Mamirauá Sustainable Development Reserve 6 days

Uacari Lodge © Mamirauá

The Mamirauá Project is located 600 km (373mi.) west of Manaus in the State of Amazonas, the heart of the Amazon Rainforest. The Mamirauá Sustainable Development Reserve is the largest (1,124,000 ha) Brazilian protected area conserving flooded forest ecosystems, and the only operational area conserving the "várzea" flooded forest. This area is important not only because of its unique biodiversity and endemism, but also because it is the first Brazilian conservation unit designed to integrate the preservation of internationally significant biodiversity resources, fragile habitats, sustainable resource management and participatory management with traditional communities.

Note:	Mamirauá - 4 days Departures: every Friday

Program Summary

Day 1 - Thursday
Arrive at Manaus Airport and  private transfer to hotel. Accommodation at superior room.

Overnight: Tropical Manaus

Day 2 - Friday
Breakfast at hotel. Transfer to Manaus Airport. Departure from Manaus airport at 12:20 to Tefe (flight not included). Pick up is at 13:40 at Tefé Airport and transfer to the Areia Branca Pier. Depart by boat to the Uacari Lodge. 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). At this time you will be able to meet all the employees responsible for making an excellent stay.

Lunch will be served. On the other days, lunch will be served between 12:00pm and 13:30.

After lunch, 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 varzea’s environment (flooded forest).

The 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).

Dinner will be served around 19:30. After, you will have the opportunity to hear a speech about the ecosystem and about the Mamirauá Sustainable Development Institute – its work, its research, etc. The naturalist guide will do the presentation at 20:30.

Overnight: Mamiraua - Uakari Lodge

Day 3 - Saturday
After breakfast, tour will take you to walk around the landscapes, channels and lakes that compose part of the marshland in the heart of the forest, where you will have the opportunity to see a variety of fauna.
In this afternoon you will be taken on a motorised canoe till lake Mamirauá, a beautiful lake inside the preserved area of the Reserve. In this lake there will be great chances to see the pink river dolphins (Inia geofrensis), hoatzins (Opistochomus hoazin), and perhaps the pirarucu (Arapaima gigas) fish. Before the sunset, return to the lodge, and the way back, we’ll spot black caimans (Melanoschus niger), bats (Rhynchonycteris naso and Noctilio leporinus), evening birds, etc.

Dinner is at 20:00. Time to talk to the staff, to watch another documentary.

Overnight: Mamiraua - Uakari Lodge

Day 4 - Sunday
If you choose to visit a local community, 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. Depending on the community, you might have the opportunity to buy locally produced handicrafts - take small change with you.

Note: If you choose not to visit a village you can go for another tour with local guide.

At 15:30 you are invited by the researchers that are working in the ecotourism area to participate in their field works, complementing the technical information in the presentation. If you prefer, you can go to another wildlife observation.
 
At night, you will be ready to do a tour (on foot or by small canoe) 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. This trail is short and spends around 40 minutes.

Overnight: Mamiraua - Uakari Lodge

Day 5 - Monday
Check out will be at 09:30 and drop off will be at 11:00 in Tefé Airport. Flight to Manaus will departure at 13:10 arriving at 15:00 (not included). Upon arrival at Manaus, transfer to hotel. Accommodation at superior room.

Overnight: Tropical Manaus

Day 6 - Turesday
Breakfast at hotel. Private transfer to Manaus Airport.

Note: It is important to mention that the activities described above can be changed because of environmental factors, water level variation and climate conditions.

General Information

Capacity:	Minimum of 1 traveler. There are 6 lodging modules, with a total 12 apartments with a private bathroom and balcony
Transfer:	Ground transfer (Tefé airport-pier): 5min Boat transfer: from 1 to 2 hours depending on the water level.Baggage should be kept to a maximum of 20 kg per person due to the boat transfer. Travelers are requested to take only what is absolutely necessary.
Guide Language:	English. Other language upon request.
Level:	Easy Level Ecotourism
Included:	Ground transfer; boat transfer; bilingual guide; overnights accommodation at the lodge and at Tropical Manaus; full board and activities at Mamirauá
Not Included:	Airfares; insurance; beverages; extra services
Personal Gear:	Pants and long sleeved shirts, T-shirts, hat, walking boots and/or sneakers, sunscreen, swimming suit, shorts, mosquito repellent, light sweater or windbreaker
Optional Gear:	Binoculars, sunglasses, camera and batteries
Suggested Flights:	Manaus to Tefé: Trip 5545 (MAO 12:20 - TFF 13:40) Tefé to Manaus: Trip 9540 (TFF 13:10 - MAO 15:00)
Regular packages:	5 days departure: every Monday 4 days departure: every Friday