Voyage to the Heart of the Amazon
Voyage to the Heart of the Amazon is a true expedition that cruises deep into the untouched Amazon rainforest aboard the 18-guest Motor Yacht Tucano. The 5- and 7-day cruises begin in Manaus, Brazil, and venture far up the Rio Negro seeking out the abundant wildlife that lives in the world’s greatest wilderness, away from civilization.
An Amazon cruise on the M/Y Tucano can be quite active with 4-5 daily excursions in groups of 6-8 people, including naturalist-guided walks in the forest, frequent canoe and kayak excursions, swimming, fishing and a possible village visit. Each evening, native and bilingual guides offer a brief discussion about the extraordinary ways in which the plants and animals have evolved to live in this ancient rainforest.
Cruise upstream northwest on the Rio Negro as far as a major river called the Rio Jaueperi, about 200 miles from Manaus, Brazil. Along the way explore many small tributaries where the forest is wild and undisturbed with numerous rainforest habitats and spot a great diversity of wildlife. Travel to the “Encontra das Aguas,” the meeting of the waters of two of the world’s largest rivers: the Amazon River and the Rio Negro. The light-colored water of the Amazon and the dark water of the Negro do not readily mix, and the two rivers flow side by side for many miles. Explore the beautiful and fabulously rich environment where these rivers meet and visit the Lago Janauari Ecological Park, which lies in a wedge-shaped delta that divides these two storied rivers.
The M/Y Tucano is the only vessel that explores far into the world’s largest Amazon reserve and the only expedition cruise in a UNESCO Natural World Heritage Site, the Central Amazon Conservation Complex. Within this reserve are tens of thousands of square miles of uninhabited wilderness. Along the Rio Negro there are only a few small settlements large enough to be considered towns. It remains a true wilderness. Beyond the tangle of vines and limbs along the river banks are hundreds of thousands of square miles of primitive forest where the forces that shape plant and animal evolution continue on as they have for millions of years. Because of the exploratory nature, the small groups and the skilled guides on the Voyage to the Heart of the Amazon, this is considered the most authentic cruise in the entire Brazilian Amazon. Make it your own, private Amazon cruise—the Tucano is an AdventureSmith favorite for private charter due to her unique region of operation and cozy size.
Read on for details about this trip, or learn more about AdventureSmith’s Amazon cruises and Amazon trips.