Mamirauá Reserve 7 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 - 5 days Departures: every Monday

Program Summary

Day 1 - Sunday
Private transfer from airport to hotel. Accommodations at superior rooms. Free day to rest.
Overnight: Tropical Manaus

Day 2 - Monday
Breakfast at hotel. Transfer to Manaus Airport. At 15:45, the Trip flight company will departure Manaus arriving at Tefé at 17:05 (flight not included). Upon arrival, take a 5 minutes transfer to the pier where you will take a speedboat to the Uakari Lodge for about one and half hour. You may 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 who 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.

The Naturalist guide will accompany you in some activities and all outings have to be accompanied by a local guide. On the dry season, take a walk in one of the Interpretative Trail at teh reserve. The guides will help you to interpret the varzea´s environment (flooded forest). In this first hiking, eight points strategically chosen are classified and explained for them. On the flooded season (May-July), you will make a trip by large canoe among channels and lakes into the forest.

The dinner will be served around 19:30. After dinner you can watch a video about the flooded forest or just to hear the song of animal night in your room and to relax to next day.

Overnight: Mamiraua - Uakari Lodge

Day 3 - Tuesday
The animals wake up with the sunrise and to maximize wildlife viewing you must also to wake up early to visit the trails. But if you choose to visit a local village, this 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.

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 as the outings will only be carried out when the sun goes down a little. In the afternoon you will go to hiking or canoe tour, always exploring a different region of the reserve. After the dinner, you will have the opportunity to hear and talk 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 4 - Wednesday
The breakfast is served at 06:30am and at 07:00am the activities start. In this first morning 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). If you prefer you can practise a traditional fish or piranha fishing. This activity is a means of survive belong the local communists and it is transferred from generation to generation. The local resident will learn you with his ability to fish with harpoon and the handling with bait and long line too.

The excursions are starting at 15:30 when the sun is hot less. In the afternoon you have a choice to accompany a researcher’s 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 (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 - Thursday
Another trail will be the new scenery chosen to observe the nature during the morning. 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 this afternoon you will be taken on a motorized canoe to Mamirauá Lake, 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, etc. The Dinner is at 20:00. So you can enjoy your last night to talk to the staff or to see another kind of documentary. 

Overnight: Mamiraua - Uakari Lodge

Day 6 - Friday
Now, 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. Another trail will be made in this last morning.

Check out will be at 15:30 and arrive at Tefé Airport at 17:00. Take a flight to Manaus (not included). Upon arrival at Manaus, transfer to hotel. Accommodation at superio room.
Overnight: Tropical Manaus

Day 7 - Saturday
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
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 at Mamirauá; daily 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.
Note:	Mamirauá - 5 days Departures: every Monday
Suggested flight:	Manaus to Tefé: Trip 9524 (MAO 15:45 - TFF 17:05) Tefé to Manaus: Trip 5544 (TFF 19:00 - MAO 20:20)
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.