This 11 day tour features our own 6 cabin air-conditioned
Houseboat, the Dona Tania. The program is divided
into a seven day Amazon and Rio Negro River portion
focusing on the rainforest and rivers around the Anavilhanas
Archipelago, a three day exploration of Jau National
Park, Brazil’s largest national park located
on the middle Rio Negro River, and a day in historic
Manaus city. The tour features classic Amazon boat
cruising, and excellent trekking & canoeing excursions
in really pristine Amazon rainforest conditions. Daily
canoeing excursions, rainforest walks and full home-cooked
meals are included. Other attractions include sport
fishing, wildlife photography, swimming, beach BarBQs,
and visit with local Amazonian river people (Caboclos).
2005 Rate per person US$1450 (
Base on double occupancy).
Departure date: the 11 Day Houseboat
Plus runs the second Sunday of the month
Included: transfers IN/OUT in Manaus,
2 nights hotel in Manaus, welcome dinner, city tour
+ 10 days/9 nights river & rainforest tour (Houseboat/
ac cabins).
DAY
00 Arrival and Transfer IN to hotel
Welcome dinner at Bufalo BarBQ restaurant. Overnight
at Lider Hotel or similar.
DAY 01
After breakfast the group departs
from the Manaus floating port aboard the Dona Tania,
our classic Amazon houseboat, fully outfitted with
food, drink, and crew. From Manaus we travel half
an hour to the stunning meeting of the waters where
the Rio Negro River meets the Amazon River but the
two do not mix due to differences in velocity, density
and temperature. At the meeting of the waters we often
see gray and pink river dolphins, and local fishermen.
Second stop is Lake Janauari, a vast area of “varzea”
(floodplain) receiving water from both the Amazon
and Rio Negro rivers. We will visit a restaurant run
by local "caboclo" river people and walk
through the treetops on a walkway to view giant Amazon
waterlilies in a quiet lagoon. Here we might also
see monkeys, hawks, alligators, iguanas and morpho
butterflies. After lunch in the boat we will travel
a short distance on to the Amazon river, here called
the Solimoes. to a group of islands called the Parana
(inlet) of Iranduba, an area full of birdlife, alligators
and monkeys. We will visit some local familes, see
how they live, and have a look at some rubber trees,
brazil nut trees and guava trees full of parrots and
parakeets. Later we take to the canoes and go fishing
for piranha in the nearby “igarapes” (creeks)
which ring the area. We will have dinner on the boat
and then take to the canoes once more in the evening
to go "alligator hunting", though only to
see and photograph them. We will spend the night at
Iranduba in our boat sleeping in beds in air-conditioned
cabins.
DAYS 02-05
Early in the morning the boat will make its way up
the Rio Negro River to the homestead of Tania's family
near the river and village of Arara, and to our lodge,
The Over Look Lodge. In this area you will see how
typical "caboclo" river families live. We
will spend at least one night at our lodge in the
company of Tania's family. Our lodge features 8 private
rooms (with single or double beds), electric light,
2 large bathrooms w/ showers, meals on the veranda
with sunset views of the Rio Negro River and the first
of the Anavilanhas islands. During our stay we will
go for a long trek deep into the jungle to study medicine
plants with Tania's father (a local medicine man).
Beyond the lodge we will visit the first islands of
the vast Anavilanhas Archipelago, the largest group
of freshwater islands in the world. In the dry season
we will go walking and canoeing amidst the islands
to see monkeys, toucans, iguanas and dolphins. In
the rainy season we will explore the “igapo”
(flooded forest), and the unique treetop world hidden
above the flooded islands. Overnight accommodations
on the boat or in a rainforest camp (optional). Time
permitting we will visit the Cuieiras and Apuau Rivers
on our through the Anavilhanas Archipelago.
DAY 06-10
A variety of rainforest hikes, canoeing side-trips,
swimming and fishing excursions, and visits with Caboclo
river families between the Anavilhanas Archipelago
and Jau National Park, it’s farthest destination.
Return to Manaus. Overnight at Best Western Hotel
DAY 11
Guided/driven city tour to visit the Municipal Market,
Amazonas Opera House and Museum of Sciences.
Transfer OUT to Airport for Departure.
Please
take note that the sequence of visits can change to
meet climatic and/or operational reasons at time of
cruise.
