with us –  from fishing for Piranha and spotting wildlife to sitting back and simply enjoying the view. The piece (click here!) is in Spanish but with a bit of help from Google translate, we hope our English speaking friends will be able to enjoy it as much as we have.

For more fun travel tips, you can also visit CNTraveler’s English facebook page here.

Lea el divertido blog deCNTraveler.com “Flotar por el Amazonas Peruano a todo Trapo”:

De acuerdo con el equipo de CNTraveler.com, llega un momento en que usted se encuentra con € 4.800, pero no tiene idea en que gastarlo … Por suerte, han proporcionado generosamente la solución perfecta – un crucero a bordo de Aqua Expeditions, por supuesto!

Estamos encantados de poder compartir esta pieza brillantemente ilustrada, escrito por Gontzal Largo sobre lo que puede esperar al cruzar el Amazonas con nosotros – desde la pesca de pirañas y observar la vida silvestre o simplemente sentarse a disfrutar de la vista. El artículo (click aqui!) está en español, esperamos que nuestros amigos de habla inglesa puedan disfrutarlo tanto como nosotros.

The first baby Taricaya Turtles hatch from the Aqua Expeditions beaches!

It has been a few long weeks of waiting but finally the very first baby Taricaya turtles have hatched from the artificial beach created by Aqua Expeditions back in September with help from the experts at the Pacaya Samiria nature reserve.

The turtles, which can grow to between 35-45cms, were only around 3cm-4cms in size around the time of hatching and needed a bit of help to reach the surface. With a helping hand, the first two turtles have now made it out with many more, we hope, to follow.

They will be cared for by Enrique Vasquez and his son Ali Vasquez, part of the team here at Aqua Expeditions who have  received special training from the Pacaya Samiria National Reserve in order to take care of the new taricayas until they are large enough to be released into the wilds of the Pacaya Samiria in a few months time. We look forwarding to bringing you more news and images as the rest of the eggs hatch and until the baby turtles are large enough to be released.

Until then, if you would like further information on Aqua Expeditions’ Taricaya Turtle-hatching project, Ricardo, one of our naturalist guides, has made a great video describing the project. This is available to watch here on our very own YouTube channel.

Aqua Expeditions’ Taricaya Turtle eggs move in to their new home

Following the construction of the artificial beach at the embarkation lounge in Nauta, we are happy to report that the eggs are now in their new home!

11 nests containing 260 eggs in total were given by the Pacaya Samiria National Reserve and placed in the incubator. The eggs will take two months to hatch and the turtles will then be released in staggered groups into the reserve. We’ll be keeping a close watch over the beach and look forward to sharing images of the turtles hatching and emerging from the sand as soon as possible.

An exciting new project for Aqua Expeditions…

Aqua Expeditions’ is committed to supporting the sustainable management of natural resources in the Amazon. As part of this, we have recently begun working with the Pacaya Samiria National Reserve hq to assist them with the conservation and management of the Taricaya turtle population.

Working to the reserve’s guidelines, we have built an artificial beach at Aqua Expeditions’ embarkation lounge in Nauta that will be able to incubate Taricaya eggs donated by the reserve and help the conservation of this rare species. We hope to involve our guests as much as possible and look forward to keeping you updated on the progress of the project.

For now, here are a few images of the building process…

Aqua Expeditions’ CEO Francesco Galli Zugaro reveals plans for the future

Last month, Aqua Expeditions’ CEO Francesco Galli Zugaro sat down with James Schillinglaw, Editor in Chief of travel trade website Travel Pulse, to discuss Aqua Expeditions, what makes us unique in the Amazon and also what exciting plans we have for the future.

We are delighted to now be able to share this interview with you here on the Aqua Expeditions YouTube channel. Enjoy!