Along the way

There are about ten different types and levels of quality of eco-lodges adapted to diverse clientele surrounding Manaus. Plan a minimum of 3 days and 2 nights to have a satisfying apercu of the wild and of its biodiversity as well as its cultural wealth. Longer stays can be considered (check with us). We have selected three establishments.
Different itineraries:

Malocas Jungle Lodge, a lost paradise-

Amazon Eco-Park, comfort in the jungle-

Uacari lodge, in the heart of the amazon-

Malocas Jungle Lodge, a lost paradise

Unlike the majority of the lodges of the area, Malocas Jungle Lodge is located far enough away from Manaus (88 miles), truly away from the “civilized” world.
3 hours are necessary to reach it from town - by road and then by motor pirogue. This journey guarantees a total change of scenery and a real immersion in the Amazonian milieu.

The establishment is constituted of an assembly of "malocas", traditional circular huts, usually home to one or more families. From the white sand beach where we disembark, we immediately see the central hut, used as dinning area.
There we will savor elaborate menus made from natural regional ingredients and a different variety of fish everyday.

The central hut is the heart of the lodge, and we can take pleasure in spending time there in discussion with our French-speaking hosts, Marinilda and Bruno.
We may well be initiated, during the slow times, to the technique of blowpipe or dominos (Amazonian version) by one of the local guides who will be more than happy to oblige.

Another maloca, further away, is our night shelter. The accommodations are simple and rustic. If the rooms have a private bath, they don’t have hot water (but it is not a problem considering the tropical heat and humidity).
A few daily hours of electricity (for meal preparation and around bed-time) are supplied by solar panels, to avoid the sound pollution of a generator.

The concept of everything here has the aim of offering the visitor harmony and a special connection with nature.
The excursions in the forest are organized for small groups, and guided by Macuchis Indians (English-speaking) who have always lived in the forest and understand it intimately.
Malocas Jungle Lodge wishes to preserve a moderate size (maximum capacity of 25 persons) to protect the familial atmosphere that has developed there over the years.

Daily program

Day 1: MANAUS – MALOCAS JUNGLE LODGE

Departure from the hotel at 07:30 for the site where the “waters encounter”. The dark and amber water of Río Negro seem to hesitate before mixing with the more yellowish water of Solimoes. We go and observe from a motorboat the surprising show of these two waterways, running side by side over a few miles before mixing.
We, then, return to the Lodge. After 50 miles on the road (1-hour), we reach the village of Rio Preto da Eva, charming little beach resort visited during the weekends by the Manaus’ inhabitants. There we exchange our vehicle for a motor-pirogue loaded with food.
We follow Río Preto da Eva. The last traces of civilization disappear as we enter deeper in a labyrinth of water and vegetation. We follow the meanders of the river resembling a ribbon reflecting the sunlight.
Once we arrive at the lodge, we are welcome with a cocktail. After settling, we are invited to share a typical local lunch (fish / feijao (beans) / rice / raw vegetables / fruit).
In the afternoon, excursion by pirogue on the igarapés (canals flooded after the rainy season, dry the rest of the year) to meet a family of Caboclos.
Caboclos is the name given here to the people of mixed descent (Indians and Portuguese ) living in the heart of the forest and keeping a very traditional rural lifestyle (subsistence agriculture, especially of manioc, fishing, domestically used handicraft...).
On the way back to the lodge, our guide will rapidly set up a fishing line equipped with a piece of white wire serving as a hook.
He attaches a piece of chicken to the end and in a few minutes, the piranhas arrive. The lodge cook will gill them, and shortly after serve them to us (their flesh, although full of bones, is delicious).

All included. Night in the lodge.

Note 1: English-speaking guide

Note 2: For security and comfort during the traveling between Manaus and the lodge, we recommend that you take with you only the strict necessary items for your jungle trip, in a supple and easy to manipulate travel bag instead of a rigid suitcase. Upon return to Manaus you will be able to recover the things left there.

Day 2: AMAZON FOREST

After a hearty breakfast, we enter the forest in the company of our guide. The Indians have acquired empiric knowledge of the local wildlife and fauna that doesn’t cease to impress visitors.
The animals with which they co-habit do not hold any secrets for them. They know their habitat, their eating habits; know if they are comestible, and the best way to hunt them…
Some plants are used in everyday life (construction, weaving, tool fabrication, utensils or arms…); others are known for such and such medicinal virtue. Each pain has its remedy. We become aware that we are walking through an immense outdoor pharmacy…
The adaptation of the Indians to their natural habitat is equally manifested in their capacity to orient themselves, precisely, without obvious landmarks and without the help of any navigation instruments, in the heart of a jungle where everything looks alike.
We return to the lodge for lunch. On the way back, we can cool down in the crystal clear waters of a waterfall.
If we are lucky, we might spot of few of the forest’s animals: a group of monkeys snacking, a tapir loudly escaping in front of us, a few snakes sleeping in the middle of a path, a toucan…
The rest of the day is dedicated to a pirogue tour on the nearby waterways/or a bath in the cool waters of Río Presto da Eva.
After dinner, our hosts invite us to take place around a blazing campfire on the white sand beach.
A frozen caïpirinha in our hand, we enjoy the magic of the Amazonian night and the silence of a nature that nothing disturbs, except the crickets and the noise of the palms agitated by the breeze.
All included. Night in lodge.

Option: extra day (lodge or survival in the jungle), check with us.

Day 3: MALOCAS JUNGLE LODGE - MANAUS

Before sunrise, our guide takes us to attend the ballet of the birds leaving their night shelter. Another walk in the forest can follow breakfast. After lunch, we return to Manaus (we take the same trail as on the way in). We may be lucky enough to see some sloths on the way.
Loving tender leaves, we frequently find them on the highest branches of the trees, where they are easily visible. The observation of these mammals is easier after the rain, the sloths looking then for open places to dry their coat.
Arrival in Manaus around 19:00.
Lunch included. Dinner open. Night in hotel.
Option to spend one more day at Malocas jungle lodge.
Night in the lodge or survival in the jungle (4 day program minimum).

Amazon Eco-Park, comfort in the jungle

The Amazon Eco-park is located about an hour away from the Manaus airport, on the shores of the Taruma River, a tributary of Rio Negro.
It represents an ideal compromise for travelers wishing to live a first “light” Amazonian experience, allowing more comfort (particularly well suited for families traveling with small children).

In the 3500-acre park, the visitor can see various type of different vegetation: virgin forest, savannah, "igapos" (areas flooded during the rainy season)...
The Eco-park is criss-crossed by 6 miles of hiking trails, which will unable you to appreciate the clear water brooks crossing it, as well as the hundreds of vegetable species that can be found here. From ferns to giant trees, many endowed with very complete identification signs.
A bilingual guide accompany us in this discovery, and if we are motivated, we can go on a more in depth incursion in the forest, more off-the-beaten-path.
There, with luck, few mammals or wild geese.

The Lodge has 20 very pleasant and very well equipped bungalows. Electricity, air-conditioning, private bathroom with hot water, balconies and windows with mosquito netting.
The complex offers a large variety of amenities. In addition to a restaurant and to a bar in the local style (bamboo and thatched roof), there are also 4 natural pools, a private beach, a playroom, an orchid and medicinal plants farm, and you can also enjoy a peaceful rest in the “maloca of laziness” (hut equipped with hammocks).

A “Must” for sensation lovers, a hydroplane berth at the end of the beach. A flight over the area can be arranged upon request.
We then will be able to appreciate from an aerial perspective the tentacular city of Manaus. And then realize that, regardless of its size, it resemble a lost island in an ocean of vegetation…
But more than anything we can now see the colossal size of those two rivers and their union that forms the Amazon. It is from the sky that we can observe best the magnificence of this perfect encounter.

Finally, lets mention that the Eco-park works and advocates for the reinsertion of the monkeys.
This work is realized in collaboration with IBAMA (national organism of preservation of the environment) intercepting the primates on the commerce or illegal exportation road and entrust them to the parks’ veterinarians. After an adaptation period they are released in the forest. Some stay with the humans, and these we can approach and play with. After an adaptation period they are released in the forest, but some stay with the humans, and we can approach them and play with them.

Day 1: MANAUS - AMAZON ECO-PARK

In the morning, transfer by private vehicle and by boat to the Amazon Eco-park.
Welcome cocktail, settling and first activities.

The order and organization of the program is made in function of our arrival time at the lodge.
A 3 days and 2 nights stay will include the following activities (all with bilingual guide).

Excursions / treks in the jungle, to the discovery of innumerable plant and animal species.
We learn to recognize some medicinal plants and comestible fruits, how to find potable water, or the art to set up temporary shelters by using only the natural resources available.
Some excursions in the forest are scheduled in the morning, so that we can surprise the animals (especially the birds, which congregate to sleep) as they wake up.
The most courageous ones can ask to do a survival night in the forest (check with us).

Fishing for piranhas.
These little voracious fish can be caught very easily with basic fishing lines. Watch your fingers, though, when you take them off the hook, more than one fisherman carries the stigmas of their teeth as sharp as knifes…

Night excursion.
Surrounded by the thousand noises of the night, our pirogue progresses slowly. In the front, using a powerful light, our guide searches the darkness of the night for animals, looking for the reflection of the light in their eyes. In the trees, the aigrettes keep a mocking eye on us, while on the water surface, still caimans let us get close enough to see their prehistoric morphology.

Visit of the local communities.
Caboclos is the name given here to the people of mixed descent (Indians and Portuguese colons) living in the heart of the forest and keeping a very traditional rural lifestyle (subsistence agriculture, especially of manioc, fishing, domestically used handicraft...).

All included. Night in a bungalow.

Note: For security and comfort during the traveling between Manaus and the lodge, we recommend that you take with you only the strict necessary items for your jungle trip, in a supple and easy to manipulate travel bag instead of a rigid suitcase. Upon return to Manaus you will be able to recover the things left there.

Day 2: AMAZON ECO-PARK

All included. Night in a bungalow.
Option to stay an extra day at the Amazon EcoPark.

Day 3:AMAZON ECO-PARK - MANAUS

Return towards Manaus; check out at 09:30.
Departure by local boat after breakfast, to go see the mandatory encounter of the waters. Return to Manaus for 16:30.
Meals not included. Night in hotel.

Uacari lodge, in the heart of the Amazon

The Uacari lodge (owing its name to the Uacari monkey, recognizable to its red head) is located in the heart of the ecological reserve of Mamiraua, located at 320 miles to the West of Manaus, at the confluence of Rios Japurá and Solimões.
Its floating structure counts 10 spacious and comfortable suites (25 m2 / mosquito net, hot water and private veranda), a natural swimming pool, and comfortable common areas.
To limit the environmental impact, the lodge only welcomes 20 people at a time. It praise itself on using only solar energy, and a system to collect rain water as well as a filtration system for organic waste.
From Manaus, reach Tefé (the town closest to the lodge): by regular boat, speed boat or plane. Warning, depending on the transportation mean chosen, the stay at Uacari lodge will only start on specific days of the week.

Day 1: MANAUS - TEFÉ - UACARI LODGE

Departure from the hotel at 13:30 for a transfer to the airport.
Flight RICO 4844 / Manaus - Tefé / departure 15:50 / arrival 16:50.
Reception at the airport and transfer by motorboat towards the center of the ecological reserve of Mamiraua. This reserve, created in 1990, shelters some 400 bird species and over 45 mammals species.
During our boat cruise (1h30), we may already get a chance to observe some of the local wildlife.
The lodge is set on the water; we are welcomed by a cocktail de followed by the usual recommendations (meals time, water and energy management, swimming advice ...).
We settle in our lodgings. En of day open.
Lunch open. Dinner included. Night at the lodge.

Note: if the arrival in Tefé is delayed, we spend the night in Tefé.
No extra charges, the extra charges are covered by Uacari lodge.

Day 2: ECOLOGICAL RESERVE MAMIRAUA

After breakfast, we depart for our first canoe trip on the surrounding rivers and lakes in the company of our bilingual local guide (Portuguese/English).
Return to the lodge for lunch, followed by a necessary nap.
The ones with most energy can view a video on the projects being developed in the reserve, or go piranha fishing.
When the sun looses its aggressiveness, it is time to return to our motor barge and head to Araçazinho, a magnificent lake where we witness the show given by the birds flocks returning to their nests at sunset.
Return at dark to the lodge, which allows us to discover the wildlife to the light of our torch.
All included. Night at the lodge.

Note: during the high water season (May to July), the excursions around the camp will be made on board a canoe.
The rest of the year, they can be done on foot (around 2 miles).

Day 3: ECOLOGICAL RESERVE MAMIRAUA

At dusk we leave with our local guide. Hike on the trails crossing the jungle around the lodge.
We move slowly and quietly, to pay attention to the awakening jungle...
Return to the lodge before noon.
When the sun drops on the horizon, we leave in the direction of Lake Mamiraua, to encounter the "botos", fresh water pinkish dolphin characteristic of the Amazon and recognizable at the elongated nose.
Dusk resonates with the thousand sounds made by the wildlife that has come to drink on the lake’s shores. Return to the lodge in the dark.
After dinner, the guides of the lodge like to mix with the visitors for a relaxed conversation.
All included. Night at the lodge.

Option: extra day at Uacari lodge.

day 4:UACARI LODGE - TEFÉ - MANAUS

A last activity to this day’s program. After lunch, transfer to the airport of Tefé.
Flight RICO 4844 / Tefé - Manaus / departure 17:10 / arrival 20:20.
Reception at the airport and transfer to the hotel.
Lunch included. Dinner open. Night in a hotel.

GENERAL NOTES FOR LODGE STAY

1 / For security and comfort questions during transportation between Manaus and the lodge, we recommend you to only bring the strict necessary for your jungle stay along, in a travel bag easy to move instead of in a rigid suitcase.
You will be able to retrieve the belongings left in Manaus upon return.

2 / The captain house of Manaus demands that all people navigating from the city be registered (name / first name / birth date / nationality) at least a week in advance. We, therefore, imperatively need all this information for each member of the group.