Quote:
Originally Posted by MoneyGuy
Chris, any word on trips to the Amazon River? Something escorted and a river cruise on a smaller ship? UofA has one for alumnus for $4200 if booked before Aug. 6 that I'm considering. Machu Picchu add on is also available. Do you see things like this? The Amazon is on the top of my bucket list since I've just crossed off the Great Wall.
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Trips to the Amazon aren't something you'll see offered by the typical tour operators in Canada. I'd put it in the category of a specialty trip, where someone is just piecing it all together manually (flight on a major airline, and adding in some accommodations and a tour/cruise through a local tour operator).
Best thing to do might be to get the details of the U of A trip, and Google around to see what it would actually cost for you to piece together the same trip.
Googling 'university of alberta amazon river trip' brings up a PDF file with the details.
Roundtrip flights:
YEG to Lima (LIM) - $1016
LIM to Quito (UIO) - $400
5 day Amazon river cruise from Nauta on the La Amatista ship. I'm guessing it's something like this:
http://www.perucusco.com/cruises-mar...uta-river.html
Which looks to cost $1550 USD/person.
Accommodations:
Casa Andina:
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Rev...co_Region.html
Looks to run about $130/night. So $260 for 2 nights, but I'm guessing you're probably sharing a room with someone on this trip, so let's say $130.
El Dorado Plaza:
http://www.expedia.ca/Iquitos-Hotels...el-Information
Looks to run $260/night. So again, divided by two people, let's say another $130.
So far, it looks like it would cost someone $1016 + $400 + $1550 + $130 + $130 or $3226 to build a similar trip on their own. But there's likely some excursions and maybe some additional meal costs that haven't been factored in yet. And also any additional ground transportation.
So overall, $4200 doesn't seem too out of line considering the components involved. The Amazon river cruise does look to be the biggest expense, but for a smaller ship that can get you further into the depths of the Amazon, I'm guessing it's probably always going to have a pretty hefty pricetag of around $250-$300/night. Gap Adventures for example, is charging $2500 for 9 nights in January...
http://www.gadventures.com/trips/ama...ate/2014-01-01