Manaus / Amazon River travel info

MANAUS-I hemmed and hawed for a long time about what kind of Amazon experience I wanted. I was vacillating between a cheaper jungle lodge (all the jungle lodge tours in Manaus I heard about were around 150 reals per day when booked upon arrival) and a more expensive kayaking trip (around 150usd per day). In the end, I decided on the kayaking trip and was extremely happy with my choice!

The company I went with is called Amazon Mystery Tours (they were highly recommended in Frommer’s guide book) and I had an awesome experience traveling with them. If you like roughing it, then I definitely suggest the kayaking tour versus the hotels. You’ll sleep in a hammock under a mosquito net, use the woods as your toilet, and the river as your water source and bathtub, but it truly is amazing.

I did a 6 day trip on the Urubu river (normally its 7 days, but I joined another tour a day late). We kayaked every day for 3 hours or more and did some nature hikes. For 3 days we didn't see any other humans and for the rest of the time we would see a farm or two a day and that was about it. The outside world could have disappeared and we would never have known. It was brilliant.

We didn’t see a lot of animals, not even a caiman (type of alligator) or a piranha, but the guides said it was unusual as the water was very high at that time. In general, they say not to expect many animal sightings (especially not jaguars or anacondas like the movies) or you’ll be destined for disappointment.

On the final day, we stopped at a farm and were shown how the manioc plant is processed and turned into farofa. Was nice to meet the family living on the river and get a better understanding of their life in the Amazon.

One big plus with traveling on the Urubu river, a black river, compared to others was the lack of mosquitoes. The guides said the insects can’t breed in water with high acidity like the black rivers. For whatever reason, I’m a mosquito magnet and I was hardly ever bitten during the trip. Granted, I did have 40% DEET based repellant on, but, for whatever reason, I was almost bite free until I got back to “civilization” in Manaus.

Food- much better than anything you would expect on a camping trip and all included in the cost! The guides had huge coolers they brought with us filled with fish, beef, and chicken on ice. They also made rice and dehydrated packets of noodles. As a seafood vegetarian, I was pleasantly surprised at how good the food was and how accommodating they were! When all else fails, they always had farofa, a derivative of the manioc plant which is very chewy and filling.

Finally, and most importantly, the guides were incredible on my trip. I suggest requesting Rinaldo, Junior, and Josone (Matthew, one of the owner’s of Amazon Mystery Tours, was also great, but he’s not always available!) They all made me, a person who is not all that at ease even camping in the US, feel safe and comfortable in the middle of the Amazon.

Rinaldo, the primary guide, speaks excellent English and is full of entertaining stories. Junior was the army’s top jungle survival trainer for several years and does amazing things with a machete. Not to be dismissed is the very sweet, eye candy, Josone. Can’t tell you how many times he came to my rescue during the trip when I was too tired or lazy to do things for myself. All the guides were great about helping us slacker clients get through the trip.

The last day in Manaus, I stayed at the Hotel Dez de Julho, found in the lp guide and recommended by the Amazon tour company, for 55reals for a single, simple, clean room. The only sight I had time to see in the city was the Teatro Amazonas which was located 2 blocks away and worth seeing. They have a guided tour in English that costs about 10reals and lasts about 45mins (sometimes you have to wait for the tour to start). On the way back to my hotel, I bought my sister, an avid fisherwoman, a stuffed piranha for 10reals (even though I never saw one on my trip).

I did also squeeze in a visit to the “Meeting of the Waters” and piranha fishing on my last day. In the ninth hour, I finally caught a piranha (after my guide caught three!).

My Amazon trip was one of best experiences I had in Brazil and I can’t recommend Amazon Mystery Tours enough!

PS. Remember to tip the guides, they definitely deserved it on our trip.
PSS. Bring extra swimsuits and a water pump and/or iodine tablets as you’ll be wading in and drinking out of the black river the whole way.

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Hi ! Did you sail the Amazon from Manaus to the Atlantic? I am trying to find if there are cheap ways to sail down the Amazon....as the boats I am finding charge u$ 350 a night... Thanks ! Joaquin