Amazon Odyssey

Amazon Adventures

The Amazon Odyssey

Day 1 Monday This morning we embark on the Motor Yacht Tucano in Manaus, Brasil and depart upstream on the Rio Negro. As we glide upstream close to the shore we will study the magnificent tangle of vegetation for brightly colored flowers or monkeys scurrying about in the branches. Amazonia
has the greatest collection of birds in the world and we are sure to see some of these brightly colored jewels perched in the treetops.

Around midday we will have an orientation talk about Amazon environments. As the boat weaves in through the winding channel with rainforest on both sides we will closely study the wild forest from the observation deck. Around mid-afternoon we will pass the frontier of settlement and begin traveling in a
wilderness area. We may stop for a swim from a beautiful beach and scout about in our boat’s launches to observe wildlife feeding before sunset. (LD)

Day 2 Tuesday We rise with the sun and have an early morning excursion observing birds, and if we are lucky, primates like howler monkeys or dusky-titi monkeys. We will explore the Reserva Ecologico Anavilhanas Archipelago, a reserve that includes the world’s largest system of river islands and also areas of tall dense rainforest. After a good breakfast we will go for our first walk in the high forest known
as the terre firme. Here we have a good chance to see the markings, if not the animals themselves, of
some of the Amazon’s great mammals like peccaries (wild pigs) or even a jaguar.

In the afternoon we will excursion in our launches to study the late afternoon forest and listen to the sunset chorus of birds, howler monkeys, and frogs. Weather permitting, tonight we will have an excursion to spot caiman (the Amazon’s crocodiles) and other nocturnal creatures. We very often see arboreal porcupines
or sloths scrambling high in the limbs. (BLD)

Day 3 Wednesday After our morning excursion and a full breakfast, weather permitting, we will take another walk in the rainforest. In the early afternoon we will get underway and enter one of the world’s largest river island systems, the Anavilhanas Archipelago. We will explore this interesting maze
of islands until the late afternoon when we will visit the Amazon village of Novo Airão where the style of building wooden boats has not changed in 100 years. Tonight we will travel downstream all the way to the confluence of the world’s two largest rivers: the Rio Negro and the Amazon. (BLD)

Day 4 Thursday Rising very early we will excursion in our launches in the Lago Janáuarí Ecological Park. This park is flooded with the coffee colored water of the Amazon River. We will see a very different collection of wildlife in this extremely rich system. There will be a profusion of birdlife and we
almost always see squirrel monkeys and occasionally anteaters or sloths. During breakfast the M/Y Tucano will navigate to the “Encontra das Aguas” the several mile long line where the world’s
two largest rivers, the Amazon and the Rio Negro, join in a turbulent maelstrom. Here the dark water of the Negro runs beside the opaque brown water of the Amazon. Dolphins usually leap and cavort along this stark line of contrasting water. Afterwards we will enter the main channel of the Amazon River itself
and travel until the early afternoon soaking up the vast spaces the world’s most mighty river.

By the late afternoon we will reach a smaller channel of the Amazon and begin concentrating on the fascinating Amazon environment known as the varzea. We will explore one of the large lakes on the south bank of the Amazon, Lago Janauacá. We are sure to see a wonderful diversity of birdlife and probably
an iguana or monkeys. The plant life will be very different here with giant buttressed trees and massive tangles of vines. We are likely also to see primates, and if we are lucky, a threetoed sloth. Tonight we will have another excursion to observe the night shift of Amazon fauna which includes caiman (the
Amazon’s crocodiles). (BLD)

Day 5 Friday Today we will have a variety of excursions exploring one of the large lakes off the Amazon River. We will also visit the home of a settler or a small village to learn a little about how they survive on the edge of this vast wilderness. In the late afternoon or early evening our vessel will enter the main channel of the Amazon River and begin returning to Manaus for arrival late that night. Sometimes
this is a good night to have a farewell party on the top deck and we can try to persuade our cook to teach us a bit of samba as we cruise under the countless stars of the southern sky. (BLD)

Day 6 Saturday Early this morning following breakfast travelers will disembark the vessel in Manaus, Brasil. (B)

Please note that the day to day schedule must be considered approximate. Features may be
altered due to navigational or weather considerations.

Meal Codes: B= Breakfast, L= Lunch, D= Dinner)