Day 1 Manaus/Cruise
This afternoon, embark on the Motor Yacht Tucano in Manaus, Brazil. Depart on the Rio Negro and as the vessel glides upstream you will have your first talk about Amazon environments. By late afternoon, you will enter one of the world’s largest river island systems, the Anavilhanas Archipelago. The boat will weave along a winding channel with rainforest on both sides in a riot of brilliant vegetation. Weather permitting, you will go for a launch excursion in the gnarled and dense flooded forest known as the igapó. Along the river bank you may see some squirrel monkeys and you may hear the otherworldly growls of howler monkeys echoing through the primitive rainforest. The Amazon has one of the greatest collection of birds in the world and you are sure to see some of these brightly coloured jewels perched in the treetops. Return to the M/Y Tucano for hors d’oeuvres on the observation deck and a toast to the rainforest sunset. Following dinner you will embark on a motorboat in search of nocturnal creatures such as the caiman, the Amazon’s crocodiles. You will may also see one of the large night birds such as a Potoo with its bulging eyes and large mouth adapted to swallow the huge mariposa moths.
Day 2 Amazon/Cruise
Shortly after sunrise, explore the Anavilhanas Archipelago, a reserve that includes the world’s largest system of river islands and also areas of tall dense rainforest. Here you will see the strange environment called the Igapó, the black water flooded forest where dense forests grow right out of the dark water of the Rio Negro. Midmorning you will return to the vessel for a hearty Brazilian breakfast. After some time to relax, weather permitting, you will disembark at midmorning and will go for a walk in the type of rainforest known as the terra firme. Here, you have a good chance to see the marks, if not the animals themselves, of some of the Amazon’s great mammals like Peccaries (wild pigs) or even a Jaguar.
Around midday return to the vessel for lunch and a siesta. In the afternoon, you will take a motorboat along the edges of the dense forest and listen to the sunset chorus of birds, Howler Monkeys, and frogs. Weather permitting, tonight you will have an excursion to spot Caiman (the Amazon’s crocodiles) and other nocturnal creatures. You will also see Arboreal Porcupines or Sloth’s scrambling high in the limbs.
Day 3 Amazon/Cruise
Today you will voyage to the west side of the Rio Negro and continue to scout in motorboats and walk in the forest. You will explore according to the weather and water depth areas rarely visited by anyone else. Tonight the M/Y Tucano goes downstream and river depth permitting, will enter an east bank affluent of the Rio Negro and explore on deep into the rainforest on this small river. After your nocturnal exploration of the rainforest on the motorboat and return to the Motor Yacht Tucano for “Caipirinha night” on and perhaps try a bit of samba on the top deck.
Day 4 Amazon/Cruise
Begin the day with a dawn excursion looking for wildlife followed by a full Brazilian breakfast. After breakfast, go one last time into the forest. In the mid-afternoon you will begin to journey downstream to arrive late in the day at the “Encontra das Aguas” where two of the world’s largest rivers, the Amazon and the Rio Negro join in a turbulent maelstrom. Here, the dark water of the Negro runs beside the opaque brown water of the Amazon. At sunset the M/Y Tucano will once again navigate upstream on the Rio Negro and journey to your overnight anchorage north of the City of Manaus. As you pass in front of Manaus, you will marvel at the scale of one of the world’s largest and most vibrant port cities, that is over one thousand miles from the sea. Tonight you will have a farewell dinner and prepare for an early departure in the morning.
Day 5 Manaus
Early this morning, after a hearty breakfast, disembark from the M/Y Tucano.