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Brazil
Suggested
Packages / Rio area / Amazon
/ Pantanal / Iguassu
Salvador
and Bahia / Northeast Coast /
Bonito / Fernando de Noronha
Gauchos
& Grapes / Land of Gold and Gems / Lencois
Marenhenses
Mamiraua
Reserve
The
ecotourism program at Mamirauá is just beginning. But the beauty
and the information accumulated by the scientific research and the traditional
understanding of the caboclo people, are already available for small groups
of visitors. It is possible to admire concentrations of Amazonian fauna
never before recorded. Thousands of caiman can be easily observed
in the dry season. Concentrations of up to 15 000 cormorants and herons
are seen fishing in the lakes, which boil with fish.In the trees,
numerous groups of monkeys share the branches with sloths and with
beautiful bromeliads and orchids. River dolphins, legendary creatures
in the flooded forest, enchant all who see them.
Mamirauá
is also home to approximately 400 species of bird and at least 45 species
of mammal. One of the strangest is the White Uacari Cacajao calvus, a
monkey of four kilos which feeds almost exclusively on the seeds of unripe
fruits. Uacaris live in bands of up to 50 individuals, and travel many
kilometres every day, in search of their favourite foods. Also endemic
to Mamirauá is the Black Headed Squirrel Monkey Saimiri vanzolinii,
and the lakes and rivers provide a refuge for the Amazon Manatee Trichechus
inunguis and the Red River Dolphin Inia geoffrensis. Some of the most
important tropical timber species are still found in the area protected
by the RSDM.
The
Mamirauá Sustainable Development Reserve (RSDM) was created in
1990 as an Ecological Station by the Governor of the state of Amazonas.
In 1996, with the completion of the Management Plan, its status was changed
to that of a Sustainable Development Reserve, again by the state government.
Scientific research is one of the principal activities within the Reserve,
and various theses (Masters and Doctoral) and scientific articles have
been produced and published about Mamirauá. This research was essential
in the drawing-up of a Management Plan for the Reserve.
Mamirauá is one of the areas protected
by the international Ramsar Convention of the IUCN, as a wetland of global
importance. In addition, it has been proposed that the Reserve should
form part of a future UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in the Brazilian Amazon.
At present, it is included in one of the Ecological Corridors to be implemented
by the PPG-7 Program for the Protection of Brazilian Tropical Forests.
"Absolutely excellent
- fantastic facilities and loads of wildlife. Thanks so much for all your
help...I won't hesitate to use you again or to recommend you to friends".
- Mark
Package from Tuesday to Saturday
Day
1 - Pick up in the morning at airport in Tefé and transfer
to the Areia Branca Pier. Usually we visit the Mamiraua store and ecotourism
office to make some payments of the tourists. Departing from Areia Branca
Pier, by speedboat, you can enjoy the breeze and the magic scenery. You
might even be able to spot wildlife, such as pink dolphins (Inia geofrensis)
and tucuxis (Sotalia fluviatilis) at Tefe Lake in the Amazonas
River. The arrival is around 14:00 at the Uakari Lodge, our staff will
be waiting for you. There will always be an English-speaking person at
the lodge. Our staff will give you rapid recommendations and explanations
on the running of the lodge (meal times, solar power, water, no swimming,
etc) and you
will be asked to fill in the visitors registration form. At this time
you will be able to meet all the employees responsible for making an excellent
stay. All outings have to be accompanied by a local guide and some of
them a naturalist guide, you must listen to the their recommendations
at all times, specially those regarding your own safety. The local guides
dont speak English fluently. At 15:30 the local guide will accompany
you in a trail or in a traditional canoe, in the heart of the forest,
where you will have the opportunity to view various species of animals.
The dinner will be served around 18:30. After dinner you will have the
opportunity to hear a talk about the ecosystem and about the Mamirauá
Sustainable Development Institute its work, its research, etc.
The naturalist guide will do the presentation at 19:30. After the presentation
you can watch a movie or go to sleep hearing the sounds of the forest.

Day 2 - If you choose to visit a local village,
the morning is the time to do it. The Ecotourism program has had plenty
of discussion with the local communities about those visits and agreed
an informal itinerary with a series of attractions they would like to
show and talk about. A person from the community will meet your group
and show you around (please see the detailed information sheet about village
visits). Depending on the village,
you might have the opportunity to buy locally produced handicrafts - take
small change with you. If you choose not to visit a village you can go
for
another tour with your local guide. The lunch will be served at 12:30.
After lunch, you can rest in a hammock, watch a video about researches
done at Mamirauá or an award-winning BBC documentary on Mamirauá,
read a book, or just chat - outings will only be carried out when the
sun goes down a little. In the afternoon you will go to another hiking
or canoe tour, always exploring a different region of the reserve. This
night, we invite researchers that are working in the ecotourism area for
dinner, after the dinner they give a presentation about their works.
Day
3 - Animals in the forest wake up at sunrise, so if you are interested
in sighting as much wildlife as possible, you have to wake up early. The
breakfast is served at 06:30, at 7:00 the activities begin; you will be
ready to go on a walk (during the dry season) in one of the trails. You
will be taken with your whole group to do an Interpretative Trail. The
naturalist and the local guide, joining scientific and traditional knowledge
will help you to
interpret the varzeas environment (flooded forest). Our trails are
designed not to be physically straining and most of them can be walked
in three hours at the longest. During the flood (May-July), all trails
will be done in a small paddle canoe (your guide will paddle you through
the trail). In the afternoon
you have a choice to accompany a researchers team and participate of their
field works and supplementing the technical information given last night.
Or if you prefer, you can go to another wildlife viewing tour, travelling
around the landscapes, channels and lakes system that compose part of
the varzeas
ecosystem. After the dinner, be ready to do a night tour with high chances
to see the nocturnal fauna, as tarantula spiders, opossum (Didelphis marsupialis
and Philander opossum), two-toed sloth (Choloepus didactylus) and brown
throated three toated sloth (Bradypus variegatus), amazon bamboo rats
(Dactylomys dactylinus), bats (Rhynchonycteris naso and Noctilio leporinus),
etc
Day 4 - In your last day in the Reserve,
you are more used to the forest, if you are really quiet and set out early
enough, you might see even more wildlife like capuchin monkeys (Cebus
paella)), howlers (Alouatta seniculus), uakaris (Cacajao calvus calvus)
and squirrel monkeys (Saimiri sciureus and Saimiri vanzolinii), three
toed sloths (Bradypus variegates), hoatzins (Opistochomus hoazin), etc.
If you prefer you can practise a traditional fish or piranha fishing.
In this afternoon you will be taken on a motorised canoe to lake Mamirauá,
a beautiful lake inside the total preservation area of the Reserve. At
the lake you will probably have memorable encounters with pink river dolphins
(Inia geofrensis), hoatzins (Opistochomus hoazin) and perhaps the pirarucu
(Arapaima gigas) fish. You will stay there until the sunset and on your
way back you will spot black caimans (Melanoschus niger), bats (Rhynchonycteris
naso and Noctilio leporinus), night birds
The Dinner is at 20:00
So you can enjoy your last night to talk to the staff, to see another
kind of documentary or just pack for the next morning.
Day 5 - Before leaving, we would be
grateful if you could fill in the assessments form. It is very important
for us to know your thoughts about the trip; in this way we can always
improve our services. The return to Tefe is by regional boat.
Package from Saturday to Tuesday
Day 1 - Pick
up in the morning at airport in Tefé and transfer to the Areia
Branca Pier. Usually we visit the Mamiraua store and ecotourism office
to make some payments of the tourists. Departing from Areia Branca Pier,
by boat you can enjoy the breeze and the magic scenery. You might even
be able to spot wildlife, such as pink dolphins (Inia geofrensis) at Tefé
Lake and tucuxis (Sotalia fluviatilis) in the Amazonas River. Upon arrival
at the Uakari Lodge, our staff will be waiting for you. There will always
be an English-speaking person at the lodge. Our staff will give you rapid
recommendations and explanations on the running of the lodge (meal times,
solar power, water, no swimming, etc) and you will be asked to fill in
the visitors registration form. At this time you will be able to meet
all the employees responsible for making an excellent stay. All outings
have to be accompanied by a local guide and you must listen to the their
recommendations at all times, specially those regarding your own safety.
At 15:30 you will be ready to go on a walk (dry season) in one of the
trails. You will be taken with your whole group to do an Interpretative
Trail. The naturalist and the local guide, joining scientific and traditional
knowledge will help you to interpret the varzeas environment (flooded
forest). The local guides dont speak English fluently. Our trails
are designed not to be physically straining and most of them can be walked
in three hours at the longest. During the flood (May-July) all trails
will be done in a small paddle canoe (your guide will paddle you through
the trail). The dinner will be served around 18:30. After dinner you will
have the opportunity to hear a talk about the ecosystem and about the
Mamirauá Sustainable Development Institute its work, its
research, etc. The naturalist guide will do the presentation at 19:30.
After the presentation, be ready to do a night tour with high chances
to see the nocturnal fauna, as tarantula spiders, opossum (Didelphis marsupialis
and Philander opossum), two-toed sloth (Choloepus didactylus) and brown
throated three toated sloth (Bradypus variegatus), amazon bamboo rats
(Dactylomys dactylinus), bats (Rhynchonycteris naso and Noctilio
leporinus), etc.
Day 2 - If you choose to visit a local
village, the morning is the time to do it. The Ecotourism program has
had plenty of discussion with the local communities about those visits
and agreed an informal itinerary with a series of attractions they would
like to show and talk about. A person from the community will meet your
group and show you around (please see the detailed information sheet about
village visits). Depending on the village, you might have the opportunity
to buy locally produced handicrafts - take small change with you. If you
choose not to visit a village you can go for another tour with your local
guide. At 15:30 the local guide will accompany you in another hiking or
traditional canoe (rain season), in the heart of the forest, where you
will have the opportunity to view various species of animals. This night,
we invite researchers that are working in the ecotourism area for dinner,
after the dinner they give a presentation about their works.
Day 3 - In your last day in the Reserve,
you have a choice to accompany a researchers team and participate of their
field works and supplementing the technical information given last night.
Or if you prefer, you can go to another wildlife viewing tour, travelling
around the landscapes, channels and lakes system that compose part of
the varzeas ecosystem. In this afternoon you will be taken on a
motorised canoe to lake Mamirauá, a beautiful lake inside the total
preservation area of the Reserve. At the lake you will probably have memorable
encounters with pink river dolphins (Inia geofrensis), hoatzins (Opistochomus
hoazin) and perhaps the pirarucu (Arapaima gigas) fish. You will stay
there until the sunset and on your way back you will spot black caimans
(Melanoschus niger), bats (Rhynchonycteris naso and Noctilio leporinus),
night birds
The Dinner is at 20:00 so you can enjoy your last night
to talk to the staff, to see another kind of documentary or just pack
for the next morning.
Day 4 - Your departure will be early,
during the beautiful Amazonian sunrise. Before leaving , we would be grateful
if you could fill in the assessments form. It is very important
for us to know your thoughts about the trip; in this way we can always
improve our services. The return to Tefe is by regional boat.
Sat.-Sat. or Tues.-Tues. Package
This is a special package for people who
have more time and want enjoy a little more of the amazon-flooded forest.
You're going to do longer hiking and canoes tour that you have the opportunity
to view the fauna and longer interaction with the communities. This longer
package was developed for people who don't care with the discomfort of
the forest like the heat, mosquitoes and for people wish to know deeply
the wonders of the forest.
First Day - Usually we visit the Mamiraua store
and ecotourism office to make some payments of the tourists. Departing
around 11:00 "Flutuante do Jorge, by speedboat, you can enjoy the
breeze and the magic scenery. You might even be able to spot wildlife,
such as pink dolphins (Inia geofrensis) at Tefé Lake and tucuxis
(Sotalia fluviatilis) in the Amazonas River. The arrival is around 12:30
at the Uakari Lodge, our staff will be waiting for you. There will always
be an English-speaking person at the lodge. Our staff will give you rapid
recommendations and explanations on the running of the lodge (meal times,
solar power, water, no swimming, etc) and you will be asked to fill in
the visitors registration form. At this time you will be able to meet
all the employees responsible for making an excellent stay. All outings
have to be accompanied by a local guides and some of them a naturalist
guide, you must listen to the their recommendations at all times, specially
those regarding your own safety.
The local guides don't speak English fluently,
At 15:30 the local guide will accompany you in a trail or in a traditional
canoe, in the heart of the forest, where you will have the opportunity
to view various species of animals. At night you will have the opportunity
to hear a talk about the ecosystem and about the Mamirauá Sustainable
Development Institute - its work, its research, etc. The naturalist guide
will do the presentation around 20:30.
Second Day - If you choose to visit a local village,
the morning is the time to do it. The Ecotourism program has had plenty
of discussion with the local communities about those visits and agreed
an informal itinerary with a series of attractions they would like to
show and talk about. A person from the community will meet your group
and show you around (please see the detailed information sheet about village
visits). Depending on the village, you might have the opportunity to buy
locally produced handicrafts - take small change with you.
If you choose not to visit a village you can go for another tour with
your local guide.
The lunch will be served at 12:30. After lunch, you can rest in a hammock,
watch a video about researches done at Mamirauá or an award-winning
BBC documentary on Mamirauá, read a book, or just chat - outings
will only be carried out when the sun goes down a little
In the afternoon you will go to another hiking or canoe tour, always exploring
a different region of the reserve.
After the dinner, you can watch a movie or go to sleep hearing the sounds
of the forest.
Third Day - Animals in the forest wake up at sunrise,
so if you are interested in sighting as much wildlife as possible, you
have to wake up early. The breakfast is served at 06:30, at 7:00 the activities
begin; you will be ready to go on a walk (during the dry season) in one
of the trails. You will be taken with your whole group to do an Interpretative
Trail. The naturalist and the local guide, joining scientific and traditional
knowledge will help you to interpret the varzea's environment (flooded
forest). Our trails are designed not to be physically straining and most
of them can be walked in three hours at the longest. During the flood
(May-July), all trails will be done in a small paddle canoe (your guide
will paddle you through the trail). In the afternoon you have a choice
to accompany a researchers team and participate of their field works and
supplementing the technical information given last night. Or if you prefer,
you can go to another wildlife viewing tour, travelling around the landscapes,
channels and lakes system that compose part of the varzea's ecosystem.
After the dinner, be ready to do a night tour with high chances to see
the nocturnal fauna, as tarantula spiders, opossum (Didelphis marsupialis
and Philander opossum), two-toed sloth (Choloepus didactylus) and brown
throated three toated sloth (Bradypus ariegates), amazon bamboo rats (Dactylomys
dactylinus), bats (Rhynchonycteris naso and Noctilio leporinus), etc.
Fourth Day - Today you are more used to the forest,
if you are really quiet and set out early enough, you might see even more
wildlife like capuchin monkeys (Cebus arieg), howlers (Alouatta seniculus),
uakaris (Cacajao calvus calvus) and squirrel monkeys (Saimiri sciureus
and Saimiri vanzolinii), three toed sloths (Bradypus ariegates), hoatzins
(Opistochomus hoazin), etc. If you prefer you can practise a traditional
fish or piranha fishing.
In this afternoon you will be taken on a motorised canoe to lake Mamirauá,
a beautiful lake inside the total preservation area of the Reserve. At
the lake you will probably have memorable encounters with pink river dolphins
(Inia geofrensis), hoatzins (Opistochomus hoazin) and perhaps the pirarucu
(Arapaima gigas) fish. You will stay there until the sunset and on your
way back you will spot black caimans (Melanoschus niger), bats (Rhynchonycteris
naso and Noctilio leporinus), night birds
Fifth Day - In the morning you go to a longer visit
in another community, there you have the opportunity to visit the preserved
lakes, the brush where is planted the manioc - the main food of the river
people.The return will be around 13:00,so bring your sunblock. In the
afternoon there are more wildlife view, hiking or canoe tour.
Sixth Day - After the breakfast, around 7:00 h,
you go to know the Araçazinho Lake, one of the most beautiful lakes
of the Mamirauá Reserve, there leaves howlers (Alouatta seniculus)
e and squirrel monkeys (Saimiri sciureus and Saimiri vanzolinii), several
species of birds like parrots (Amazona sp), toucan (Ramphastus sp), etc.
In the afternoon you make a tour by canoe or trail, completing a full
day of wildlife. At night you can watch a video about the flooded forest.
Seventh Day - In your last
day in the Reserve, you'll visit another project of research, developed
in the Ecotourism area. At the research floating station, you watch a
presentation where you have the opportunity to go out with the researcher
and understand their works. To finalize your programming, you visit again
the Mamiraua Lake and view the last sunset of the Reserve. You can enjoy
your last night to talk to the staff, to see another kind of documentary
or just pack for the next morning. Your departure will be early, during
the beautiful Amazonian sunrise.
Eighth Day - Before leaving, we would be grateful
if you could fill out an evaluation form. It is very important for us
to know your thoughts about the trip; in this way we can always improve
our services.
It is important to mention that the activities described above can
be changed because of environmental factors, water level variation and
climate conditions.
Package
Prices: (land only - no flights)
Tuesday to Saturday - US$630 per person
double
Saturday to Tuesday - US$550 per person double
Saturday-Saturday or Tuesday-Tuesday - US$990 per person double (minimum
of 4 people required)
Single supplement is $50 per night.
no children under 12 allowed
Prices include: all meals, water,
juice, coffee, tea, standard tours and guiding
Prices do not include: soft drinks
and alcoholic beverages, insurance, extra transfers
Tefe is now accessible by local flight from
Manaus. Our contact in Manaus can arrange the flights for you. Current
flight info is:
depart Manaus at 10am on Rico Airlines, arrive
Tefe at 11am
depart Tefe at 1120am on Rico Airlines, arrive Manaus at
250pm
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