M/V Desafio - Amazon Ecological Cruises

To explore the Amazon by boat is the dream of active and armchair naturalists everywhere. Now it can be accomplished in complete comfort. The modern 24-passenger M/V Desaflo is a newly renovated river vessel offering a fascinating cruise on the Amazon and Negro rivers. The vessel is 109 feet long, fully air-conditioned and offers many of the sanie amenities found on larger ships. Explore the Amazon Rain Forest both by canoe and on foot in the company of naturalist guides. This is truly one of the most fascinating wildlife destinations in the world. The cruises begin and end in Manaus, Brazil

M/V Desafio Deck Plan

Amazon River Basin

M/V Desafio Ecological Cruise -4 Days

Day 1 - Thursday - Leave from Manaus' Tropical Hotel lobby to the M/V Desaflo, your floating hotel for the next three nights. Oiiee on board, the multilingual naturalist guide will host a "welcome to the Amazon" briefing highlighting the broad spectrum of life in this unique region. The guide will assist in the identification of the flora / fauna, provide a historical framework and enrich your ecological understanding of this unusual destination. After dinner, enjoy an excursion to listen to the sounds emitted b the jungle at night.

Day 2 - Friday - Early this morning, leave on a trekking tour to learn about the local flora, amongst the richest in the world. After lunch, start cruising towards the Samauma village, located at the Anavilhanas Islands, the largest river archipelago in the world. Later this afternoon, board a motor canoe to visit the surrounding lakes. Following dinner, experience the excitement of searching for and spotting caiman (the South American version of the alligator).

Amazon Waterlily

Day 3 - Saturday - Rise early to admire the sunrise and see the birds come out of their nocturnal hiding places in search of food. After breakfast, go on a fishing expedition to catch one of the many hundreds of species found in the river, including the aggressive piranha. The balance of the day is spent exploring the river, the world’s greatest ecosystem.

Day 4 - Sunday - After another sumptuous tropical breakfast, you’ll reach the "wedding of the waters. This is where the River Negro and Solimoes meet each other to form the great Amazon River. After a stop to view this fascinating sight, continue cruising back to Manaus.

The Opera of Manaus

M/V Tucano - Amazon Ecological Cruises

M/V Tucano Deck Plan

The Amazon cruises of the 18 passenger M/V Tucano explores the two diflerent worlds of the Amazon; the timeless wilderness rain forests of the Rio Negro, and the vibrant forests of the Amazon River, teeming with life. These are the most storied rivers in the entire Amazon and on this journey you will experience the sharp contrasts and very different Ibrests of the two largest rivers in the world. The trip begins on the Rio Negro, where the water is the color of dark red wine. The Tucano is navigated into small tributaries deep into the rainforest. The boat threads its way deep into a wilderness largely unchanged for countless millennia. Almost completely devoid of nutrients, the Negro water is dark in color due to tannins leached from leaves..., it looks like a giant river of tea! The water is acidic and as clean as rainwater. This has resulted in the evolution of an extremely diverse coil ection of plants and animals, unique in the entire Amazon.

M/V Tucano

In contrast, the Amazon River is white-brown in color. This is not because of rapids, but due to suspended soils eroded from the Andes. One of the world’s youngest and fastest growing mountain ranges, the Andes are subjected to furious ci.osion. Along with unimaginable volumes of rich nutrients, the Amazon hauls along with it uprooted trees and entire islands of floating vegetation. This rich water supports a great density of wildlife. See large numbers of birds of every color and shape. gargantuan trees, and most certainly monkeys swinging by their tails in the trees. At the confluence of the world’s two greatest rivers, the warm black water of the Negro collides with the dense liquid earth of the Amazon and the surface boils upward in whirlpools stretching on for many miles. Along this stark division, dolphins leap in the air and then dive into the black water, snatching up fish.

M/V Tucano - Adventure Cruise -6 Days Operates Most Thursdays From Manaus

M/V Tucano Cruise Map

Day 1 - Cruise Begins - After arrival in Manaus, proceed directly to the Amazon riverboat M/V Incano and then depart on the Rio Negro. Gliding upstream close to the shore, study the magnificent vegetation for brightly colored flowers or monkeys scurrying about in tile branches. Arnazonia has the greatest collection of birds in the world and we arc sure to see some of these brightly colored jewels perched in the treetops. At mid-afternoon, pass the frontier of settlements and begin traveling in a wilderness area.

Day 2 - Amazon Cruising - Rise with the sun and have an early morning excursion observing birds. After breakfast, walk in tile high forest known as the terra firma. The afternoon excursion is in launches to listen to the chorus of birds, howler monkeys, and frogs. Often seen are arboreal porcupines or sloths scrarnblmg high in the limbs.

Day 3 - Amazon Cruising - After a morning excursion and breakfast, take another walk in the rain forest. In tile early afternoon, the M/V Tucano will get underway and enter one of the world’s largest river island systems, tile Anavilhanas Archipelago. Explore this interesting maze of islands until the late afternoon, when von will visit the Amazon village of Novo Airão. Here the style of building wooden boats has not changed in 100 years! Tonight, the M/V Tucano will travel downstream to the confluence of the world’s two largest rivers: the Rio Negro and tile Amazon.

Day 4 - Amazon Cruising - An early mornmg excursion displays the coffee colored water of tIle Amazon River. There will be a profusion of bird life and almost always squirrel monkeys and the occasionally anteaters or sloths. Travel to the "Encontro (las Aguas," a several mile long line where the world’s two largest rivers, the Amazon and the Negro, join in a turbulent maelstrom. Afterwards, enter the main channel of the Amazon River itself and travel until the early afternoon spotting wildlife along the shore. By' the late afternoon, enter a smaller channel of the Amazon and begin concentrating on the fascinating Amazon environment known as the "varzea." Tonight there will be another excursion to observe the night shift of the Amazonian fauna, which always includes the caiman (crocodile).

Day 5 - Amazon Cruising - Today, there are a variety of excursions exploring one of the large lakes off the Amazon River. Visit the home of a settler or a small village to learn a little about how they survive on the edge of this vast wilderness. In the early evening the M/V Tucano will enter the main channel of the Amazon River and begin returning to Manaus for arrival late that night.

Day 6 - Cruise Ends In Manaus - After breakfast, disembark from the M/V Tucano and check into the hotel. The day is without planned activities, but you may prearrange to take an optional city tour or visit some other points of interest in Manaus. In the late evening, transfer to the airport in time for your departure flight.