Amazon – Intensive Encounter With Nature

How high is the pulse of your green heart? South America’s lifeline is still one of the world’s great secrets. On this trip you will look deep into the Amazon rainforest and discover Brazil’s species-rich nature and fauna by ship. With the incomparable leisure on the waterway you get optimal conditions to observe hummingbirds, sloths, river dolphins, caimans, giant toucans, parrots and various species of monkeys in their everyday life. On the way, the ship also docks at places where exploratory expeditions and cultural excursions are on the program.

Best travel time: Fixed departure dates according to the shipping companies’ timetables. Ask us about availability!
08/05 – 08/22/2021 / 08/19. – 05.09.2021
09.09. – 26.09.2021 / 23.09. –
10.10.2021 04.11. – 21.11.2021 / 11.11. – 11/28/2021
04/10 – 04/27/2022 / 04/17. – 04.05.2022
24.04. – 05/11/2022

Travel duration: from 14 days

Price: from CHF 7,678.00 / person
(river cruise in classic cabin main deck including overnight stays in comfort hotels and lodges, flights from / to Frankfurt, domestic flights)

Travel planning: You can sail the Amazon with small boutique ships from our partner Lernidee. Depending on your preferences in terms of travel duration, direction of travel, number of passengers, comfort and routes, we can show you various options. Your need is paramount.

Combine your Amazon cruise with a stay in Rio de Janeiro or a trip to Machu Picchu. We would be happy to work out a travel proposal tailored to your interests and budget.

Tip: If you want something very exclusive, you can also sail the Amazon with one of the award-winning luxurious ships from Hapag Lloyd. With both options, competent German-speaking tour guides are at your side.

Sample trip 18 days:

Day 1: Flight to Rio de Janeiro
In the evening it goes from Zurich to Rio de Janeiro.

Day 2: Welcome to Brazil
Your tour guide will be greeted at Rio de Janeiro airport and flight to Iguazú. Wider than Victoria Falls, taller than Niagara Falls and undoubtedly more impressive than either of them, more than 270 cascades cascade down over a width of nearly 3 km. Tropical birds and huge colorful butterflies add exotic splashes of color in the midst of the unique jungle landscape of the 2,000 km2 Parque National de Iguaçu, which UNESCO declared a World Heritage Site in 1986. In the afternoon you will see the waterfalls on the Brazilian side in their gigantic proportions. The next two nights you will stay in the comfort hotel near the national park.

Day 3: Iguazú Waterfalls: UNESCO World Heritage Site
Today you will visit the Argentine side of the waterfalls. Your tour winds along the rocks around the huge valley basin, so that you can experience this untamed natural spectacle up close. Tapirs and anteaters, coatis, ocelots, otters and even jaguars roam the dense rainforest.

Day 4: Arrival in the Pantanal
flight to Cuiabá and drive to your lodge (approx. 2 hours), where you will spend the following three nights. Extremely abundant biodiversity: three words that best describe the superlative of the Pantanal. In 2000 the UNESCO declared the Pantanal to be one of the most important biosphere in the world with optimal conditions for animal observation. No wonder the Pantaneiros call their land the Garden of Eden. The Pantanal is the largest nature reserve in South America. Every day you undertake varying excursions, which are scheduled at short notice and depending on the weather. All these excursions, such as excursions on horseback, jeep tours, river trips, hikes and photo safaris, are included in the tour price and are accompanied by your German-speaking tour guide.

Day 5: Excursions in the Pantanal Enjoy
two full days in this extremely exciting nature reserve. It is home to numerous species of mammals, including big cats such as the jaguar and ocelot. Spectacled caimans, anacondas, tapirs, anteaters and capybaras, the largest rodents in the world. The bird population is one of the most fascinating on our planet, with more than 650 species cataloged.

Day 6: Excursions in the Pantanal

Day 7: Futuristic Brasilia: UNESCO World Heritage Site
Morning flight to Brasilia, the post-modern capital of Brazil. On a city tour you will experience Brasilia with its futuristic architecture that looks like something out of a science fiction film. In 1987 the city, built in the shape of an airplane, was declared a modern world heritage site by UNESCO. In particular, the handwriting of the world-famous architect Oscar Niemeyer has given the Brazilian capital an avant-garde face with monuments, palaces and monuments that are well worth seeing. Here you stay in the centrally located, upper middle class hotel.

Day 8: Manaus – Extravagance in the tropical rainforest
Transfer to the airport. Flight to Manaus and transfer to your hotel. The rest of the day is at leisure. Manaus is an extravaganza of urban development and offers you some places of interest and architectural gems from the heyday of the rubber boom. The jungle metropolis with the famous opera is the only metropolis in the world that cannot be reached by land. Here you stay overnight in a colonial-style hotel directly on the Amazon.

Day 9: Amazon cruise
In the morning you take a tour of the opera city on the Rio Negro. Among other things, you will visit the magnificent Teatro Amazonas, which reflects the unique wealth of the city from the heyday of the rubber boom. In the early afternoon you board the MS Jangada at the pier of your hotel, which will become your comfortable home for the next five nights. After a welcome drink, your tour guide will show you the itinerary. Your ship sails downstream to the Encontro das Aguas, the confluence of the Rio Negro and Rio Solimões, as the Amazon is called up to this point. The Rio Negro, black like espresso, and the Amazon, brown like latte macchiato, need more than ten kilometers to unite their waters. That is how long they flow side by side, almost unmixed, in the same bed – one on the right, the other on the left.

Day 10: Amazon cruise
The longest river on earth is an unpredictable diva. Its catchment area is almost twenty times the size of Germany. Today you wake up at Lake Janauaca. The be-all and end-all of every river cruise in Amazonia are excursions into the rainforest. This is possible on small ships like the MS Jangada. With its shallow draft, it can also sail into shallower branches and even moor on the bank. Go on an excursion before breakfast, because sunrise is the best time to watch the birdlife of the Amazon. With a bit of luck, parrots of all sizes and colors fly by, screeching loudly. Perhaps toucans are sitting high up in the trees and you will spot the primeval hoatzin chickens in the thicket. The area is also home to the Amazon river dolphin. After a hearty breakfast, explore the local flora and fauna on a jungle hike. In the afternoon an excursion in motorized canoes awaits you. You can fish piranhas and take a look at their teeth. After dark, you can go on an expedition one more time.

Day 11: Amazon cruise
An early morning shore excursion gives you the opportunity to see the large water lily Victoria regia up close. Small capuchin monkeys can often be seen in this area. Continue upstream. You pass Manaus and have an excellent view of the hustle and bustle of the jungle city from the water. In the afternoon you will visit the village of Terra Preta. Visiting the Indians of this region gives you an insight into everyday life in the village. In the early evening, take a wildlife viewing boat ride. Unforgettable are the acoustic impressions of the animal voices that say goodbye to the day with the falling dusk!

Day 12: Amazon cruise
On a morning hike through the jungle, after breakfast, you will get an overview of the sensitive ecosystem with its grandiose diversity. 1,500 bird, 6,000 tree, 2.5 million insect species – and nobody knows how many are still waiting to be discovered. You will return to the ship around noon. During your lunch on board, the ship continues its journey to the largest freshwater archipelago in the world. The Anavilhanas group is a real labyrinth with over 400 islets!

Day 13: Amazon cruise
This day is all about the Anavilhanas National Park. Before breakfast, take a boat trip to see a family of otters with a bit of luck. This is followed by a lecture on the problem of rainforest destruction, before a caipirinha course awaits you in a cheerful atmosphere – no trip to Brazil would be perfect without the refreshing lime drinks. In the afternoon you will reach the northern Rio Negro. The small rivers have particularly dark water and offer beautiful reflections in the late afternoon.

Day 14: From the jungle to the Copacabana
Your last day on board the MS Jangada begins with a particularly exciting excursion on the Rio Ariaú. You will arrive in Manaus in the late morning, where your river cruise ends. Transfer to the airport and flight to Rio. Upon arrival in Rio, drive to your hotel on Copacabana.

Day 15: Rio de Janeiro
In the morning you take a city tour. Take the cable car to the famous Sugar Loaf. Today and the following two nights you will reside in the comfort hotel directly on the Copacabana.

Day 16: Rio de Janeiro
In the morning you will visit the Corcovado with the famous statue of the Redeemer. A 3.7 km long cog railway takes you to the top. From the 710 m high mountain you can enjoy a breathtaking view.

Day 17: Flight back to Switzerland