World Journeys Amazon Expedition Cruise: M/Y Tucano

• Tailor-made journey
• English-speaking local guides
• 6 breakfasts, 5 lunches, 6 dinners
• 6 nights’ accommodation in a Green Category Stateroom with private facilities
• Transfers and transport
• Sightseeing and entrance fees

Day 1: Manaus > Amazon
Early this morning you will depart from the Tropical Hotel pier to board the M/Y Tucano for your cruise, travelling upstream on the Rio Negro. Shared transfers are included from several centrally located hotels. This morning you will cruise through the world’s largest river island system, the Anavilhanas Archipelago. As you continue upstream leaving civilisation behind, you will likely observe pink river dolphins, primates and a large assortment of exotic birds, along with the chance to enjoy magnificent forest vistas. In the late afternoon you will embark on your first excursion searching out Amazonian wildlife. If conditions permit, you may also have the chance to swim in some of the world’s most clean and refreshing water.

Day 2: Amazon Cruising
Early this morning you will divide into small groups and explore the rainforest by boat or kayaks. Each group will enjoy touring with a local expert naturalist guide. You will hear and perhaps see howler monkeys and you will enjoy the morning serenade of toucans. After breakfast take a walk in the forest where, with the help of your guide, you will begin to understand the ecology of the Amazon. Around midday, return for lunch before an afternoon exploration of the forest in the launch boats, listening to the sunset chorus of birds, frogs and howler monkeys along the way.

Day 3: Amazon Cruising
This morning there will be an early exploration of the waking rainforest. Keep your eyes peeled for sloths, which are often seen in this area. Return to the ship for breakfast followed by either a walk in the rainforest or an excursion in the launch boats. This afternoon enjoy an additional excursion. Tonight you will have the opportunity for stargazing onboard if weather permits.

Day 4: Amazon Cruising
Morning excursion before the M/Y Tucano voyages along the heavily forested shore scouting for wildlife. If time and conditions permit, you may stop for a visit at a settler’s home carved out of the rainforest. In the early afternoon you will travel to an extraordinary river called the Rio Jaueperi. Here you will see a seasonal floodplain forest known as ‘Varzea’ and scout along the shoreline for some of the endemic creatures found only in this unique environment. The area is home to giant river otters, armadillos, capuchin and spider monkeys, marmosets, tree frogs, tapirs, turtles, sloths, stunning butterflies and plenty more. A host of beautiful bird species make the reserve a bird watcher’s paradise, including toucans, herons, macaws, eagles, parakeets and woodpeckers. Weather permitting, you will have a night excursion to observe the nocturnal creatures in this area.

Day 5: Amazon Cruising
Today, cruise to the west side of the Rio Negro and continue to scout in the launch boats before a walk through the forest, admiring the flora and fauna of the area. Weather and water depth permitting, you will have the chance to explore areas of the Amazon rarely visited by anyone else. Continue downstream and enter an east bank affluent of the Rio Negro to explore deep into the rainforest on a small section off the main river. Enjoy a nocturnal exploration of the rainforest before returning to the M/Y Tucano for “Caipirinha Night”. Perhaps learn some samba moves on the top deck.

Day 6: Amazon Cruising
Begin the day with a dawn excursion in search of early waking wildlife. You will then enjoy one last excursion into the rainforest. In the mid-afternoon begin the journey back downstream. In the afternoon you will arrive at “Encontro das Aguas” – a stark, several-mile-long line where two of the world’s largest rivers, the Amazon and the Rio Negro, join in a turbulent maelstrom. Here the dark water of the Rio Negro runs beside the opaque brown water of the Amazon. At sunset the M/Y Tucano will once again turn her bows upstream on the Rio Negro and journey to the overnight anchorage north of the City of Manaus. As you pass in front of Manaus, marvel at the scale of one of the world’s largest and most vibrant port cities, over a thousand miles from the sea. Tonight, enjoy a farewell dinner and prepare for an early departure tomorrow morning.

Day 7: Amazon Cruising > Manaus
Your cruise ends on arrival back into Manaus.

• There is also a 5 day itinerary available. Enquire for more details
• Blue Cabins are the same as Green Cabins, however the mattress on the top bunk will be removed, and the room will be for single occupancy only
• The single supplement can be waived if you are willing to share a standard (Green) cabin. Single travellers will be matched with another traveller of the same gender and pay the share twin price
• All cruise itineraries are subject to change due to seasonal weather conditions (and resultant variations in river and tributary water levels) affecting accessibility to locations. Thus navigation routes, times and excursions may need to be modified at the cruise captain’s discretion. Passengers should also be aware that animal sightings cannot be guaranteed due to the unpredictability of wildlife behaviour.