Visiting the Brazilian Amazon? Here's our advice!

Advice, guide, tips, hints, what to take, how much to pay

Visiting the Amazon is going to be an amazing experience and you can read all about our adventure in three separate posts starting here. However, booking and arranging the tour was not the simplest thing in the world so I hope to add a bit of clarity to the proceedings and share our experience. 

We went into the Amazon from Manaus (Brazil), which is a fun place to visit in its own right. We went at the end of June 2015 and what follows is only our opinions of our experience. If you agree or disagree, leave your comment below.

First of all, price...

The cost of the tour is a hot topic on forums and it is difficult to know how much you should be paying. We did a 3 night/4 day tour and paid r$720 per person for a private double room. A dorm was r$600 pp. We booked through the hostel we were staying at - Local Hostel- who work with Iguana Turismo.

Before we booked, we had been in contact with several tour companies in Manaus (thanks to my amazing new Portuguese skills!) and the best price we got was r$1050 per person. As a last minute stab in the dark we emailed the staff at Local Hostel and were very pleased with the price they offered and the reviews that Iguana Turismo have online. Unfortunately we didn’t get the prices for other tours they offer. A can of beer/soda is around r$5 in the lodge btw.

Which tour company?

There are quite a lot of tour companies in Manaus and they all seem to be reviewed very highly on tripadvisor - two examples being Iguana Turismo (who we went with) and Amazon Jungle Tours (who we got a quote from). I was speaking with one of our tour guides to try and understand the process a little better. Here’s the inside scoop - the lodges are not owned by specific companies and the guides don’t work for specific companies. The tour companies have a preferred lodge that they work with but at busy times will move you to a different lodge if needs be. This is true for all the Juma lodges, although there are a few companies that go to specific lodges in the north. The guides work "freelance" for whoever has customers and can pay them.

So basically you have no guarantee that you will get the same guide or lodge that was reviewed so highly on tripadvisor, but luckily there seems to generally be a high quality of both available. So with regards to which company we recommend, I'd say booking the cheapest tour is fine and our research suggests that going through Local Hostel is a good option, even if you're not going to actually stay at the hostel. (Note: We have received no money or freebies from them for saying this, Scout's honour!)

How many days / nights?

We met and spoke to people who did 1 night, 2 nights, 3 nights (us), and 4 nights. Everyone that stayed less than us wished they had more time. The one girl who stayed an additional night loved it but said she had repeated a couple of activities. We didn’t repeat any activities and thought it was a perfect length of time. So we think 3 nights/4 days is best.

When to go?

If you do have the luxury of choice, May to September are the best months as the river is at its highest. This is what our two tour guides told us and they've been working there for years so we trust their advice. May is the tail end of the rainy season so might be a bit more hit-and-miss than the later months but since the Amazon is a rainforest, expect to get wet whenever you go! 

Size of groups?

On day one, our group consisted of six people, including the guide. On day two there were five of us. Day three started as a group of five for the morning and then there were about eleven of us on the boat in the evening. Day four there were twelve of us in two separate boats. Smaller groups are definitely better, as the guide can cater the activities and tour more to your preferences. Our trip was at the end of the low season and we were told that July and August are very busy so that is something to consider when booking your trip.

What to expect?

Don’t expect to see a jaguar. You won't. Animals are harder to come by than on other wildlife tours, so I would lower your expectations and rely on your guides to spot what they can. Remember that nature isn't just about big animals; it's about the trees, birds, insects, sounds and smells. Take the time to really appreciate where you are. You might not be able to see them, but you will be surrounded by millions of insects, snakes, fish, birds, spiders and more. It's an incredible privilege to be able to visit their habitat so even though I didn't see a macaw, it was pretty cool being in their playground.

It won't be an activity soaked 4 days. You will spend time sitting around at the lodge, taking in the sights and sounds of the forest for a few hours during the day and if you ask me, that's great. The humid Amazon is not a place to be charging from activity to activity so it was nice to stop and breathe that freshly made oxygen. The evenings are as calm or as drunk as you would like to make them. Do wear mosquito repellent though.

Should I sleep in the jungle?

We were hesitant about this before going but it was definitely the best thing we did. We cannot recommend this highly enough. It was incredible and we actually preferred sleeping in the hammock to the lodge itself.

What should I take?

- Insect repellent, and lots of it. Use it like it gives you special powers. Or find these ants.

- Malaria meds. Hello, malarial zone!

- Yellow fever vaccination. You don't want a tropical disease...

- Long sleeve shirts that are thick and loose. Mosquitoes bite through everything, the fuckers!

- Long trousers that are thick and loose. See above for pesky mosquito reference. NO LEGGINGS.

- Torch (flashlight)

- Towels

- Hiking boots

- Sandals / flip flops

- Swimwear

- A book for the chilled out times

- A camera (as if you needed telling)

- Sleeping pills (always useful!)

- Waterproofs, just in case.

- A big bottle of water - you can refill it at the lodge

Anything else?

SLEEP IN THE JUNGLE. It is amazing and you won't regret it.

But what about food?

Most if not all tours provide you with three meals a day (you may want to bring some snacks – we didn't for fear of ants!) and the food was of a high quality. It was mostly fish (pirarucu) but we also had chicken and eggs as well. The food didn't blow us away but it was pleasant enough. Vegetarians shouldn't have a problem - there was plenty of rice, beans, salad and they might cater specifically for you if you ask. Photos of food are below and reviews of Amazonian food are coming soon.

You can see the cabins in the background

We spent several hours each day just chilling looking around for wildlife. We saw dolphins one day!

The Totes Amaze-on River Part 3

The Morning After...

Day one in the jungle had involved a sunset with river dolphins. Day two involved a sunrise, hike, and then sunset with the added bonus of sleeping in the jungle. A night of sleeping in hammocks by our jungle campsite, with only a thin mosquito net (with holes in!) for protection. It turned out to be a pretty good night’s sleep for us both (better than in the lodge), and it was very cool falling asleep to the jungle soundtrack. At around 4am, while it was still dark, we were awoken by a troop of monkeys. These howler monkeys growl and moan like zombies and when you are in the middle of the jungle with them, it can be somewhat intimidating. The noise really is something to behold; the rhythmic chanting and panting would intrigue even the most seasoned traveller. We spent the next few hours drifting in and out of consciousness, listening to the monkeys, insects and birds as they woke up and went about their morning rituals.

Climbing out of a hammock is always difficult and after a night’s sleep it was even harder! But they were surprisingly comfortable, I have to say. We ate a simple breakfast of boiled eggs, crackers, guava jam and delicious fresh pineapple. The most surprising part of the whole experience was when one of the French campers turned to me and said, “I think I need a shower”.  I never believed I would hear a French man say he needed a shower, implying that even he, after sleeping in the humid rainforest, though it was a good idea. Although I suppose he did say, “I think”.

We tidied up the campsite, taking all of our rubbish with us, and headed out once more on the boat to visit a local family. Now’s the time to mention the hard wooden seats on the boat that became the bane of our buttocks. Anyway, the local family we visited aren’t the indigenous tribal family one might imagine. They live a simple life on the bank of the river, farming various plants such a mandioca (cassava), cotton, açaí, and making blowpipes. Ok, perhaps their set-up is slightly geared towards the tourists who visit and often buy souvenirs. To visit one of the indigenous Amazonian tribes, you need a special permit and it wasn’t offered as part of any of the tours we saw from Manaus. The local people were friendly and generous and it was a pleasant start to the morning.

We took the slow boat back to the lodge and enjoyed the calm and peaceful feeling that comes with being on the open water. The pace back at the lodge was somewhere between laid back and passed out. However, a large influx of about fifteen new visitors meant one of the guides decided to show off a bit and it was perfect timing. A snake was spotted across the water and up a tree (giving me enough time to get the photo below). Antonio, aka Crazy Antonio, took to the tree to catch the snake, suffering a couple of bites in the process. It’s well worth watching the video below. My favourite comment was from of the older Austrian ladies who, after Antonio released the snake, said “He is just going to release it?! What if it comes back?” I pointed out that we were in the middle of the jungle and there were probably hundreds of snakes in the vicinity. She didn’t speak to me after that…

Sunset Three

Crazy Antonio, or “Clever” as he likes to be called (but who doesn’t like to be called clever?!) took us on a boat ride to look for some animals. His style was louder and more outgoing than our other guide Chitão, and both had their pros and cons. “Clever” certainly had a great eye, and spotted capuchin monkeys, an owl, dolphins and a lot of birds. He also climbed a tall tree to retrieve a sloth for us to look at and hold. I sometimes feel bad holding animals, but the sloth genuinely seemed to be having the time of his life. This stoned looking, lazy bugger had a huge smile and seemed to enjoy the sensation of touch. Sloths are solitary animals so I think we brightened up the little fella’s day.

We then watched our third consecutive sunset back at the lodge and listened to a lecture by another tour guide, where we learned some of the many things we have shared with you in these last few posts.

The Final Morning

The final day of our jungle adventure included a canoeing expedition with our new friend Clever. This was very Indiana Jones style, flying through the jungle, smashing into trees, getting covered in biting ants and a big spider that ran up my arm – I can still feel it. At least it wasn’t a snake…I hate snakes.

As well as this more adventurous setting, Clever’s great eyes managed to spot some great nature, including another owl, a red bushy-tailed squirrel, another sloth, night monkeys, frogs, mosquitoes, iguanas that threw themselves out of trees and into the water as we approached, various birds and last but not least, a porcupine. The most amazing part of the canoe trip was the fact that during dry season, the whole area that we were floating through is solid land. This means that there were so many trees partially submerged in water with their leaves brushing past us as we weaved our way through the forest. It really felt like something out of a film, as it was just damn crazy at times – I’m pretty sure my travel insurance didn’t cover me for that! It was a great way to end the trip and after jumping in the Amazon river one last time to make sure that spider was truly gone, I felt great.

We had our last meal and headed back to Manaus, passing through the meeting of the waters again.

Final Amazonian Thoughts

It’s impossible to reflect on this trip and not consider it to be one of the greatest experiences of my life. Of course we could have seen more wildlife but that’s part of it – it’s all in the luck of the day and the skill of the tour guides. Watching the sun set surrounded by dolphins on the first night, being woken by a troupe of nearby howler monkeys, the final canoe trip…it was just exceptional. If you are in Brazil, do this trip! We will be posting a shorter, more concise post about how we chose the tour, the hours of painstaking research and the truth about all of the “different” tours available.

There is not much else left to say so we’ll leave you with the best photos from our last two days in the jungle.

Jungle breakfast - freshly brewed coffee and the juiciest pineapple I have ever eaten! 

Some local Manaus / Amazonian children

Mandioca / Manioc / Aipim / Tapioca / Cassava...so many names for a glorified potato!

We've seen this before but still find it interesting that pineapples grow like this

Achiote fruit is used as a colouring in Brazilian cooking

The Amazon is like a mirror at times

Turkey Vultures

Yellow headed caracara

Sleepy Owl. We think it's a rusty-barred owl

Good use of umbrellas - very Korean!

I got to hug a sloth!

School along the Amazon

Public busboat

Another capuchin monkey

I was attacked by a huge frog

A porcupine

Costs & Prices

Note: 1 GBP was around 4.9 BRL or 1.55 USD.

Local Hostel Double Room = £27 per night

3D, 4N stay in the Amazon at Juma Lodge = r$720 pp for private double (£147 pp)
3D, 4N stay in the Amazon at Juma Lodge = r$600 pp for dorm (£122 pp)
Fizzy Drink / Beer at Lodge = r$5 (£1)

The Totes Amaze-on River Part 2

Day Two Sunrise

After all the antics of day one in the jungle, our first night’s sleep in the Juma Lodge was a little disturbed. As well as being a little frightened of the plethora of killer animals – from jaguars, spiders and scorpions, to tropical diseases spread by insects – the mosquito net we slept under was a little annoying, as they always are. If you move in your sleep you are suddenly pressed against this thin, grimy film that feels rough and reminds you of your vulnerability. Not to mention they are rendered useless anywhere that they are in contact with you as everything can bite through. Oh and it was humid. But what can you expect in a bloody rainforest, ay?

All of this to contend with, plus a 5am wake-up call so we could watch the sunrise meant neither of us were particularly chirpy when we boarded the boat. That soon changed though, as the wind blew through our hair. I remarked to Katie that this was most likely the cleanest and freshest oxygen we had ever breathed, being surrounded by so many trees (the boat fumes blew behind us). It was great riding through all the birds and waking them up and seeing them from so close. It was just beautiful being on a boat alone in the water surrounded by all these trees so early in the dawn light.

As we glided over the river, we didn’t see another tourist boat or even fishing boat – it was just the six of us and our guide Chitão. It felt like our experience was more unique and genuine than, say, Ha Long Bay in Vietnam, where we were surrounded by hundreds of other boats.

I said “glided over the river” before because we really did. The water was so smooth and flat, Katie wanted to get out and walk on it as it looked like a solid mirror. After a while we stopped, turned off the engine and started watching the sun do its thing. With the engine off we started to hear the sounds of the birds and the very peaceful noises coming from the jungle. Peaceful that is, except for one – the howler monkeys. As you can probably guess from the name, these monkeys are loud as hell. What they sound like though is utterly baffling – zombies. They moan and groan like something out of a George A. Romero film or The Walking Dead. Watch the video for yourself, as it is truly mind boggling.

Morning Trek

We survived our first encounter with the zombie howler monkeys and had breakfast back at the lodge. It was important to be well fed (like I need an excuse!), as we were going on a trek through the jungle. We took the boat again and entered the forest through some low hanging trees, parked up and began the hike. There were seven of us in total, including Chitão, and no one else in sight. The first thing keen-eyed Katie spotted was a nice hairy spider…great, a reminder of the critters. We saw a variety of interesting flora (photos and explanations at the end of the post) and some were fascinating – malaria fighting bark, a miscarriage inducing tree and a tree that walks (like an Ent from LOTR but smaller). The animals included bullet ants, which are used by tribes in ceremonies to prove that the boys are ready to become men. They have to wear a glove containing these ants and endure the pain without complaining or giving up. Apparently getting ten bites from these ants can potentially kill a man – pretty dangerous if you ask me!

The ants in the following video are not the bullet ants. These ants have a chemical in them that acts as an insect repellent...apparently. Although using one insect to fend off another does seem a little bizarre.

The rest of the day was fairly slow and having read a lot of reviews, this seems to be the case with a lot of these Amazon tours in Brazil. It isn't a non-stop adventure but a more slow paced tour of this beautiful and calm place on our planet. It was lovely just to go swimming and keep a look out for birds, as well as seeing next to no other human beings.

Camping in the Jungle

We had both been reluctant at first about sleeping out in the jungle, with only a hammock, mosquito net and a few leaves as shelter, for what can only be described as “sensible reasons”. However the enthusiasm of everyone that had done it, coupled with Katie’s general life motto of “regret what you did, not what you didn’t do”, (and maybe a little peer pressure) led to rationality and common sense being thrown into the river. Travelling by slow boat again, as the fast boat had broken down, we took a while to get to where we were going to sleep. The plus side is this meant we could take in another beautiful sunset in this oasis of nature. I cannot remember a day when I so actively watched a sunrise and sunset. As the sky darkened, we approached our jungle campsite. The long journey only added to the feeling that we were really going to be sleeping deep in nature, far from people, running water, medical assistance…

X marks the entrance to the "campsite"

With our guide’s help we set up our hammocks and mosquito nets and I noticed a huge spider very close to where we would be sleeping, which really put the fear in me! But once darkness fell we were able to forget about the uglies for a while and enjoy the wonder of the fireflies and glow-worms, which were seemingly enjoying a silent rave that our mp3 players could not tune into.

The next task was to build the campfire – it’s amazing how much comfort a fire can give but it definitely felt like a good idea when there were caiman, tarantulas and a whole host of other murderers lurking around. We roasted a whole chicken on the fire and ate it with rice and cucumber. The chicken was really succulent and tasty. To prepare us for the night of “sleep” we had a few beers and some Amazonian “wine”. The “wine” tasted more like alcoholic grape soda and it was hilarious watching our French campmates try it! But it seemed to do the job and soon we were all merry and blissfully ignorant of the huge tarantula nest just twenty metres from our hammocks. It was a bit surreal to be drinking ice cold beer in the middle of the jungle but thanks for a quality cool box we were living the 21^st Century traveller’s dream.

Due to the beverages, campfire stories became amusing rather than terrifying – like the story about the guide who now has a permanent limp thanks to a venomous snake bite that would have killed him if he had been as far away from the hospital as we are. Or the one about a previous visitor who woke up with a tarantula in her hammock. We did check our hammocks thoroughly before getting in though! And with this Dutch courage we also went back out in the boat for some midnight stargazing. We saw three planets – Saturn, which was very close to the full moon, Jupiter, and Venus. Jupiter and Venus were very close to each other and at one point we saw the International Space Station pass between them. Very cool. What made this experience both more interesting and a little surreal was that Chitão had an app on his phone that, when held up to the sky, not only named the stars and planets you could see but formed images around the constellations. While being totally “unplugged” is something people seem to really love about their time in the jungle, I have to say this app was pretty amazing.

Our beds for the night

The volume of insects in the Amazon was significantly less than when we visited the rainforest in Borneo. I remember being attacked by 2-3 inch insects while eating in Mulu but in the Amazon the main concerns were the mosquitoes and spiders. Perhaps the number of large spiders explains the lack of large insects, or maybe it has something to do with the water. Either way it made being outside at night much easier. Unfortunately, the alcoholic beverages meant we needed to wee and when surrounded by mosquitoes and other creepy crawlies it can be a little daunting. There was a slightly more open space about 30 metres from the campsite that was used as a "bathroom", but unfortunately to get there you had to walk past the aforementioned tarantula nest…Dave might have been intimidated by the toilet situation but I was downright terrified. It’s all very well standing there, weeing up a tree and having to keep a look out for attackers but as a lady, things are…well to put it bluntly, things are closer to the ground, harder to keep an eye on and more exposed. I wish I had taken a shewee thingy but unfortunately I wasn’t so well prepared and left the next morning with a few unwelcome bites.

We eventually ran out of alcohol so it seemed like a good idea to go to sleep. As we were snuggled up in our hammocks, both fully dressed (hiking boots and all!) we had no idea what was coming to wake us…

Below are some more photos of our second day in the Amazon and be sure to join us next time for more jungle antics!

Read about Manaus in a previous post.

Startling some birds with blurry morning eyes

This hole is what is left after a palm tree dies and rots

This creepy crawly welcomed us into the jungle at the beginning of our hike!

These 2-inch bullet ants came scuttling out to protect their eggs when Chitão banged on the tree with his machete

A parasitic vine has nearly killed this tree

This walking tree sprouts new "legs" to move across the jungle floor in an Entish quest for peace (and sunlight)

Mega termite / ant nest...we're not quite sure

David loves a good spiky tree

This is where a cicada lives

The bark of this tree, when brewed into a cuppa, can cure malaria

This husk contained about 30 Brazil nuts (here they call them nuts) before a pesky aguti gobbled them all.
The aguti is the only animal in the Amazon with teeth strong enough to crack the shell.

This bark could be used like Vicks VapoRub

This sap is used for glue and to make candles

Banging on this "communication tree", which towers high into the jungle, can be heard up to 4 km away

Forget "I'm a Celebrity" - we were the true King and Queen of the jungle!

It took some googling but we finally identified this as a Black-Fronted Nunbird

A Long Billed Woodcreeper

Cormorants on a partially submerged tree

Doesn't it look quite inviting during the daylight?

Spatchcock chicken, jungle style

A scorpion spider nearby our hammocks...

Costs & Prices

Note: 1 GBP was around 4.9 BRL or 1.55 USD.

Local Hostel Double Room = £27 per night

3D, 4N stay in the Amazon at Juma Lodge = r$720 pp for private double (£147 pp)
3D, 4N stay in the Amazon at Juma Lodge = r$600 pp for dorm (£122 pp)
Fizzy Drink / Beer at Lodge = r$5 (£1)