Abercrombie & Kent’s Pure Amazon: The Ultimate Luxury Floating Safari in the Peruvian Amazon

Published on December 4, 2025

The Amazon. Say the name, and your mind conjures images of impenetrable jungle, winding brown water, and a symphony of primal calls. It’s the planet’s greatest, wildest river system—a place for true explorers, often requiring a rugged spirit and a willingness to compromise on comfort.

But what if you didn’t have to compromise? What if you could glide through the Peruvian wilderness in a floating penthouse, sipping fine Peruvian wine while a sloth ambles into view, all while attended to by a dedicated staff member who knows your name and your preferred breakfast order?

This is the promise of Abercrombie & Kent (A&K)’s debut South American vessel, the Pure Amazon. Long renowned for pioneering luxury safaris in Africa, A&K has transplanted its signature, high-touch boutique experience to the heart of the rainforest. The result is less of a cruise and more of a “floating safari,” an intimate journey that manages to fuse the deepest immersion into the natural world with unparalleled five-star luxury. It proves that the world’s most formidable frontier can, in fact, be explored with grace, style, and a full-service bar.

The Pure Amazon: An Oasis of Intimacy and Indigenous Design

The first thing that sets the Pure Amazon apart is its scale—or lack thereof. With a capacity for just 22 guests and an incredible one-to-one staff-to-guest ratio, the vessel functions less like a cruise ship and more like a private, exclusive lodge that just happens to float. This boutique philosophy, inherited from A&K’s celebrated Sanctuary collection of safari camps and Nile ships, ensures a level of personal service that is impossible on larger vessels. Every detail is curated, anticipatory, and delivered with genuine warmth.

A step inside immediately dissolves any lingering preconceptions of a cramped river vessel. The Pure Amazon is a masterpiece of local design, integrating the textures and stories of the Peruvian Amazon into its very structure. Forget plastic and chrome; here, the décor sings with locally sourced materials. Ceilings in the spacious suites are covered by totora, a beautiful woven reed common to the region, giving the rooms an organic warmth. The lounges feature soft, off-white fibers resembling the native sacuara plant. It’s a design choice that is both modern and deeply respectful of the environment it navigates.

And the accommodations themselves are a revelation. The larger suites on Deck 2 span over 270 square feet, offering king beds and generous sitting areas. Crucially, they are designed to bring the outside in: beds face floor-to-ceiling windows that frame the passing jungle panorama. In an ultimate nod to Amazonian immersion, even the spacious shower boasts a glass outer wall (thankfully with a retractable shade!), allowing guests to feel completely connected to the Pacaya-Samiria National Reserve while enjoying a hot rinse.

The luxury extends to the top deck, which becomes a focal point for relaxation and reconnaissance. Here, guests find a second bar, a stylish lounge for lectures, a serene spa treatment area, a small gym, and the ultimate reward after a long day of exploration: a large, welcoming hot tub situated at the bow. There’s no better feeling than soaking under the equatorial stars, listening to the sounds of the jungle as the river slips beneath you.

The Flavors of Peru: A Culinary Love Letter

In a destination where the surroundings are extreme, the dining experience is a comforting anchor. The chefs aboard the Pure Amazon have crafted a menu that is a true love letter to Peruvian gastronomy, which has rightly earned its place as one of the world’s most exciting cuisines. The dining room, like the suites, features floor-to-ceiling windows, ensuring that even a quiet breakfast comes with a dynamic river view—perhaps a fisherman paddling past or a pod of dolphins at play.

Meals are a celebration of local ingredients expertly handled. Breakfast and lunch are hearty buffets mixing international staples with local discoveries, such as a rotating selection of Peruvian breakfast tamales. Lunch brings homemade soups and classic dishes like lomo saltado (a Peruvian beef stir-fry) and local fish prepared with exquisite flair.

Dinner is the culinary zenith: a refined five-course menu that elegantly pairs international and local dishes. A standout, which travelers rave about, is the catfish ceviche marinated in coconut milk with ginger—a fresh, unexpected twist on the national dish. The wine list, featuring crisp, dry Peruvian white wines, further enhances the sense of discovery. This is luxury dining, reimagined for the equatorial rainforest.

Deep Immersion: Wildlife Spotting and Cultural Exchange

For all the creature comforts, the core of the A&K experience remains the incredible access to the Amazon’s biodiversity. This isn’t passive sightseeing; it’s an active, daily “safari.”

Each day is packed with multiple excursions, often starting with pre-breakfast skiff rides. These smaller boats allow guests to silently explore the winding, narrow tributaries of the Pacaya-Samiria Reserve—a pristine, protected wilderness. The guides are the backbone of this expedition: seasoned professionals who grew up in the Peruvian Amazon. Their knowledge is encyclopedic, allowing them to spot and identify everything from a momma sloth carrying her baby high in a canopy to elusive spider and woolly monkeys.

The sheer variety of life is staggering. Guests frequently see pink and grey river dolphins feeding and playing around the vessels. Activities are hands-on and thrilling: you can try your luck fishing for piranha, embark on a jungle walk to learn about medicinal plants, or simply kayak and swim in the fresh water. And once the sun goes down, the experience transforms again, with guides ready to help guests spot the constellations that blaze bright in the unpolluted equatorial sky.

But the journey is not just about the wildlife; it’s about the people. One of the most enriching parts of the voyage is the opportunity to witness—and respectfully engage with—real life on the Amazon. From watching local fishermen navigate their hand-carved boats to stopping at stilted wooden villages, guests gain a profound appreciation for the communities that call this complex ecosystem home. Seeing families waiting on the riverbank to flag down massive, open-air ferries that carry passengers and chickens for journeys lasting days or even weeks highlights the immense scale and unique culture of this legendary river.

The New Standard for Exploration

The Pure Amazon is more than just a boat; it’s a statement. It’s A&K’s declaration that true luxury travel is no longer about escaping nature, but about engaging with it in the most profound way possible, without sacrificing comfort, safety, or style. By combining a floating boutique hotel with expert-led, intimate safaris and authentic cultural encounters, Abercrombie & Kent has set a new, impossibly high standard for exploring the wonders of the Amazon—a legendary wilderness now accessible to the discerning traveler who wants to see the world, without roughing it.