Wild Brazil Off The Beaten Track
Tour Introduction
This varied itinerary explores the diverse wildlife of some wonderfully remote parts of Brazil. Firstly visit deepest Amazonia and a unique floating lodge where the endemic scarlet-faced uakari monkey is found. There follows the Parnaiba Headwaters National Park, a stunningly beautiful landscape of red sandstone escarpments, palm groves and endangered cerrado savannah. Wildlife highlights here include hyacinth, blue and yellow, red and green and red-bellied macaws, maned wolves and tool-using bearded capuchin monkeys. Finish with a few days of beach relaxation and snorkelling on Bahia’s beautiful Marau Peninsula, remote and uncrowded. This is a dream tour for the discerning naturalist who may be visiting Brazil for the second time or looking for something decidedly different.
Full Itinerary
Met on arrival in Sao Paulo. Airport assistance to connect with flight to Manaus. Met on arrival and transfer to hotel.
Staying at Chez les Rois. Includes Breakfast.
Transfer to Manaus airport. Fly to Tefe, and transfer to the floating lodge by boat through the varzea flooded rainforest. Afternoon activities including boat trips to look for wildlife.
Staying at Uakari Lodge. Includes Breakfast and Dinner.
Guided activities by boat and (on foot during the dry season) into the lush rainforests of the exemplary Mamirauá Sustainable Development Reserve. Visit a local community and see how they survive year round in the seasonally flooded environment. Search for river dolphins, primates, squirrels, macaws, toucans, hoatzins and abundant sloths. The striking white coated, red faced uakari monkey is seen on many outings during the flooded season, and look out also for the endemic black-capped squirrel monkey, found nowhere else on earth.
Staying at Uakari Lodge. Includes All Meals.
Wildlife excursions from the lodge. Perhaps in the afternoon visit Mamirauá lake and various oxbow lakes to Amazonian pink and grey river dolphins and watch the sunset before spotlighting by boat back to the lodge. There may be a presentation by a scientist in the lodge after dinner.
Staying at Uakari Lodge. Includes All Meals.
Return to Tefe by boat and fly to Manaus. Met on arrival and transfer to the guesthouse.
Staying at Chez les Rois. Includes Breakfast.
Guided tour of Manaus city: visit the markets, the beautiful opera house and marvel at the Meeting of the Waters where the white water Solimões River meets the nutrient-depleted black water of the Rio Negro to form the mighty Amazon. Transfer to the airport for flight to Brasilia, and transfer to hotel.
Staying at Kubitschek Hotel. Includes Breakfast.
Transfer to airport and fly to Barreiras. Transfer to Wolf Valley.
Staying at Wolf Camp. Includes Breakfast and Dinner.
Guided excursions in the Parnaiba Headwaters National Park. Activities might include visits to a hide to photograph hyacinth and red and green macaws, and to the unique tool-using bearded capuchin monkeys that use large rocks to crack open palm nuts. Watch for maned wolves feeding around the camp during dawn and dusk. Exact itinerary to be decided at the time.
Staying at Wolf Camp. Includes All Meals.
Guided excursions in the Parnaiba Headwaters National Park to look for wildlife and enjoy the spectacular scenery.
Staying at Wolf Camp. Includes All Meals.
Guided excursions in the Parnaiba Headwaters National Park.
Staying at Wolf Camp. Includes All Meals.
Transfer to the airport at Barreiras and fly to Brasilia to connect with flight to Salvador. Transfer by road and boat to Marau Peninsula and your next hotel.
Staying at Pousada Lagoa do Cassange. Includes Breakfast.
Day at Leisure at Lagoa do Cassange. The hotel is nestled between a freshwater lake and an Atlantic golden sand beach surrounded by coconut palm groves. Optional activities on offer include snorkelling, swimming, kayaking and 4x4 drives in the wild interior.
Staying at Pousada Lagoa do Cassange. Includes Breakfast.
Day at leisure at Lagoa do Cassange. Perhaps walk along the vast beach and snorkel among some rock pools.
Staying at Pousada Lagoa do Cassange. Includes Breakfast.
Transfer to the airport in Salvador and connect with your international flight home.
Includes Breakfast.
Tour Accommodation
Chez Les Rois
Overview
Ches les Rois is located in a quiet residential part of Manaus, the main city of Para state, in Amazonia. It is a family-run guesthouse with friendly and helpful staff available 24 hours a day at the reception desk. The rooms are quite simple but very comfortable and there is a good climate control system to keep them cool. The building has an attractive style with indigenous Amazonian artifacts and paintings.
There is a small swimming pool and garden with outside seating area where a buffet breakfast and BBQ is served.
The en suite rooms have minibars, air-conditioning, telephones for room service, free Wi-Fi internet, cable TV and electronic wall safes. The main lounge area has comfortable sofas, TV and a computer for guest use.
Chez les Rois is a short walk from shops and restaurants and not far from the airport and is well placed for other city attractions. Popular activities include tours of downtown Manaus, the meeting of the waters and the grand opera house, and visits to urban reserves such as Parque do Mindu.
Swimming Pool
Air Conditioning
Rooms
Facilities
All the rooms are en suite with air-conditioning, minibar, free Wi-Fi, telephone, room service, cable TV and electronic wall safe. There is a lounge with computer for guest use, 24-hour reception, small swimming pool and garden.
Optional Activities
The guesthouse is an ideal base for excursions around Manaus and the area. Excursions could include a sightseeing tour of the city and its history including the famous opera house. A boat tour to the meeting of the waters, where the white (sediment rich) water of the Rio Solimoes and dark (acidic and nutrient depleted) water of the Rio Negro meet to form the mighty Amazon. A day trip can be made to a floating deck by the small fishing village of Novo Ariau from where it is possible to swim with Amazonian pink river dolphins. It is also possible to visit the small urban reserve of Parque do Mindu which has a safe network of trails through the rainforest and offers a chance to see the endemic pied bare-faced tamarin amongst other wildlife.
Uakari Lodge
Overview
Located in the remote Mamiraua Sustainable Development Reserve, this community-run lodge is a floating wooden structure with only five guest bungalows (10 rooms). Being in the varzea (seasonally flooded rainforest), during flood times one does not touch dry land and all excursions along the river and through the forest are in small paddleboats with a guide. The headline species is the white uakari, a locally endemic monkey with a startlingly red face and white fur, but much else is also of interest including pink (Amazonian) and grey (tucuxi) river dolphins, two- and three-toed sloths and the endemic black-headed squirrel monkey.
The lodge is reached by a one-hour flight from the northern Amazon city of Manaus west to the town of Tefe, a busy historic river port that used to mark the extent of Portuguese influence in colonial times. From here it is a 1.5-hour ride by motorised canoe up the Rio Solimoes (Upper Amazon) to the Mamiraua Reserve, the largest protected area of flooded forest in the Amazon.
The 10-en suite floating rooms have solar power hot water and a private terrace. There is a separate interconnected floating central building with dining room, library, video and conference room and private veranda with hammocks and chairs that overlooks the river.
Between September and March the water levels are low offering the spectacle of fish and their predators concentrating in the remaining water. During this time excursions are by canoe and on foot.
In the flooded season (May to July) the excursions are by canoe through the flooded forest, observing mid-tree species such as orchids and sloths at eye level. This is the best time of year to see primates including the uakari.
Swimming Pool
Air Conditioning
Rooms
Facilities
Central floating building with dining room, library, free Wi-Fi, video room and conference room and private verandas with hammocks and chairs. There is a ceiling fan but no air-conditioning and the windows are screened with mosquito nets.
Local Wildlife
The white uakari monkey, endemic black-headed squirrel monkey, three other species of primate, pink and grey river dolphins, three- and two-toed sloths, 19 species of parrots and macaws, hoatzins, black caiman and the arapaima - the world's largest scaled freshwater fish.
Optional Activities
Jaguar watching with help of local researchers, specialist photographic trips, and birdwatching trips will be on offer.
Kubitschek Plaza Hotel
Overview
The smart five-star Kubitschek Hotel is located in Brasilia’s northern commercial sector, just 15 minutes’ drive from the airport and within walking distance of three large shopping centres.
The hotel offers 250 well equipped, spacious rooms and suites, all with en suite bathrooms, balconies, cable TV, desk and chair, minibar, safety deposit box, hairdryer and air-conditioning.
There is a small gym, spa, outdoor swimming pool and two fine dining restaurants serving traditional Brazilian and international cuisine. Other facilities include room and laundry service and free Wi-Fi throughout the hotel.
Brasilia was planned and designed in 1960 as the new capital of Brazil. It has a modern and unique landscape and layout. There is plenty of interesting architecture to see, much of it built by Oscar Niemeyer under orders from the president at the time. A tour of this fascinating city will also give a much greater understanding of the history of Brazil as a whole.
Swimming Pool
Air Conditioning
Rooms
Facilities
Private bathroom and balcony, cable TV, safety deposit box, hairdryer, minibar, free Wi-Fi, gym, spa, outdoor swimming pool, air- conditioning and room and laundry services.
Optional Activities
A tour of the Brasilia’s principle landmarks is the main attraction of any visit there. A typical itinerary might include the Esplanade dos Ministérios, Cathedral, Itamaraty Palace, National Congress, Três Poderas Square, Alvorada Palace, TV Tower, Gemas Museum, Memorial JK and Santuário Dom Bosco.
SouthWild Wolf Valley Camps
Overview
The SouthWild-owned camps were built in Piaui to provide reliable sightings and photographic opportunities of maned wolves, hyacinth and green winged macaws and tool-using bearded capuchin monkeys.
The camps are basic, being constructed as either simple block rooms or small walk-in safari tents. All the camps have en suite bathrooms with limited hot water (usually solar heated) and only Hyacinth Valley camp has electricity so bring torches and plenty of camera batteries.
There are three different camps set in a remote part of the Parnaiba Headwaters National Park in central Brazil’s cerrado habitat. The Hyacinth Valley Camp has 7 bungalows each with private bathrooms. From this camp it is possible to visit the hides and nearby forest to see spectacular flocks of hyacinth macaws and do some birding in the cerrado.
The second camp, Wolf Cliffs, also has accommodation in bungalows with private bathrooms. The highlight here is the nightly visits from wild but habituated maned wolves that search the vicinity of the camp for titbits during the night, evening and sometimes early morning.
The other camp, known as Nutcracker Monkey Camp, is set in a beautiful valley and features walk-in tents and shared bathrooms. The primary reason to visit this camp is for the famous tool-using bearded capuchin monkeys seen cracking open nuts with heavy rocks: fascinating behaviour unique to this particular population and featured in BBC TV’s Life series in late 2009.
Swimming Pool
Air Conditioning
Rooms
Facilities
Private bathrooms, limited electricity and hot water due to remote location.
Local Wildlife
Habituated maned wolves visit Wolf Cliffs Camp each night, flocks of hyacinth macaws and green winged macaws can be observed at close range from hides. Bearded capuchin monkeys frequently seen using stones to crack open palm nuts (as seen on the BBC). White-tufted ear marmosets and king vultures are also common sightings.
Optional Activities
Visit the hides overlooking the hyacinth macaw feeding site, excursions to the nests of other macaw species such a green winged macaw, maned wolf watching, treks to see the tool-using bearded capuchin monkeys. Walks into the forest for birding and other wildlife.
Pousada Lagoa do Cassange
Overview
Pousada Lagoa do Cassange occupies a narrow strip of land between the Atlantic Ocean and a calm, shallow freshwater lake, in a beautiful unspoilt landscape characterised by pristine, palm-fringed sandy beaches, Atlantic rainforest, traditional communities and coconut groves.
Constructed along environmentally sensitive principles, Pousada Lagoa do Cassange offers comfortable detached bungalows and a family guesthouse, all having private bathrooms with solar heated showers, CD player, minibar, ceiling fan, air cooler, and verandah with hammocks. To the front is a wild golden-sand beach and behind is a calm freshwater lagoon offering safe swimming and kayaking when water levels permit.
Delicious food is a particular feature of the pousada – breakfast and dinner are included and cooked with fresh ingredients sourced from local fishermen and a nearby organic farm.
A range of activities are offered, from boat trips and 4×4 excursions to swimming, snorkelling and kayaking.
Those looking for an all-inclusive resort experience should not choose Pousada Lagoa do Cassange. However, for travellers seeking pristine beaches well away from the crowds that are found further north, great food and an insight in to traditional coastal life, Pousada Lagoa do Cassange is hard to beat!
Swimming Pool
Air Conditioning
Rooms
Facilities
14 individual bungalows with ocean view and a lake view guesthouse suitable for families. All rooms have air conditioning, free Wi-Fi, telephone and room service, laundry service, room safe, mini bar and there is a bar and restaurant in the main building.
Optional Activities
A tour of the Islands in Camamu Bay by boat, a 4x4 tour of the Marau Peninsula, snorkelling in tidal pools, kayaking and hikes to traditional communities. Massage, yoga, cooking classes and guided walks are also available.
Route Map
Departure Dates
Travel Information
Are International Flights Included?
No. Please contact us for a quote if required.
Flight Info:
British Airways and Latam fly direct to Sao Paulo. Or fly on TAP Portugal via Lisbon to Manaus and Salvador.
Best Visited:
June to September
Are you ATOL Registered?
Yes. This means we are legally able to book your international flights in conjunction with your ground arrangements so you can book with us with complete confidence. Read more about our ATOL license here.
John Melton
Area Specialist
The dry season in the northern Amazon is from May to September, and the rainy season from January to April. The flooded season is from May to July.
The best months to visit the Parnaiba Headwaters National Park are from June to September.
It is wettest on the Marau Peninsula in May and June.
Add a night or two to explore the colonial city of Salvador with its rich Afro-Brazilian culture.
Fly to Fernando de Noronha for the best diving in Brazil as well as many beautiful beaches and plenty of marine wildlife including turtles and dolphins.
Upgrade at Marau Peninsula to the British-owned Butterfly House, a lovely quirky boutique hotel with individually designed beach houses.
If you have any questions regarding this Tour, please feel free to contact me on +44 (0)1803 866965
Certainly one of the best wildlife holidays I have been on, and I have done quite a few with various organisations.
