o/n Hotel Tropical, Manaus

Please Note: This flight is not included in the cost of the tour, however Quest Nature Tours will arrange the group flight for you. In this part of the world, airline flight arrival or departure times change frequently. Therefore, the activities for the first and last days of the tour may have to be adjusted to accommodate any flight changes.

Day 2
Manaus
We’ll get together for a buffet breakfast at the hotel. This morning, we’ll visit some of the points of interest in the City of Manaus. First we go to the boisterous Mercado Municipal of Manaus where hundreds of small stalls offer the fruits of the forest. We will also walk through the fish market to see the daily catch. Our last stop in the market will be the old section, the Mercado Adolpho Lisboa, where we have the opportunity to buy some keepsakes and souvenirs. After a typical Brazilian buffet lunch, our next stop is the famed opera house, the Teatro Amazonas. This 19th Century romantic structure was built at the height of the wealthy period of rubber extraction in the Amazon. The style and decorations of this elaborate structure demonstrate the sophistication as well as the dreams of this short-lived, but glamorous period. Following our visit to the Teatro we will go back to the hotel to freshen up and get together again for dinner.

o/n Hotel Tropical, Manaus (D)

Day 3
Manaus / Rio Negro / Anavilhanas Archipelago
After a buffet breakfast in the hotel, we will be transferred to our waiting Amazon expedition vessel, the M/V Tucano. After settling in our cabins, we will start on our voyage upstream on the Rio Negro. During the morning, we will cruise through the world’s largest river island system, the Anavilhanas Archipelago. From the observation deck we will scan the magnificent tangle of tree top vegetation at the water’s edge. Around midday, we will have an orientation and a presentation by our Brazilian naturalist guide about the fascinating flora and fauna that we hope to find and observe during the trip. By mid-afternoon, we will be beyond settlement and will start to enter a wilderness area. Both shores will be covered by dense rainforest where all the animals, for which the Amazon is famous, still live. The top deck is a great place to keep an eye out for wildlife. Though we never know exactly what we will see, there is a good chance that we will see the pink river dolphins and many Amazonian birds in this area. Most certainly, we will be treated to magnificent forest vistas and spectacular trees. In the late afternoon, we will use our launches to explore a small stream and look for any resident wildlife. Please note that for the next several days we will be exploring an area recently declared an Ecological reserve. Our activities will be confined to permitted uses of this reserve and these new policies have not yet been published. The itinerary for the cruise and all the activities must be considered approximate and are subject to change according to navigational or scheduling considerations.

o/n M/V Tucano (B, L, D)

Day 4
Explore the Rainforest
Early this morning we will explore the rainforest along the water’s edge in our launches. We should hear, and perhaps see, howler monkeys and there should be a morning serenade of toucans along with many other species of birds. After breakfast we may go for a walk in the forest where we will get a good start on understanding Amazon ecology. Around midday we will return to the boat and continue our journey, perhaps stopping at a place to swim in the tannin rich water. In the late afternoon we will explore the forest in our launches and listen to the sunset chorus of birds and frogs. This evening, after dinner, we may hunt for nocturnal wildlife.

o/n M/V Tucano (B, L, D)

Day 5
Explore the Rainforest
This morning we will focus on the waking forest. On our walk in the forest we will keep our eyes open for monkeys and, with luck, we may observe some Bearded Sakis or Squirrel Monkeys, as well as the numerous birds found here. We’ll return to the boat for breakfast and a shower and then, during the middle of the day, sail upriver towards our afternoon landing places. We might also go for a swim in some of the world’s cleanest and most refreshing waters.

o/n M/V Tucano (B, L, D)

Day 6
Rio Branco / Varzea
After an early morning excursion we will navigate the M/V Tucano along the heavily forested shore, scouting for wildlife. We may stop for a visit at a settler’s home carved out of the forest. The thatched hut and the kindness of the settlers disguise an amazingly complex way of life. The warmth of our reception will be evidence of a centuries’ old tradition of hospitality. These visits with families, so far in the forest, are often the high points of our trips. If the water is deep enough and the weather co-operates, we should arrive in the early afternoon at the Rio Branco, where the water changes from dark brown to silty. With the rich water, the wildlife will be even more evident. Here we will, for the first time, see a kind of forest known as the Varzea—a type of forest very rich in wildlife and very different from what we have seen on the Rio Negro. There will be orchids on the tree branches and bromeliads in bloom. This area is known for the large numbers of caiman (the Amazon’s crocodiles) living there, especially the striking black caiman, the largest in the Americas. We will scout along the shoreline for some of the other extraordinary creatures found only in this kind of environment. Weather permitting we will plan to take a night excursion to observe nocturnal wildlife.

o/n M/V Tucano (B, L, D)

Day 7
Explore the Rainforest
We will spend the day and night in the Rio Branco region exploring, on foot and in our launches, one of the most beautiful and richest wildlife places on earth.

o/n M/V Tucano (B, L, D)

Day 8
Moura
Today we will leave the Rio Branco and sail down the southwestern bank of the Rio Negro. This side of the river has different wildlife than we’ve previously seen. Time and weather permitting, we will visit the small village of Moura, once the administrative centre for one quarter of the entire Amazon, now with a population of only 250 souls. We will cruise along the wilderness shore in our boat’s launches and plan to stop and visit the homes of some forest settlers and marvel at their pioneering skills. During the night we’ll continue to travel down the Rio Negro.

o/n M/V Tucano (B, L, D)

Day 9
Rainforest Walk
After our early morning excursion, and a full breakfast, we will find a good spot to walk in the rainforest. We expect to take a night cruise in our launches and then return to sleep in the cool comfort of the M/V Tucano.

o/n M/V Tucano (B, L, D)

Day 10
Novo Airão / Amazon River
Along with our several daily boat excursions, we will make a stop at the substantial boat-building village of Novo Airão, where the M/V Tucano was built. We will walk through the streets and appreciate how the 19th Century still thrives in this remote corner of the globe. After travelling through the night we will arrive near the confluence of the Amazon and Negro Rivers. As we glide through the starry darkness this is a good night to sip the national drink of Brazil, the "Caipirinha" and listen to some Brazilian music.

In the early afternoon, we will drive north to the town of Presidente Figueiredo. This small selllement serves as the administartive centre of a vast area of mostly unhibitated rainforest. Within this area are several impotant reserves including the Urubu Environmental Protection Area,the Caverna do Maroaga Environmental Protection Agency, the Utama Biological Reserve, and the Waimiri-Atroari Indigenous Reserve. Arriving in mid-afternoon, we'll check into our hotel that is built near a series of cascades along the Urubu River. Some members of our group will take a siesta and some will choose to explore the nearby forest with our naturalist guide. Tonight we will gwet together for an early dinner and early to bed because the next morning we will rise early for another day of exploration. i

o/n M/V Tucano (B, L, D)

Day 11
Lago Janauari Ecological Park
This morning we will take our small boats and explore the Lago Janauari Ecological Park, where the beige water of the Amazon flows swiftly through the forest. This area is thick with life and we are almost guaranteed to see monkeys. We will certainly see a good selection of large, beautiful birds and have a chance of seeing large mammals like anteaters or perhaps a sloth. Then we will travel to the “Encontra das Aguas” the stark several-miles-long line where two of the world’s largest rivers, the Amazon and the Negro, join in a turbulent maelstrom. Here the dark waters of the Negro run besides the opaque brown waters of the Amazon. In the afternoon we will cruise along the Amazon River and visit some of the interesting channels that shoot off into the forest.

o/n M/V Tucano (B, L, D)

Day 12
Departure Day
After breakfast on board the boat, we’ll transfer to the international airport for our early afternoon flight on TAM Airlines. (B)

Please Note: This itinerary must be considered approximate and is subject to change, without notice, due to flight schedules, weather or organizational imperatives.

o/n Hotel Tropical Manaus, (B, L, D)