Our 893 kilometre trip along the Amazon River from Iquitos, Peru to Manaus, Brazil is easily one of our most memorable overland trips we have ever done and one that we definitely need to revisit with our kids. If you are looking for an epic, off the grid adventure, you can't find many better places than this. We think it is even more important now for tourists to visit, during this time of increasing deforestation of the Amazon, so we can share our stories with the world to try and bring a stop to it.
Our best memories from this trip came from just being able to take in everyday life along the Amazon as we slowly cruised along on the boat. The boat would stop at different villages along the way to deliver supplies so you really were able to get a glimpse into village life along the Amazon. The other most memorable part of this trip was definitely our stay at the Uakari Lodge in the Mamiraua Sustainable Development Reserve. This reserve is in pristine, remote rainforest and hires local villagers to help guide you in sustainable activities based out of the floating lodge. We did many trips along the river looking at pink river dolphins and fishing as well as hikes on land to see more of the wildlife you can find in the Amazon forest.
A trip along the Amazon is something you won't soon forget and it will leave an impression on you like few other places you are likely to visit. So get out and make your own Amazon stories.
Some Tips For Your Amazon Adventure
IMPORTANT - Decide ahead of time how you want to travel on the boat. You really have only two choices; hang up a hammock on the main deck or book early and pay more for a cabin. Most boats only have two to four cabins so you need to grab those well in advance. The cabin provides you more security for your belongings, but the hammock allows you to mix more with the locals. We chose cabin as we had some valuables we didn't want to worry about. We would suggest bringing lots of your own water and some snacks. They do feed you on the boat though.
To get the full Amazon experience, start your adventure in Iquitos. With Iquitos being one of the most isolated cities in the world, you will need to fly in after doing some sight seeing in other parts of Peru. There is no road transportation into this city. Do take some time to stay a few days to take in this city as it definitely is worth a visit. You can easily get around the city by mototaxi and bus.
A few days before you want to start your journey down the Amazon, head to the waterfront to try and secure a ticket on one of the many boats that make the trip downstream. Be sure to check out https://www.rome2rio.com/ to find out more information on prices and procedures to get your tickets. We took our first boat trip from Iquitos to Leticia, Colombia.
Along the way to Leticia, the boat will stop and let you off at a Peruvian border post where you will need to be stamped out of Peru. You then walk across to the Colombian border post to get stamped in to Colombia. Leticia is small and worthy of at least a day to visit, but overall there isn't much to see. Once you've spent your day in Leticia, you simply have to walk across the open border between Leticia and Tabatinga, Brazil to get your Brazilian visa.
From Tabatinga, we chose to fly to Tefe, Brazil, but you can take a boat if you choose. We chose to speed things up a bit on this leg as we had some other destinations that we wanted to get to at a certain time.
From Tefe, you can organize a boat pick up for your visit to the amazing Mamiraua Sustainable Development Reserve. Please see the Lonely Planet link above to find out more about the reserve. We really only spent a couple days in Tefe waiting for our pick up to the reserve and from our perspective, there wasn't really much to see in Tefe. It was still fun to spend a couple days just hanging out around the waterfront and people watching in front of our hotel.
After visiting the Mamiraua reserve, we returned to Tefe for the continuation of our trip along the Amazon to Manaus. Manaus is worth a stay of a few days to take in the history of this city. As you approach Manaus by boat, don't forget to take in the "Meeting of the Waters" where the Rio Negro and Amazon river meet. If you have the time and patience, you could continue your trip down the Amazon by boat right to the Atlantic Ocean. We ended up flying to Rio and continued on with other adventures.
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