A four-day escape into the Amazon rainforest based at an ecolodge near Manaus, on a full-board meal plan.
During the stay the lodge offers included activities: a night canoe ride to listen to the jungle and spot alligators, a visit to a caboclo house where you see how cassava meal is prepared and rubber sap is smoked, and a session of non-professional piranha fishing. The programme also includes an evening excursion to the alligators' natural habitat and a boat tour of an igapó — the rainforest flooded by heavy rains — followed by a walk to a caboclo community, where the making of mandioc flour and the preparation of arrows are shown.
Highlights
Night alligator spotting by canoe with a guide
Visit to a caboclo family and its Amazon traditions
Piranha fishing in the flooded forest
Boat tour of an igapó, the flooded Amazon rainforest
Caboclo community: mandioc flour and arrows
Full-board stay at an Amazon ecolodge
Day-by-day itinerary
Day1
Day 1: Arrival in Manaus & transfer to the lodge
Transfer to the airport for your flight to Manaus, where you are welcomed and transferred to your lodge on a full-board meal plan. During the stay you can enjoy the lodge's free activities, among them: a night ride by paddle or motor canoe to listen to the sounds of the jungle and spot alligators, when the guide catches a small one by hand to explain its habitat before releasing it safely; a visit to a caboclo house, a local family, to learn about their traditions and the history of the rubber cycle and to see how cassava meal is prepared and the rubber sap is smoked; and a non-professional fishing activity where, depending on the season, you may catch piranha.
Day2
Day 2: Night alligator excursion
Evening excursion with your guide to a nearby natural alligator habitat. As night falls and the jungle comes alive, you observe these creatures in their natural environment and can take photographs from a safe distance. The lodge operates with a strong commitment to environmental sustainability, and the alligators are released back into the wild after observation.
Day3
Day 3: Igapó & caboclo community
After breakfast, a boat tour of an igapó — a flooded rainforest — where heavy rains transform the landscape and submerge the ground, revealing aquatic plants and water-based animals. In a clearing you are handed a fishing rod and shown how to catch piranha. The guide then leads you through the jungle to a caboclo community, of indigenous and European origin, where you learn about the community's origins, watch mandioc flour being prepared and see how arrows are made, learning to tell poisonous plants from non-poisonous ones.
Day4
Day 4: Departure
After breakfast, transfer to the airport. End of services.
Suggested hotels
Evolução Ecolodge
Standard
Manaus
Full-board Amazon ecolodge with included jungle activities; the programme's accommodation.
Essential, Premium and Luxury categories available. Final accommodation is confirmed by date and availability.
What's included
Included: Accommodation at the selected lodge or similar (3 nights)
Included: Full-board meal plan at the lodge
Included: Transfers with driver
Included: Excursions mentioned in the programme
Included: Entrance fees
What's not included
Not included: Additional excursions
Not included: Food and beverages during the transfers
Not included: International and domestic airfare
Not included: Airport and tourism taxes and visa fees
Not included: Meals not mentioned in the programme
Not included: Drinks unless explicitly stated
Not included: Tips and gratuities
Not included: Personal expenses and optional services
Not included: Travel insurance
Not included: Anything not expressly mentioned as included
Optional services
Optional, at extra cost:
Pink Dolphins — An experience with the river's pink dolphins, gentle animals that live free in the waters.
Optional, at extra cost:
Full-day Meeting of the Waters with lunch — Departure from the hotel in Manaus to the port to go down the Rio Negro by speedboat along the left bank, seeing the floating port of Manaus, regional boats and the Municipal Market, continuing to the Meeting of the Waters of the Rio Negro and the Solimões, with a stop to observe the natural phenomenon.
Optional, at extra cost:
Full-day jungle hiking and survival — Departure from Manaus to the activity point; after safety measures, a walk along a trail set by the instructors with stops to explain the forest's natural resources and plants, and demonstrations of how to obtain water and fire in adverse situations, obtain salt, store vegetables and build traps and shelters; lunch in the jungle and return to Manaus.
Optional, at extra cost:
Monkey Forest — A tour by small canoe into the igapós (annually flooded forest) and small creeks to see floodplain life and visit the Monkey Forest, where different monkey species can be seen as they come close to the canoe.