Uakari Floating Lodge - Tefé
Nestled in the heart of the Amazon in the Mamirauá Sustainable Development Reserve, the Uakari Floating Lodge offers a unique perspective on Brazil's incredible wildlife-from the middle of a river! You'll have the chance to see Pink River Dolphins, the scarlet-faced Uakari monkey and an incredible array of birds, reptiles and other wildlife as you float through the largest protected area of flooded, or várzea, forest in Brazil. Though this eco-tourism lodge is not part of the Tropical Nature conservation system, it is located in an Amazonian floodplain the size of England, and the opportunities for experiencing jungle wildlife and scenery are constant and abundant.
Wildlife:The two seasons in this area are the dry season, from September to March, and the wet season, from April to August. The dry season offers a concentration of wildlife in and around the remaining wetlands once floodwaters recede. During the wet season, experience the magic of the true flooded forest-all excursions will be in a canoe since the whole area is underwater! You'll be floating just under the canopy of tree-tops and can see the plants and animals that live here up close and personal.In excursions to the trails and forest around the lodge, as well as to Lake Mamirauá, you'll have the chance to see caiman, pink river dolphins, and the endemic, Red-faced Uakari monkey. Howler, Squirrel and Black Capuchin monkeys also reside in the tree-tops, along with macaws, toucans, sloths and the fascinating-looking Hoatzin. The outings will take place in the early morning and the afternoon, leaving mid-day for lunch and a siesta, relaxing in a hammock or perusing the books and videos offered in the lodge library. You can also arrange for a short fishing trip-your catch will likely be piranha, the most abundant fish in these waters. Culture:The Mamirauá Reserve has received much praise for its efforts to incorporate local peoples as vital contributors. The local population are part of the Reserve's constant and ongoing commitment to conservation and education. You will have the opportunity to visit one of the local villages and have a glimpse into their way of life, which revolves around the ebb and flow of the waters. A community representative will help guide your group, explaining how the locals live and what they do. You may want to take a small amount of money with you, as many villagers, particularly the women, produce handicrafts to sell to visitors.4 days/3 nights (Saturday to Tuesday)1st day: Tefé - LodgePick up is at 12:15 hrs at Tefé Hotel/Airport and transfer to the Areia Branca Pier. Usually we visit the Mamiraua store and ecotourism office to make some payments of the tourists. Departing around 13:00 from Areia Branca Pier, by boat you can enjoy the breeze and the magic scenery. You might even be able to spot wildlife, such as pink dolphins (Inia geofrensis) at Tefé Lake and tucuxis (Sotalia fluviatilis) in the Amazonas River.The arrival is around 15:00 at the Uakari Lodge, our staff will be waiting for you. There will always be an English-speaking person at the lodge. Our staff will give you rapid recommendations and explanations on the running of the lodge (meal times, solar power, water, no swimming, etc) and you will be asked to fill in the visitors registration form. At this time you will be able to meet all the employees responsible for making an excellent stay. At 15:30 you will be ready to go on a walk (dry season) in one of the trails. You will be taken with your whole group to do an Interpretative Trail. The naturalist and the local guide, joining scientific and traditional knowledge will help you to interpret the varzea’s environment (flooded forest). The local guides don’t speak English fluently. Our trails are designed not to be physically straining and most of them can be walked in three hours at the longest. During the flood (May-July) all trails will be done in a small paddle canoe (your guide will paddle you through the trail). The dinner will be served around 18:30. After dinner you will have the opportunity to hear a talk about the ecosystem and about the Mamirauá Sustainable Development Institute – its work, its research, etc. The naturalist guide will do the presentation at 19:30. After the presentation, be ready to do a night tour with high chances to see the nocturnal fauna, as tarantula spiders, opossum (Didelphis marsupialis and Philander opossum), two-toed sloth (Choloepus didactylus) and brown throated three toated sloth (Bradypus variegatus), amazon bamboo rats (Dactylomys dactylinus), bats (Rhynchonycteris naso and Noctilio leporinus), etc. 2nd day: Uakari-LodgeIf you choose to visit a local village, the morning is the time to do it. The Ecotourism program has had plenty of discussion with the local communities about those visits and agreed an informal itinerary with a series of attractions they would like to show and talk about. A person from the community will meet your group and show you around (please see the detailed information sheet about village visits). Depending on the village, you might have the opportunity to buy locally produced handicrafts - take small change with you. If you choose not to visit a village you can go for another tour with your local guide. At 15:30 the local guide will accompany you in another hiking or traditional canoe (rain season), in the heart of the forest, where you will have the opportunity to view various species of animals. This night, we invite researchers that are working in the ecotourism area for dinner, after the dinner they give a presentation about their works.
3rd day: Uakari LodgeIn your last day in the Reserve, you have a choice to accompany a researchers team and participate of their field works and supplementing the technical information given last night. Or if you prefer, you can go to another wildlife viewing tour, travelling around the landscapes, channels and lakes system that compose part of the varzea’s ecosystem. In this afternoon you will be taken on a motorised canoe to lake Mamirauá, a beautiful lake inside the total preservation area of the Reserve. At the lake you will probably have memorable encounters with pink river dolphins (Inia geofrensis), hoatzins (Opistochomus hoazin) and perhaps the pirarucu (Arapaima gigas) fish. You will stay there until the sunset and on your way back you will spot black caimans (Melanoschus niger), bats (Rhynchonycteris naso and Noctilio leporinus), night birds… The Dinner is at 20:00 so you can enjoy your last night to talk to the staff, to see another kind of documentary or just pack for the next morning.4. Tag: Uakari Lodge - TeféYour breakfast will be early, during the beautiful Amazonian sunrise. Check out at 09:00 am, the transfer is by speedboat and spend 1h 30 min to arrives in Tefé.
5 days/4 nights (Tuesday to Saturday)1st day: Tefé - Uakari LodgePick up is at 12:15 hrs at Tefé Hotel/Airport and transfer to the Areia Branca Pier. Usually we visit the Mamiraua store and ecotourism office to make some payments of the tourists. Departing around 13:00 from Areia Branca Pier, by boat you can enjoy the breeze and the magic scenery. You might even be able to spot wildlife, such as pink dolphins (Inia geofrensis) at Tefé Lake and tucuxis (Sotalia fluviatilis) in the Amazonas River. The arrival is around 15:00 at the Uakari Lodge, our staff will be waiting for you. There will always be an English-speaking person at the lodge. Our staff will give you rapid recommendations and explanations on the running of the lodge (meal times, solar power, water, no swimming, etc) and you will be asked to fill in the visitors registration form. At this time you will be able to meet all the employees responsible for making an excellent stay.All outings have to be accompanied by a local guide and some of them a naturalist guide, you must listen to the their recommendations at all times, specially those regarding your own safety. The local guides don’t speak English fluently. At 15:30 the local guide will accompany you in a trail or in a traditional canoe, in the heart of the forest, where you will have the opportunity to view various species of animals. The dinner will be served around 18:30. After dinner you will have the opportunity to hear a talk about the ecosystem and about the Mamirauá Sustainable Development Institute – its work, its research, etc. The naturalist guide will do the presentation at 19:30. After the presentation you can watch a movie or go to sleep hearing the sounds of the forest. 2nd day: Uakari LodgeIf you choose to visit a local village, the morning is the time to do it. The Ecotourism program has had plenty of discussion with the local communities about those visits and agreed an informal itinerary with a series of attractions they would like to show and talk about. A person from the community will meet your group and show you around (please see the detailed information sheet about village visits). Depending on the village, you might have the opportunity to buy locally produced handicrafts - take small change with you.If you choose not to visit a village you can go for another tour with your local guide. The lunch will be served at 12:30. After lunch, you can rest in a hammock, watch a video about researches done at Mamirauá or an award-winning BBC documentary on Mamirauá, read a book, or just chat - outings will only be carried out when the sun goes down a little. In the afternoon you will go to another hiking or canoe tour, always exploring a different region of the reserve. This night, we invite researchers that are working in the ecotourism area for dinner, after the dinner they give a presentation about their works. 3rd day: Uakari LodgeAnimals in the forest wake up at sunrise, so if you are interested in sighting as much wildlife as possible, you have to wake up early. The breakfast is served at 06:30, at 7:00 the activities begin; you will be ready to go on a walk (during the dry season) in one of the trails. You will be taken with your whole group to do an Interpretative Trail. The naturalist and the local guide, joining scientific and traditional knowledge will help you to interpret the varzea’s environment (flooded forest). Our trails are designed not to be physically straining and most of them can be walked in three hours at the longest. During the flood (May-July), all trails will be done in a small paddle canoe (your guide will paddle you through the trail).In the afternoon you have a choice to accompany a researchers team and participate of their field works and supplementing the technical information given last night. Or if you prefer, you can go to another wildlife viewing tour, travelling around the landscapes, channels and lakes system that compose part of the varzea’s ecosystem. After the dinner, be ready to do a night tour with high chances to see the nocturnal fauna, as tarantula spiders, opossum (Didelphis marsupialis and Philander opossum), two-toed sloth (Choloepus didactylus) and brown throated three toated sloth (Bradypus variegatus), amazon bamboo rats (Dactylomys dactylinus), bats (Rhynchonycteris naso and Noctilio leporinus), etc. 4th day: Uakari LodgeIn your last day in the Reserve, you are more used to the forest, if you are really quiet and set out early enough, you might see even more wildlife like capuchin monkeys (Cebus paella), howlers (Alouatta seniculus), uakaris (Cacajao calvus calvus) and squirrel monkeys (Saimiri sciureus and Saimiri vanzolinii), three toed sloths (Bradypus variegates), hoatzins (Opistochomus hoazin), etc. If you prefer you can practise a traditional fish or piranha fishing. In this afternoon you will be taken on a motorised canoe to lake Mamirauá, a beautiful lake inside the total preservation area of the Reserve. At the lake you will probably have memorable encounters with pink river dolphins (Inia geofrensis), hoatzins (Opistochomus hoazin) and perhaps the pirarucu (Arapaima gigas) fish. You will stay there until the sunset and on your way back you will spot black caimans (Melanoschus niger), bats (Rhynchonycteris naso and Noctilio leporinus), night birds… The Dinner is at 20:00 So you can enjoy your last night to talk to the staff, to see another kind of documentary or just pack for the next morning.
5th day: Uakari Lodge - TeféYour breakfast will be early, during the beautiful Amazonian sunrise. Check out at 09:00 am, the transfer is by speedboat and spend 1h 30 min to arrives in Tefé.Prices:
Accommodations:Ten floating rooms include private bathroom. private terrace, solar power, hot water. Meals, including fresh local fish and fruits, are served in the dining hall. The Uakari Floating Lodge also has a library, video room, conference room and deck. As it often hosts working scientists as well, you may be treated to lectures and talks on various research projects as well as the history of the Reserve itself.How to get there?A one-hour flight from Manaus brings you to the outpost town of Tefé. From here, we'll board an outboard motorboat and travel one and a half hours through the jungle, following the Solimőes River. Along the journey, we might spot Howler Monkeys or Pink River Dolphins, along with other jungle wildlife.Booking:Prices are per person and based on a minimum of two people traveling together. Fixed departure trips depart on Monday and Friday. Rates include:Roundtrip boat transportation from Tefé. Private rooms with private bathrooms. All meals and snacks. urified drinking water and juices. Bilingual naturalist guide. All excursions. Soda, beer and wine are available but not included. |
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