Day-by-day itinerary
Day 1
Amazon Wildlife — MUSA Tower & Rio Negro
We depart at 5:00 AM from your hotel, driving to the MUSA Natural Reserve — a pristine terra firme forest where a canopy tower rises above the treetops. From the platform, sunrise reveals macaws, toucans, parrots, and raptors beginning their day across a sea of canopy. After a regional breakfast at MUSA, we head to the port of Manaus to board the riverboat. Our first stop on the water is the Meeting of the Waters — where the dark Rio Negro and the sandy-coloured Solimões run side by side for miles without mixing, a phenomenon visible only here on Earth. We navigate into the Várzea floodplain, one of the world's most biodiverse periodic-inundation forests, before settling in on the Ariaú river as night falls and the jungle comes alive with caimans, sloths, bats and night birds.
Day 2
Pink Dolphin Habitat & the Golden-backed Uacari
At 5:30 AM we leave by canoe into the narrow creeks of the Rio Negro basin — the best time to observe birds and mammals before the heat silences the forest. Breakfast is served aboard at 8:00 AM. Mid-morning brings one of the most memorable moments of the expedition: swimming in the open waters of the Negro, in pink river dolphin habitat. These Amazonian giants — the largest freshwater dolphins in the world — move through a setting that feels impossible. The afternoon takes us paddling deeper into the várzea in search of the Golden-backed Uacari (*Cacajao melanocephalus*), one of the most elusive and spectacular primates of the Rio Negro basin, gathering in the flooded canopy during the aquatic season.
Day 3
Anavilhanas National Park
By 5:40 AM we're navigating by motorized canoe through the narrow channels of Anavilhanas — a 350,000-hectare archipelago of over 400 islands in the Rio Negro, one of the largest river archipelagos on Earth. The early light draws out macaws, toucans, eagles, hawks, osprey, hoatzins and river ducks in extraordinary concentration. After breakfast we seek out the display arena of the Wire-tailed Manakin (*Pipra filicauda*) — a tiny bird with one of the most elaborate courtship rituals in the Amazon. In the afternoon we navigate to the remote Apuaú region, a pristine corridor deep in the basin, for a jungle walk in primary rainforest rarely visited by outsiders.
Day 4
Primary Rainforest Walk & Cuieras River
Breakfast at 6:00 AM, then straight into primary rainforest on foot. Your naturalist leads a walk through trails that most people will never set foot on — pausing at medicinal plants, pointing out camouflaged insects, identifying amphibians by their call, and tracing the ecological relationships that hold this ecosystem together. After lunch the pace shifts: we cruise through the island labyrinth of Anavilhanas toward the Cuieras river, where grey river dolphins surface along the banks and the late afternoon light turns the water gold. A spectacular sunset over the flooded forest closes the day.
Day 5
Indigenous Village & Return to Manaus
Breakfast at 7:00 AM. The final morning is dedicated to an optional visit to an indigenous family living along the river — a genuine encounter with a way of life built in harmony with the forest. You'll see traditional artefacts, learn about food production and ethnobotany, and have the chance to taste local ingredients. Afterwards the riverboat turns south, cruising back down the Negro toward Manaus. Lunch is served on board at noon. Arrival at the port of Manaus in the afternoon, with drop-off at your hotel or the airport.
