Amazon at Anavilhanas Lodge

Your flight takes you over the Amazon Jungle to Manaus, flying above miles of nothing but green jungle and silver rivers for the final hour or more. The sight of nothing but trees is a special one if the rainforest cloud clears for you. On arrival in the city, you will be met for transfer to your hotel in the city. A tour of Manaus takes in the amazing array of Amazon produce at the Adolpho Lisboa Municipal Market and the Floating Dock on the edge of the Rio Negro. You will then visit the Amazon Theatre, the symbol of the city built during the rubber boom that made Manaus famous around the world. You return to your hotel after the tour with the evening free.

In the morning you will be picked up at your hotel for the three-hour drive through the jungle to Novo Airao, completing the journey to Anavilhanas Lodge by boat amongst the sights and sounds of the Amazon. The lodge sits on the edge of the largest freshwater archipelago in the world. In the afternoon you can take a boat tour around some of the islands in the archipelago before returning to the lodge for dinner. In the evening you have the opportunity to look for caiman alligators, the largest reptile in South America, along the Amazon River system before you settle into your cabin and fall asleep to the sounds of the Amazon Jungle all around you.

Your day can be engaged in Amazon activities: hiking in the jungle with your expert guide; canoeing through the creeks and the trunks of the flooded forests; visiting local Tiririca communities to see how people make their lives on the edge of the world's largest river system. You have the opportunity to fish for piranha too - the legendary Amazon fish is not as dangerous to humans as humans are to them. You can also learn how many uses of those sharp teeth there are in the Amazon. You return to the lodge in the late afternoon to enjoy the sounds of sunset before dinner, made with fresh local ingredients, possibly including your piranha...

At least one morning in the Amazon should be spent admiring the sunrise. The Amazon Dawn is a beautiful time, although not a peaceful one! The rainforest comes alive with bird, monkey and amphibian calls in a chorus of staggering volume. Parrots, parakeets and macaws seem to be competing to make the most noise as the sun rises over the canopy of trees. Among some of the calmer Amazon animals are the pink and grey river dolphins. These friendly creatures seem to enjoy the company of humans, and Anavilhanas is the only lodge in the Manaus area that always includes a trip to see and perhaps even swim with them at Novo Airao.

After breakfast you take a ride in regional canoes through the Amazonian Creeks and Flooded Forests in the warm Rio Negro waters. The seasonal flooding means that you can canoe in between the trunks of the trees and explore parts of the Amazon Jungle that are impossible to reach on foot or by motor boat. The tranquility allows you to enjoy the sights and sounds for yourselves. After lunch back at the lodge, you can spend the afternoon practicing the use of Waimiri-Atroari Indian Weapons, with bow and arrow and blow-pipes. Dinner will be back at the lodge in the evening.

After breakfast, you begin the journey from Anavilhanas Lodge back to the Real World. The morning boat takes you back to the road, where you drive on to the airport in Manaus. From there, you can fly either directly away from Brazil to the north, travel on to another of our wonderful Brazil destinations, or you can fly on to Sao Paulo, Rio or Brasilia and connect with international flights there. You can also finish your Amazon Tour with the hydroplane flight from Anavilhanas Lodge to Manaus, a spectacular flight over the Anavilhanas Archipelago and down the Rio Negro to Manaus, with a look at the Meeting of the Waters to finish your tour in style.