The Amazon Experience in Brazil – 9 Days
Cruise along the Negro River and trek the Amazon rainforest, one of earth’s last frontiers, on a 9-day educational student tour.
Program Summary
Very few places in the planet hold as much mystery as the Amazon. Considered one of the last frontiers on Earth, this fantastic region offers a wide variety of possibilities for a study program. For any educational group, this will be a life-changing experience! Starting from Manaus, the capital of the state of Amazonas, your group will cruise along the Negro River and its tributaries, meet and interact with isolated traditional communities and trek along the forest with expert local guides.
Program Highlights & Inclusions
- Professional ETA tour manager with your group throughout the tour
- Round trip flights to your destination
- Transportation throughout your tour, including river transportation on certified vessels (in compliance with safety protocols and nautical laws required in Brazil)
- 3 nights in a boutique hostel in Manaus
- 3 nights on a private, exclusive live-aboard boat for the group, sleeping in hammocks
- 2 nights in a lodge in the Tumbira Community
- 13 meals
- English-speaking local guide on a full-time basis along the live-aboard boat
- Visit to National Institute for Amazonian Research
- City tour of Manaus
- 3-night cruise of the Amazon River
- Visit to Acajatuba Lake to see pink river dolphins
- Handicraft workshop in the Nova Esperança community
- Tour of a manioc-flour production house
- Visit to the Bela Vista do Jaraqui traditional community
- 2 hour hike with local guide specializing in the collection and use of medicinal herbs
- Visit to the Tumbira traditional community
- Visit to the Santa Helena community and traditional “cabocla” fishery experience
- Rainforest tree climbing experience
- Free time to explore Manaus
Daily Itinerary
You will arrive in Manaus. Check-in at the hostel and orientation meeting with free afternoon if you
have had an early flight arrival.
Your group will have a welcome dinner at a typical local restaurant before returning to your accommodation for the night.
You’ll begin the day with breakfast at your hostel.
This morning you’ll visit the National Institute for Amazonian Research. This educational and research institution is focused on furthering scientific knowledge about the Brazilian Amazon Region.
Step out on a city tour of Manaus this afternoon, with visits to the Amazon Opera House and the Municipal Market, among other destinations.
You’ll have dinner and return to your hotel for the evening.
After breakfast at your lodging, your group will check out and take a bus to Manaus Port to board the private boat that will be your home for the next several days.
On the first leg of the navigation there will be an on-board presentation performed by representatives of ICMBio (Brazil’s Environmental Protection Agency) and of Fundação Vitória Amazônica, an NGO deeply involved in conservation and social-environmental sustainability in
the Amazon.
Your lunch will be prepared and served on-board.
After lunch you will navigate 3 hours to the Acajatuba Lake for an incredible experience with some very special inhabitants: pink river-dolphins!
Afterwards, you’ll cruise for about 2 hours to the mouth of the Cuieiras River, where your group will have dinner.
You’ll spend the night overnight on board, swaying comfortably in sleeping in hammocks.
Breakfast will be served along navigation to the Nova Esperança (New Hope) traditional community.
Once you arrive, your group will engage in a handicraft
workshop using seeds and other materials gathered in the rainforest.
Lunch will be served on board since the boat will stay anchored in the community.
After lunch your group will visit a manioc flour production house. Also known as cassava flour, this product is made from the dried, tuberous root of the cassava plant and is an important part of the local diet.
Later your group will be invited to a soccer game with the locals and then take a refreshing swim in the river! Dinner will be served on board, and then you’ll retire to your hammocks.
After breakfast you’ll depart from the Nova Esperança community and continue by boat towards the Bela Vista do Jaraqui traditional community.
Here your group will take a guided hike in the rainforest with an experienced local who specializes in the collection and use of medicinal herbs. You’ll discover the infinite number of medicinal species and their importance
for the community ́s health. Cool down after the hike with a swim in the river.
Lunch will be served on-board while the boat takes your group to the Tumbira traditional community. You’ll arrive in the late afternoon.
This evening you’ll have your last dinner aboard the river vessel. You’ll spend the overnight on board in your hammock.
After breakfast you’ll disembark from the boat in the Tumbira community.
You’ll head to the local school for an experience supported by the NGO Fundação Amazônia Sustentável.
Lunch will be served in the local community.
The afternoon will be spent with the group exchanging experiences with the local inhabitants. You’ll have time for swimming in the river and afternoon snacks with the community.
Dinner and overnight will be spend in a pousada (lodge) in the community, which faces the river and the forest.
After breakfast your group will board speedboats and navigate for 20 minutes towards the Santa
Helena community, where you will participate in a traditional cabocla fishery at the local lake.
Lunch will be served at a community restaurant in Saracá, at a 10-minute boat ride from Santa Helena.
In the afternoon you’ll return by boat to the Tumbira community. This will be the last night before returning to Manaus. Dinner at the community. Overnight at
the pousada (lodge) in Tumbira.
You will have breakfast at the lodge and then start the trip back to Manaus on speedboats.
After about 2 hours of navigation, there will be a strategic stop to do a very special activity: tree-climbing in the rainforest! A unique experience performed with the aid of specialized guides and all the necessary safety equipment. A chance to see the forest from the canopy! You’ll have a picnic style lunch following this activity.
After lunch, a 30 minute speedboat ride and you are back in Manaus!
This evening your group will enjoy a special farewell dinner before returning to your hotel in Manaus.
After breakfast at the hotel, you’ll have some time to explore Manaus and go shopping.
You’ll be taken to the airport according to your flight schedule.
