Amazon visit

[Beverly Burmeier]

Amy recommendations for small ships/travel companies with which to cruise the Amazon?  Interested in going fairly deep, maybe at headwaters, unless someone has a better recommendation. Shore excursions, hikes, etc. should be available or included. Also, when is the best time to go (thinking of September, either 2010 or 1011)? Anything I should know before planning this kind of trip?  Thanks.

 

Beverly Burmeier

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[Ariane Janer]

Dear Beverly,

From Manaus these are the possibilities (all are long established companies that offer a good and safe experience and their main market is foreign tourists ):

a) Clipper Cruises (owned by Carlos Probst, an ecotourism pioneer in Brazil) http://www.amazonclipper.com.br/regularcruises.php

b) Ecotour Expeditions with the Tucano http://www.naturetours.com/tucano.html - More in-depth in terms of learning about the Amazon

c) Swallows and Amazons(Mark and Tania Aitchison) http://www.swallowsandamazonstours.com/pagina_interna.php?cod=30&am...

The sites give you good information about when to go and how to prepare. September is a great month for birdwatching. The rainy season (you will still get showers though) is over and the water level is lower.

My favourite places to go in the Amazon are lodges : Cristalino Jungle Lodge (Alta Floresta) - www.cristalinolodge.com.br and the Uakari Floating Lodge in the Mamiraua Sustainable Development Reserve (www.uakari.com.br and www.mamiraua.org.br)

A good site for general information on the possibilities (lodges, cruises etc) is http://www.amazonastravel.com.br/

[Beverly Burmeier]

Thanks for all the info and sites to check out. Very helpful.

Ariane Janer said:

Dear Beverly,

From Manaus these are the possibilities (all are long established companies that offer a good and safe experience and their main market is foreign tourists ):

a) Clipper Cruises (owned by Carlos Probst, an ecotourism pioneer in Brazil) http://www.amazonclipper.com.br/regularcruises.php

b) Ecotour Expeditions with the Tucano http://www.naturetours.com/tucano.html - More in-depth in terms of learning about the Amazon

c) Swallows and Amazons(Mark and Tania Aitchison) http://www.swallowsandamazonstours.com/pagina_interna.php?cod=30&am...

The sites give you good information about when to go and how to prepare. September is a great month for birdwatching. The rainy season (you will still get showers though) is over and the water level is lower.

My favourite places to go in the Amazon are lodges : Cristalino Jungle Lodge (Alta Floresta) - www.cristalinolodge.com.br and the Uakari Floating Lodge in the Mamiraua Sustainable Development Reserve (www.uakari.com.br and www.mamiraua.org.br)

A good site for general information on the possibilities (lodges, cruises etc) is http://www.amazonastravel.com.br/

[Ecodestinos viajes y turismo]

Here in Leticia, U can contact us for travels Perú - Colombia Amazon; www.ecodestinos.com.co [e-mail]; activities: Trecking, Natural Reserves, Fishing, Wild Forest, Birds watching, River Dolphins observation, Tropical flowers way, jungle butterflies etc; All the times is good for you visit us!!

[Pat Terry]

Beverly,

We took a trip on the Peruvian Amazon, from Iquitos toward the headwaters, maybe 10 years ago with a company called International Expeditions, which was excellent. However, our trip was not the cruise via small but airconditioned, etc., riverboat but rather we traveled in very basic motor launches with a simple canopy on top, small dugouts and on foot -- with a little bushwacking from one non-electric lodge to another. That option does not seem to be offered these days, but the company that handled this (probably as a subcontractor or in some form of partnership that may no longer exist) is Explorama Lodges, founded by a Wisconsin-born man named Peter Jenson/Jensen. He used local guides, ours being the son of a shaman, who talked to us about medicinal uses of many of the rainforest plants. At one lodge, with a half-open side and screened netting over the beds, there were outhouses and a path from the lodge room lit by kerosene lanterns.

It was fantastic, but not everyone's cup of tea.

I have not been on the Brazilian portion of the Amazon, which is supposedly quite built up -especially around Manaus.

Hope this helps.

Pat Terry

www.terrywriters.com
Tags: amazon, Peruvian
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[Bill Hinchberger]

As usual, Ariane is full of good information. I second most of she says. For a little more detail, see the Amazon Travel Guide on BrazilMax. See what Mark Aitchison of Swallows and Amazons has written about the Amazon on his BrazilMax column Letter from Manaus.

[Beverly Burmeier]

Bill and Ariane,

I had been looking at a trip on the Peruvian Amazon along the Pacaya-Samiria Reserve similar to that described by Pat Terry. I remember reading about trips that combined river cruising with staying at lodges on land, but now it seems you stay on the boat the whole time, with just day excursions into the jungle.

Why do you recommend the Brazilian Amazon over Peruvian?

Bill Hinchberger said:

As usual, Ariane is full of good information. I second most of she says. For a little more detail, see the Amazon Travel Guide on BrazilMax. See what Mark Aitchison of Swallows and Amazons has written about the Amazon on his BrazilMax column Letter from Manaus.

[Ariane Janer]

Just to correct the image that Pat Terry has inadvertently given of the Brazilian Amazon, by focusing on the city of Manaus.


1) The Brazilian Amazon is not built up : Brazil has 3.8 million km2 of the total of 7 million of the Amazon Basin. About 20 million people live in the Legal Amazon (which is larger 5.1 million km2 and not all rainforest and includes the states of Mato Grosso, Tocantins and Maranhão).
2) In the Amazon the population is concentrated in the big cities Manaus, Belem etc. A signifcant part of the Brazilian Amazon has some kind of protected status (conservation unit, indian reserve).
3) Yes Manaus is built up (population of 1.5 million) but the state of Amazonas has a population density of 2 per km2. You can stay in "lodges" close to the big city or go to lodges further away or take a river cruise and soon you are in the middle of nowhere
4) River cruises also take canoes to explore and the Cristalino and Uakari lodges give you incredible experiences in large protected areas (just Google, Google Earth and TripAdvisor them) on par with other Amazon countries.
5) The Cristalino, which is tops for bird and wildlife watching and the Anavilhanas Lodge (which I don´t know, but is part of the Roteiros de Charme independent boutique hotel chain) are probably the most upmarket. Cristalino is also a reference in sustainable design. Uakari is also very comfortable and its differential is that is is a community based project.

[Ariane Janer]

Beverly,
The Amazon has no nationality, so I do not recommend one over the other. I am an expert on Brazil and not on Peru and know more about Brazilian products.

You can have great experiences in many places of the Amazon (not only Peru or Brazil). But remember that in choosing you should also consider basic factors like safety& heath, logistics (cost in money and time to get to a wonderful place). And what do you want out of the experience : nature, wildlife watching (general or specifically seeing certain endemic species), interacting with local communities, understanding conservation and community issues. etc.

[Jim McDaniel]

Hi Beverly,

It looks like the Brazilian Amazon has been covered pretty thoroughly. There are several companies now that offer cruises into the Pacaya-Samiria Reserve west of Iquitos. They are good, but expensive. Many of the lodges have now closed in the area, but one good one that is open and can provide you with a customized itinerary to suit your interests is at http://www.amazonadventures.com/rainforest.htm .

[Beverly Burmeier]

Thanks to everyone who offered information. I'll continue researching before making a final decision--just know that I want to go to the Amazon soon.