|
Jungle trips from Manaus
|
|
|
Manaus is the obvious place in the Brazilian Amazon to find a
jungle river trip
to suit most people's requirements. It's not necessarily the best place if you are serious about spotting a wide range of wildlife, but it does offer a range of organized tours bringing visitors into close contact with some of the world's finest tropical rainforest. Unfortunately, though, since Manaus has been a big city for a long time, the forest in the immediate vicinity is far from virgin. Over the last millennia it has been explored by Indians, missionaries, rubber gatherers, colonizing extractors, settlers, urban folk from Manaus and, more recently, quite a steady flow of eco-interested tourists.
The amount and nature of the wildlife you get to see on a standard jungle tour depends mainly on how far away from Manaus you go and how long you can devote to the trip. Birds like macaws, jabarus and toucans can generally be spotted, and you might see alligators, snakes and a few species of monkey on a three-day trip (though you can see many of these anyway at the Parque Janauary). For even a remote chance of glimpsing wild deer, tapirs, armadillos or wild cats then a week-long trip is the minimum, preferably more. On any trip, make sure that you'll get some time in the smaller channels in a canoe, as the sound of a motor is a sure way of scaring every living thing out of sight. There are a few Brazilian jungle terms every visitor should be familiar with: a regatao is a travelling boat-cum-general store, which can provide a fascinating introduction to the interior if you can strike up an agreeable arrangement with one of their captains; an igarape is a narrow river or creek flowing from the forest into one of the larger rivers (though by narrow around Manaus they mean less than 1km wide); an igapo is a patch of forest which is seasonally flooded; a furo is a channel joining two rivers and therefore a short cut for canoes; a parana, on the other hand, is a branch of the river which leaves the main channel and returns further downstream, creating a river island. There are scores of different jungle tour companies in Manaus offering very similar services and the competition is intense. On the downside this means you'll get hassled by touts all over town, and the sales patter is unrelenting. On the positive side this means that you'll be able to bargain the price down a bit; large groups can always get a better deal than people travelling alone. Your best bet is to shop around, talk to other tourists who have already been on trips and be wary of parting with wads of cash before you know exactly what you'll be getting in return. If you have time to spare, you could try simply naming your price to a selection of tour companies, and see what happens. You can generally get a tour cheaper if you're prepared to hang around for the operator to find other tourists to make up a larger group. It's always a good idea to pin your tour operator down to giving you specific details of the trip on paper, preferably in the form of a contract (something offered anyway by the better operators such as Green Planet Tours), and you should always ask about the accommodation arrangements, what the food and drink will consist of, and exactly where you are going; ask to see photos. A circular trip may sound attractive, but the scenery won't change very much, whatever the name of the rio. You should also check that the guide speaks English, whether the operator has an environmental policy and what insurance cover they offer (usually nil in the case of the cheaper operators). Check, too, to see if the company is registered with EMBRATUR (if they are it is much easier to make a claim against them if something goes wrong). Ask what is not included in the price, and whether you can get your money back, or part of it, if the trip turns out to be disappointing. On a more upmarket tour, you should check that binoculars and reference books are provided on the boat, if you haven't already got your own, and, on any tour, you of course have the right to expect that any promises made - regarding maximum group size, activities and so on - are kept. If not, then a promise to complain to EMAMTUR, the state tourist office, may give you some leverage in obtaining redress. The most dependable and comfortable way to visit the jungle is to take a package tour that involves a number of nights in a jungle lodge - though for the more adventurous traveller the experience can be a little tame. The lodges invariably offer hotel-standard accommodation, full board and a range of activities including alligator spotting, piranha fishing, trips by canoe, as well as transport to and from Manaus. You can either book a jungle lodge tour through a tour operator, or approach the lodges direct at their offices in Manaus.
If you want to forgo organized tours entirely and travel independently,
milk boats
are a very inexpensive way of getting about on the rivers around Manaus. These smaller vessels, rarely more than 20m long, spend their weeks serving the local riverine communities by delivering and transporting their produce. You can spend a whole day on one of these boats for as little as $10, depending on what arrangement you make with the captain. The best place to look for milk boats is down on Flutuante Tres Estrelas, one of the wooden wharves behind the distribution market. Approach the ones that are obviously loading early in the morning of the day you want to go, or late in the afternoon of the day before. Other commercial boats bound for the interior - some of them preparing for trips up to a month long - can be found at the docks off the Mercado Municipal. Other useful information
for tourists (each section contains more specific sub-sections): |
|
Brazil,
|