Amazon Odyssey - Mamiraua

Manaus

You are met at the airport on your arrival in Manaus and transferred to an upper range hotel in extensive grounds on the shores of the Amazon, where you stay for the next two nights.

After a leisurely start, you are collected from your hotel and taken on a half-day tour of Manaus, visiting the Opera House, the Rubber Museum, the Mercado Municipal and the Indian Museum. After the tour you are returned to your hotel where you have the rest of the day free to relax and acclimatise.

Mamiraua Reserve - Uakari Lodge

Early morning transfer from your hotel to Manaus airport for your 1hr flight to Tefe. On arrival at Tefe airport, you are driven to the Areia Branca pier for your 2«hr trip by boat to your base for 3 nights, the award-winning Uakari Floating Lodge in the Mamiraua Sustainable Development Reserve, the largest protected area in Brazil devoted to conservation of flooded-forest (varzea). The reserve consists of a rich eco-system of endemic and threatened species such as the elusive uakari monkey, as well as sloths, pink river dolphins, toucans, macaws, hoatzins, howler monkeys and black caimans. The Uakari Lodge offers a large variety of ecotourism activities and ample opportunities to observe the abundant wildlife within the Mamirau Reserve. Accommodation is in floating lodges, made out of timber and covered in thatch, connected by a series of floating walkways designed to create minimal environmental impact. Each room has a private bathroom, terrace and netted windows. The lodge also has a central floating structure with reception area, restaurant, bar, TV room, library and conference room. Here you stay on a full-board basis with twice-daily wildlife excursions led by experienced naturalist guides from the local community, who have an active involvement in the management of the Reserve, as featured in the recent Bruce Parry BBC documentary 'Amazon'. After an afternoon introductory talk you will set out on a walk on one of the trails, (or small paddle canoes during the wet season) accompanied by a naturalist guide. In the evening, you will have a chance to hear about the ecosystem and the Mamiraua institute in a presentation given by a naturalist guide. After the presentation, prepare for a night-time jungle tour where you are likely to see local nocturnal fauna.

Full day activities based at the Reserve, including visits to local communities. In the morning you might explore the forest on foot (or canoe during flooded season May-August) to experience the life of the rainforest at firsthand and learn some of its secrets. In the afternoon you might visit scientists compiling research in the reserve or participate in a further wildlife viewing activity. After dinner you might make a short night tour to see nocturnal fauna such as opossum, two-toed sloth, brown throated three toated sloth, amazon bamboo rats, bats and tarantulas.

Full day activities based at the Reserve, including visits to local communities. A person from a local village community will meet you and show you around where you may have the opportunity to buy locally produced handicrafts. If you don't wish to visit the local community you can choose to do an interpretive trail together with your the local guide. In the afternoon you go by motorised canoe to Mamirau Lake, to see pink river dolphins, hoatzins and perhaps the pirarucu fish. Stay until sunset in the hope of spotting black caimans, bats and other nocturnal birds species. After dinner there's a presentation by a naturalist guide about the reserve, its ecosystem and recent research work.

Manaus

An early departure from the lodge, for the 2½ hour boat ride back to the landing strip at Tefe Fly Tefe/Manaus

Belém

In the morning you are collected from your hotel and driven to Manaus airport for your flight to Belém, where you are met on arrival and transferred to an upper-range hotel for a two night stay.

After breakfast, you guide collects you for a full day tour of Belem, the first European colony on the Amazon and the focus of the nineteenth-century rubber boom. You will visit the famous Ver-O-Peso waterfront market selling fish, fruits, seeds, herbs, medicines and handicrafts from the forest, and explore the Emilio Goeldi museum, founded in 1866: an important centre for the study of the natural history of the Amazon.

Marajó Island

An early morning start, driving to Belem’s river port where you will board a regular passenger ship for the 3hr trip to Marajó Island - the largest river island in the world. On arrival at the pier in Marajó, you will be transferred by motorized canoe up the Camará river to the Do Carmo ranch, where you will stay on a full-board basis for 2 nights in a basic, rustic ranch house based on the cattle ranch. During your stay at Do Carmo, which rears water buffalo, you will experience typical ranch life and the flora and fauna of the surrounding area on a variety of excursions and activities, accompanied by an English speaking guide. After check-in, you will tour the grasslands accompanied by Marajó cowboys, hoping to see capibaras, anacondas and wild pigs. After lunch and a siesta in the hammocks on the veranda at the ranch, you will be taken on a tour of the mangrove creeks around the Camará river on a motorised boat to spot birds, alligators, monkeys and sloths. Dinner at the ranch will then be followed by a night-time caiman spotting excursion.

Full day discovering Marajó island based at the Do Carmo ranch. a.m. wildlife safari p.m. canoe and short jungle hike to archaeolgoical site linked to Marajoara indian tribe. Rest of the day free to swim & sunbathe

Belém

a.m. wildlife safari p.m. return on the regular passenger boat back to Belem Return to your hotel for a final positioning night at around 18.00h. Perhaps go for dinner tonight at Belem's recently renovated docklands, a happening spot with great atmosphere and live music at the weekends.

Fortaleza

Morning transfer to Belém airport for your flight to Fortaleza, the capital of Ceará state in north-eastern Brazil. On arrival in Fortaleza, you will be met by a local English-speaking guide you will take you for lunch, (at your expense) where you may choose to sample local seafood specialities such as lobster and crab at the beach kiosks at Praia do Futuro, and help you pass the time in the city e.g. city tour, shopping, people watching at the beach before transferring you to the airport for your international flight home.