Tours

Itinerary

Amazon Adventure:
Jaú National Park and Further

First day

We pick you up at the airport and transfer to the Hotel either Monaco or Brasil. After check-in we take you for a guided city tour. We will visit the main attractions, which are there is no doubt, the opera house with its delicate fountain; a splendid neoclassical building of the size of the Scala (the opera house in Milan, Italy). After 15 years of construction it was inaugurated in 1896 as the symbol of the rubber boom, one of the most prosperous economic cycles in Brazil's history.

Another beautiful example of the rich past of Manaus is the Palácio Rio Negro, constructed at the end of 19th century by a the excentric German Rubber Baron Waldemar Scholz. The Palácio Rio Negro today host a cultural centre.

From here we walk down to the port area and visit the Mercado Municipal, the city's marketplace, where regional food, exotic fruits, unbelievable quantities and varieties of fish, and handicrafts are displayed. The iron structures of the market, inaugurated 1883, were designed by a famous Frenchman called Gustave Eiffel, the builder of the Tour d'Eiffel in Paris.

We then visit the fascinating floating port of Manaus, called Porto Flutuante. A colourful mix of people running busily around to embark or disembark, load or unload the boats that reach practically every corner of the Amazonian universe, except where waterfalls or rapids block the way. The 3 story boats are significantly called gaiolas, which literally means cages! Here, at the banks of the Rio Negro, we stop for an exotic drink before we have dinner in a typical Amazonian fish restaurant. For the evening and, depending on what is on stage, we could watch a performance in the historic Teatro Amazonas.

Second day

After breakfast we leave the hotel at 08:00 h in direction to the “Meeting of the Waters”, to watch the phenomena of two rivers, the black Rio Negro and the white Rio Solimões running next to each other for 6 miles before they join and form the Rio Amazonas which is a spectacular and unrivaled sight. From here we visit the Janauary Eco Park, to marvel at giant Victoria regia water lilies. Lunch. We proceed now to the port where we take a boat to cross over to the right banks of the Rio Negro, from where we drive by car to the settlement of the indigenous people of the Satéré-Mawê tribe, near the village of Iranduba, on the Ariaú River.

The Sateré Mawê have given the famous guaraná plant, Paullinia cupana, to the world. Guaraná as it is known, of the family of the Sapindaces, is a plant with 4-8% caffeine in its dry mass and produces a very stimulating long term effect. The plant is of great importance to the tribe's social and economical structure. The tribe also celebrates the famous passage of the young warriors. The for westerners macabre rites involves the dança da tucandeira, the largest and most venomous ants of the world, also called "bullet ant", or Paraponera clavata. These rites are celebrated during the "Meeting of the Warriors", every year in November.

A traditional welcome dance and chant will be performed by children and you will be introduced to their natural pharmacy where you can experience some of their medical herbs and plants. We will eat dinner with the tribe and join the men for a night out on the river for spear fishing and alligator spotting. Overnight is in the village in hammocks.

Third day

After breakfast the cabóclo will show us his plantations of manioc, rubber tree Hevea brasiliensis, Brazil nut Bertholletia excelsa and exotic fruits. The manioc press and other equipment will impress us because of its simplicity and functionality as do the extraction techniques from the rubber tree.

We continue now our boat ride through the archipelago until we arrive at the Jaú National Park authorities for identification. Inside the Park we head for the home of another cabóclo family for lunch, visit their plantations and learn how they produce food from the river and forest. After a siesta we take the canoe for wildlife observation inside the igapó. The igapó is a permanently flooded forest and host many species of birds but also monkeys, tapirs, giant otters, anacondas and other mammals and reptiles. We will anchor at the Carabinani rapids and take the canoe again for wildlife watching of nocturnal animals and in particular the jacaré açu, the Amazonian Giant Cayman.

Fourth day

The day will be spent canoeing through igapós and igarapés in search of more wildlife and to marvel at the overwhelming vegetation here reflecting in the waters while the canoe glides silently over the flooded tree tops. We should be able to observe several kinds of monkeys, giant otters, snakes, tarantula. After arrival at Tabatinga we pitch camp in the forest and making preparations for dinner with grilled fish from the own catch. It could be a delicious piracurú or jaú. Armed with flash lights we take our canoe again for a ride through the Tabatinga igarapé for night fishing and wildlife observation. Note: during the dry season, from October through April, we will have to pass the 7 rapids by hiking for about 2 hours through the forest to arrive upstream where our canoes are anchored.

Fifth day

This morning we get up early to watch on board a canoe the beautiful Amazonian sunrise and listen to the early morning song of the birds welcoming a new day in the jungle. We then return for breakfast. The Tabatinga igarapé is an area distant from civilization and rich in wildlife, which we will be observing and photo­graphing during the next three days. The wildlife list of the region includes among other animals, brown–throated and three-toed sloth, giant cayman, several species of monkeys, tapir, giant and lesser anteater, jaguar Felis onca, or the Felis incolor, the puma, eventually anaconda, tarantula, macaws, toucans several kinds of parakeets.

Sixth day

Again we leave early today for a long walk into the jungle. We take provisions with us so that we don't need to go back to the camp for lunch. We will discover the secrets of the deep forests and our guide will explain some of the miracles of interaction of the species in plant life and how life at this stage of nature is still connected and dependent within the species. This absolute pristine and untouched area is also appropriated for some survival demonstrations performed by our guides, including identification of eatable plants and animals, water supplies, building of shelter, manufacturing of weaponry and traps from materials of the forest. Usually we discover also rare species of orchids and bromeliads on these hikes. We are back at the camp in late afternoon. The rest of the day is at leisure and a refreshing bath in the clear water river and a well earned rest is the best thing to do now. In the meantime the cook has fire lit and dinner will be ready soon. Some story telling around the fire place or going with the guides to the river to catch next days provisions.

Seventh day

We will break off the camp and get ready to start our way back to Novo Airão on the rivers Carabinani, Jaú, Rio Negro, Anavilhanas. We will be stopping to visit the mysterious wall carvings at Unini river not fully elucidated by science, caves at Madada and the ruins of the abandoned village of Airão Velho, now taken over by the forest. Arriving at Novo Airão we have Dinner in a real restaurant and overnight in a hotel with a real bed and hot showers.

Eighth day

The activities planned for the morning are feeding and swimming with the joyful pink river dolphins Inia geoffrensis right down at the harbor, visit their the wharf to watch how regional boats are being built without plans and maps and visit of the Almerinda Malaquia Foundation – a social project to train local artisans and promote labor. With time left we will still visit the snake house with some interesting species to be seen, including anaconda. It is time now to drive back to Manaus airport for your flights and connections.

End of our services.