Manaus Tours: A Week in the Wilderness

Stay in a Manaus jungle lodge deep in the heart of the Brazilian Amazon, with travel advice from a Brazil travel expert at Brazil For Less.

Manaus is arguably the capital of Brazil’s Amazon rainforest. The city is completely surrounded by thick, lush rainforest, but the city itself is a full-fledged metropolis. A boom town during the heyday of the rubber industry in the 19th and 20th century, Manaus continues to be the heartbeat of Amazon trade and tourism.

Within the city proper, remnants of the city’s boom days include the extravagant Manaus Teatro Amazonas, a renaissance-style opera house. Located on the Rio Negro, Manaus is a port and launch point for industrial steamships as well as tourist cruises. Many visitors to Brazil’s Amazon rainforest will fly, bus, or cruise to Manaus, and then take a small boat or truck to one of the dozen or so jungle lodges scattered throughout the region.  

Three recommended Manaus jungle lodges are the Amazon Ecopark lodge, Ariau Amazon Towers lodge, and Amazon Village lodge. Each of these lodges offer several different options for visitors, from short 3 day stays to 5 day vacations.

As an example of a Manaus jungle lodge tour, visitors could follow an itinerary similar to the following at the Amazon Ecopark lodge over four days.

On day 1, arrive to Manaus airport and then head into town, where you are sure to find a tour guide – or several – willing to take you on guided wildlife tours or to an Amazon lodge. Choose carefully, or prearrange a meeting through a travel agency. If you book a reservation in a lodge, you should also be able to arrange a guide to meet you and take you to the lodge.

You’ll take a short boat ride to the lodge itself, where you can settle in. You may want to enjoy a refreshing afternoon fruit drink in the lodge, and then take a tour of the lodge and the surrounding jungle. In the afternoon, make sure to check out the Monkey Jungle, a zoo that rehabilitates monkeys, some of which are hurt and others saved from the black market. In the evening, take a canoe ride along the river, where you can look for caiman.

The next day, wake up early to go on a nature hike with a guide who will point out the varied wildlife species that call this jungle their home. You might see monkeys, parrots, toucans, sloths, and anteaters. In the afternoon, you can relax in the lodge or do one of the many activities offered by the lodge. You can also visit one of the indigenous people of the jungle, called Caboclos, who fish for piranhas.

On day 3, you can take a boat ride to see the Meeting of the Waters, where two mighty rivers, the Rio Negro and the Rio Solimoes, unite to join the Rio Amazonas. This area is part of the National Park of Jaú, which is teeming with wildlife, native peoples, and over 5 million acres of pristine Amazon jungle. You may even see some of the exotic and endangered pink river dolphins. Enjoy your lunch on a floating restaurant on the river, where you can dine on authentic cuisine from the Amazon jungle region. At night, go on a nighttime boat cruise or take another walk through the jungle, as nighttime is when many creatures are awake.

On your last day in the Manaus jungle, take another walk, canoe ride, or go for a swim. Then pack up and head back to the city of Manaus, where you can catch your flight to your next Brazil destination.

Source: Free Articles from ArticlesFactory.com

ABOUT THE AUTHOR