How to explore the Amazon from Brazil, Peru, and Ecuador

A woman standing on a bridge in the middle of the Amazon Rainforest

Never thought of visiting the Amazon Rainforest ? Picture this: a massive forest that matches the size of 46 U.S. states. Three million species of wildlife. A unique shade of bright green that can’t be seen anywhere else. There’s nowhere like The Amazon in the world, which makes it a top spot in every nature lover’s Dream Trip list—and worth a spot on yours, too.

Set across 9 South American countries from Brazil to Peru , The Amazon is the world’s largest and most biodiverse tropical rainforest, A.K.A. the perfect place for off-the-grid adventures of a lifetime. If you want to experience nature’s crown jewel at least once, here are the three main ways you can (safely!) explore the Amazon rainforest. Plus, we’ve found nifty tips from travelers that’ll help you make the most out of your trip.

This guide features activities in Brazil , Peru , and Ecuador —the best jump-off points for Amazon rainforest trips.

1. Set off on an epic Amazon river cruise

Rio Jauaperi runs deep into the Amazon River. The region of Comunidade Itaquera is a part of the city of Novo Airao, and reachable with a 20-hour boat ride

The Amazon River flows through the entire rainforest, so it’s no surprise that most deep Amazon excursions are only possible by boat. Cruises are one of the most popular ways to explore the rainforest’s diverse terrain in style and comfort.

Operating year-round, boat tours tweak itineraries to match the season—so you’ll always get a worthwhile experience with plenty of photo ops and wildlife encounters (try spotting the elusive Amazon pink river dolphin!).

You’ve got two choices: go during the high-water season from January to June when most of the jungle is underwater and accessible by boat, or go during the low-water season from July to December for fishing and spotting wildlife on sandy shores.

Recommended destination: Manaus, Brazil

Located in the heart of the rainforest, Manaus is known as the gateway to The Amazon. Cruises here are longer and go further into the Lower Amazon River, making it every avid explorer’s dream expedition. Most tours will cover visits to Indigenous villages too.

Don't miss the Meeting of the Waters , where the black-tea waters of the Rio Negro and the sandy-shaded waters of the Amazon River run side-by-side.

Recommended tours and activities

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2. Explore national parks and wildlife reserves

Adults walking in the thick Amazon Jungle

The Amazon is home to 30% of the world’s species—including endangered caimans, the elusive jaguar, and various native monkey species like the pied tamarins. This impressive biodiversity has brought mountaineers, photographers, and wildlife spotters all over the world in search of their next great adventure.

Look no further than the national parks and wildlife reserves in Ecuador —they’re smaller in size compared to the rest of the sprawling continental giants in Brazil and Argentina , but make up the most biodiverse area of The Amazon. Wildlife lovers, onward.

Recommended destination: Napo, Ecuador

Ecuador ’s national parks feature dramatic mountainous landscapes, abundant wildlife, and a dizzying array of flora and fauna. Imagine a wild wonderland with swinging spider monkeys, sky-high trees, and choruses of colorful toucans.

There are 11 national parks and 25 wildlife reserves that cover every part of Ecuador. Short on time? Travel along the Napo River and add the biggest rainforest preserves— Yasuni National Park and Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve —to your Amazon itinerary.

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3. Go glamping in a luxe jungle lodge

High canopy walk in thick jungle

Looking for an immersive all-day jungle experience? Go glamping at a jungle lodge in Peru . There are a bunch of unique activities you will only experience from staying in the forest, from waking up to distant sounds of Amazonian wildlife to serene stargazing in pitch darkness. Look out for lodges featuring macaw clay licks and canopy viewing towers that provide great photo ops.

Most places offer daily excursions including guided treks, night safaris, canoe outings as well as visits to Indigenous villages. Design your own jungle adventure and get acquainted with The Amazon however you’d like.

Recommended destination: Madre de Dios, Peru

Madre de Dios represents 15% of the Peruvian Amazon and is the capital of biodiversity in Peru. Heavenly jungle lodges are often found in or near Tambopata National Reserve —don’t forget to stop by Lake Sandoval , a gorgeous oxbow lake home to a variety of wildlife.

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When to visit the Amazon rainforest

Man in boat on Amazon River

High-water season: January to June

Best for: Bird-watching, canoe trips, river cruises

The main draw of the wet season is the dramatic high-water panorama, where river levels rise up to 3 stories high to immerse most of the jungle floor.

Most Amazon rivers, creeks, and lakes become navigable during this period, making it a prime season for river cruises, boat trips, and kayaking adventures. Find yourself closer to the canopies, making it easier to spot birds, monkeys, and other creatures that make the treetops their home.

You’ll experience cooler and rainier weather around the forest, with average temperatures dipping to around 86°F.

Low-water season: July to December

Best for: Wildlife-spotting, fishing, jungle treks

Good news, hikers: during dry season, water levels drop to reveal sandy shores and trekking trails that were previously inaccessible—making deep jungle explorations on foot (finally!) possible.

The receding waterfront makes it easier to spot nesting caimans, snakes, and lizards by Amazon shores, plus fishing for piranhas becomes much easier by boat. You’ll even get the chance to watch migratory flocks in flight, something you’ll miss entirely during the wet season.

Expect less rainfall (though heavy showers can still happen!) and an average temperature of 98°F, with mosquitos less likely to bother you.

Tips on preparing for your Amazon rainforest trip

Tour exploring-Amazon-forest by boat

1. Plan. In. Advance.

Only a limited number of tour operators are authorized to conduct Amazon tours, which means they’ve got limited slots for peak seasons. Once you decide between high-water and dry season, book your tour early to secure your spot.

2. Support local guides

Make sure you pick tours from local tourism companies; it’s a great way to support the community sustainably. Local guides are expert naturalists who know best how to navigate the jungle and are more than happy to share everything they know about this unique ecosystem with you.

3. Choose responsible tours

Smaller group tours leave a smaller environmental footprint. Go with a trained guide who'll ensure your group sticks to good practices like staying on designated walking paths and mindful excursions that don’t disturb the wildlife.

4. Leave no trace behind

Dispose of any waste properly and adopt a ‘take in, take out’ approach when exploring. Commit to bringing a portable trash bag and keep it with you throughout the journey.

5. Give back to The Amazon

The rainforest is vital to the Earth’s health and is one of the last remaining homes for wildlife, Indigenous tribes, and local communities. After your trip, give back to reputable charities like the Rainforest Trust and Amazon Watch that are dedicated to Amazon conservation efforts.

6. Bring binoculars

Travelers suggest investing in a pair of binoculars to maximize your wildlife viewing, especially if you’re aboard a cruise boat. Many animals in The Amazon are tree-dwellers and can be frequently spotted frolicking high up in their canopy homes.

7. Prepare for mosquitos

The Amazon’s warm, humid nature makes it a hotspot for mosquitos. Pack long-sleeved, light-colored clothes, and mosquito repellent and don’t forget to get your malaria shots in advance. When you do get bitten, calamine lotion and hydrocortisone cream will help to ease the itch.

More like this:

  • 10 Life-Changing Trips to Take in South America
  • 10 incredible National Parks in South America to add to your bucket list
  • Now's the time to travel more sustainably...

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9 Best (and Life-Affirming) Amazon Tours and Excursions

by Jessica Rosa - Last updated on February 26, 2020

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Visiting the Amazon Rainforest is hugely popular, and for good reason. It’s one of the most bio-diverse areas in the entire world. From sloths to monkeys, one of every ten known species lives in the Amazon. That’s worth a visit! But surely you’re now wondering how to visit the Amazon rainforest.

green forest canopy from below

The best Amazon tours will leave you feeling stunned.

Amazon Rainforest tours in Brazil are typically the first thing people think of as Amazon destinations, but you can (and should!) visit the Amazon in Peru or Ecuador as well. The Amazon isn’t the only place to see rainforests, either! There are tons of other rainforest adventure travel tours you can consider.

Can you visit the Amazon Rainforest?

Yes, but since the Amazon is such a popular and amazing destination, it’s important to visit in an ethical way. This means going with a tour or a well-trained guide. The best Amazon tours have local guides to help you navigate the forest so you don’t get lost. Plus, they know a ton about the wildlife and fauna! They can also take you to visit indigenous tribes that they have pre-existing relationships with, so you’re not just barging in on a tribe that may not be interested in contact with tourists.

So, can you go to the Amazon Rainforest? Absolutely, but make sure you go with a tour and have a guide with you. Guides will help your visit and experience in the Amazon Rainforest reach its fullest potential while still ensuring that your visit is ethical and not damaging to the area or the wildlife.

[Related: Brazil Adventure Travel: 9 Things to Know Before You Go ]

How to visit the amazon rainforest.

Editor’s note: This information on visiting the Amazon Rainforest was accurate at the time of publishing. Please refer to each individual program for current data.

1. AFS Brazil Global Prep: Amazon River Odyssey — Leave the first review!

AFS Intercultural Program logo

This isn’t any regular Amazon tour; it’s an incredible river odyssey in the Amazon Rainforest. This trip includes a stay in the capital of the Amazonas region, Manaus. You’ll see the sights and dance with the locals! You’ll also stop by the Terra de Cachoeiras or Land of Waterfalls. After that, it’s a six-day river odyssey down the Amazon River. Accommodation includes hammocks in the jungle (how cool is that?!). You might even spot some wildlife like alligators or piranhas.

  • Where? Brazil
  • Duration? 10 days
  • Read AFS USA reviews

2. Amazon Jungle Survival — Leave the first review!

Fronteering Logo

Are you tough enough to survive in the Amazon jungle by yourself? This survival excursion spends over a week teaching participants essential skills like how to locate a clean water source, construct traps to catch food, and even hunt with a bow and arrow!

You’ll also learn skills like starting a fire without a match or lighter, building a shelter, and finding your way out of the jungle. Then, you’ll have the chance to prove yourself during the Isolation Phase — two days where you’re completely on your own! You’ll come away from this incredible tour with new skills and new self-confidence to top it all.

  • Where? Guyana
  • When? Year-round
  • Duration? Two weeks
  • Read Fronteering reviews

3. Amazon Rainforest Wildlife Rescue in Ecuador — 10

Kaya logo

Are you especially excited about the wildlife in the Amazon forest? This tour features the rehabilitation of wild animals that went through abuse and trafficking. Participants will stay at a beautiful property located deep within the forest and interact with animals such as parrots, monkeys, turtles, and even wild cats! What better way to tour the Amazon than to care for its residents? You’ll have a blast working with wildlife rescue on this Amazon forest tour.

  • Where? Ecuador
  • Duration? 2-12 weeks
  • Read Kaya Responsible Travel reviews

4. South America Semester: Andes & Amazon — 9.33

Where the Dragons Logo

Looking for Amazon Rainforest tour packages that are longer than just a couple weeks? Look no further. This “gap year” tour lasts about 3 months! Participants will spend at least 2 weeks trekking through the Amazon forest, learning about conservationism and rubber-tapping along the way. The program also includes a visit to Mt. Tunupa, a multi-colored volcano that overlooks the Salt Flats in Bolivia, and even a hike up Machu Picchu! Well-rounded and packed with incredible experiences, this gap-year will transform you as a traveler and person.

  • Where? Peru and Bolivia
  • Duration? 3 months
  • Read Where There Be Dragons reviews

5. South America Gap Year Semester | Pacific Discovery — 10

Pacific Discovery logo

Speaking of programs that allow you to explore a little bit longer, this gap year helps participants to travel around South America, especially Peru and Ecuador. You’ll have incredible opportunities like snorkeling in the Galapagos Islands, biking Machu Picchu, and helping with service projects for local villages. Once you make it to the Amazon portion of the trip, you’ll be rafting down the Jatunyacu River in the Amazon Basin. As if that wasn’t cool enough, you’ll also see tons of wildlife and maybe even learn about how chocolate is made. Yum!

  • Where? Ecuador and Peru
  • When? Fall or Spring
  • Duration? 9-12 weeks
  • Read Pacific Discovery reviews

6. 15 Day Spanish Language + Amazon Experience Tour — Leave the first review!

Worldaway logo

This program has a heavy focus on the Spanish language, a huge plus for travelers looking to become bi- or even trilingual. You’ll get incredible language immersion and opportunities to practice Spanish with the locals while you explore Ecuador. This trip features an Amazon excursion for three days — enough time for you to experience the incredible natural beauty, but short enough that you’ll have plenty of time for other Ecuadorian adventures such as a coffee tour, South American cooking class, and salsa dancing!

  • Duration? 15 days
  • Read Worldaway Learning Tours reviews

7. Volunteer: Amazonas Explored — 9

VESA logo

This Amazon tour combines the best of both worlds: volunteer work that will make a difference and amazing adventures in the Amazon forest! One week of this program is spent in local villages (that are occupied by “a playful troop of monkeys”), helping residents to build bathrooms and other necessary structures as well as teaching children English. The other week(s) are spent exploring the Amazon jungle further by hiking, canoeing, tubing, visiting an Amazonian animal refuge, and meeting with a shaman. If you stay an extra week, your tour can also include hiking two active volcanoes, visiting the ocean, swimming with whales and dolphins, and finishing off at the "Center of the World", the equator line!

  • Duration? 1-4 weeks
  • Read Volunteer Eco Students Abroad reviews

8. 8-Day Indigenous Cultures & Amazon Rain Forest Tour — Leave the first review!

Worldaway logo

If you’re interested in visiting the Amazon Rainforest, chances are you’ll love touring the Cloud Forest in Ecuador. This tour gives you both in one trip! Plus, you’ll spend time with indigenous tribes of Ecuador like the Otavalos People of Imamabura, a Pre-Incan Tribe in the Cloud Forest, and an original Amazonian Tribe. You’ll experience both incredible forests firsthand and connect further by getting to know the people and culture. Plus, you’ll probably get to try some common local foods, such as a rainforest tree slug (we’re not kidding!).

  • Duration? 8 days

9. Traditional Plant Medicine, Herbalism, and Ethnobotany — 9

Amazon Learning logo

This is a great Amazon tour for our travelers with a knack for or interest in natural medicine and herbalism. Participants are housed with a local family who practices herbalism. You’ll get to see firsthand what practices and plants are used! You won’t just see the Amazon forest; you’ll also learn how to use its resources to help people who are sick. You can fulfill your lifelong dream of touring the Amazon while simultaneously helping people. It’s a win-win! 

  • When? Summer
  • Read Amazon Learning reviews

Can’t pick? Compare These Programs Side-by-Side for FREE with MyGoAbroad

Visit the amazon rainforest and meet our planet’s lungs.

amazon rainforest at golden hour

This is a once-in-a-lifetime event — enjoy every moment of responsibly visiting the Amazon Rainforest.

There are tons of awesome ways to visit the Amazon Rainforest! You can go on a tour with a local guide who can help you get the most out of your trip. You can amp things up and make it a river tour where you cruise down the Amazon river in style. There’s tons of volunteer tours where you can see the forest and make a difference in conservation efforts. You can even help rehabilitate the wildlife! The best Amazon tours all have amazing pros, so you really can’t go wrong.

Whatever ethical way of traveling you choose, you’ll love the Amazon! From lush forests to big woven roots, elephants to poison dart frogs, you’ll see amazing things. Basically, touring the Amazon guarantees that you’ll have an incredible and life-changing experience.

Browse ALL Rainforest Tours in the Amazon on GoAbroad.com

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Bolivia is a beautiful, geographically diverse, multiethnic and democratic country in the heart of South America. Sometimes referred to as the Tibet of the Americas, Bolivia is one of the most remote countries in the western hemisphere. Its geography is varied from the peaks of the Andes in the West, to the Eastern Lowlands, situated within the Amazon Basin...This photo is part of the Bolivia series. For all photos visit: <a href="http://code43.nl/portfolio/bolivia">http://code43.nl/portfolio/bolivia</a>

The Amazon is itself a place of near-mythical status. What traveler drawn to the wild places of the planet hasn't imagined a trip to the Amazon, not only to admire the towering trees, secretive wildlife and awesome river, but to enter, in a real sense, the very life spring of the planet? Expecting a Discovery Channel–like experience (jaguars in every tree, anacondas on every shore) is a recipe for disappointment. In fact, the Amazon’s quintessential experiences are more sublime than superlative: canoeing through a flooded forest, dozing in a hammock on a boat chugging upriver, waking to the otherworldly cry of howler monkeys. On a river whose size is legendary, it’s actually the little things that make it special. Give it some time, and the Amazon is all this and more.

Leave the planning to a local expert

Experience the real The Amazon. Let a local expert handle the planning for you.

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Visiting The Amazon Rainforest in Brazil

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Have you ever dreamed of a visit to the Amazon Rainforest in Brazil?

Located deep in the heart of South America lies the Amazon Jungle.

Spanning several thousand kilometers and bordering 9 countries, The Amazon is one of the richest areas for biodiversity in the world .

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What's in this guide?

Visiting The Amazon Rainforest

The Brazilian side is the most popular to visit, and in this guide I’ll go through my experience trekking through this part of the jungle and what I learnt.

I’ll also cover other important things like when to visit, how to get there and my own recommendations. So without further ado…

Why Visit the Brazilian Amazon?

Once you’ve decided you’ll visit the Amazon, you’ll then need to choose which country to start a trek from.

The Amazon can be explored from Colombia , Venezuela, Brazil , Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia, with each having their own distinct experience and advantages.

brazil amazon wildlife

There are small portions located in Guyana, French Guiana and Suriname too.

The Brazilian side is the largest of all , with around 60% of the jungle located here. This country is the best for longer and deeper treks into the rainforest where you can really get off the beaten path.

Of course, we can’t miss out on all the animals and wildlife you’ll see too.

Some of the best to see here include:

  • The Pink River Dolphin (native to the Amazon)
  • Howler Monkeys
  • Exotic Birds
  • The Three-toed Sloth

From Manaus, there are many organized Amazon jungle tours you can jump on where you’ll also explore indigenous tribes, camp out in the wild jungle and also have the chance to take the mystical Ayahuasca (I’ve done this several times since being here so will write up an article on my experience soon).

This customizable, multi-day tour is a good option for those looking to explore deeper into the Amazon.”

How to Get to The Brazilian Amazon?

One advantage of choosing the Brazilian Amazon is that it’s easy to get to.

The sprawling jungle metropolis of Manaus is located in the heart of the rainforest, with dozens of flights arriving from many major cities in Brazil.

Other countries such as Bolivia or Ecuador will require more effort to reach the Amazon, so this option is best for those who want to get there with ease.

boat in brazil amazon

The other ways to reach Manaus include by river (from Belem on the coast or Tabatinga which is deeper in the jungle, near the Colombian and Peruvian borders), or by driving, with the highway connecting to Boa Vista to the north and then onwards to Venezuela and Guyana.

Once in Manaus, your best bet for going deep into the Amazon is by tour, with some lasting up to 7 or 8 Days. Book my favorite tour (with free cancellation).

You can try to do it yourself, but let’s be honest, it’s probably not the best idea with everything in the jungle seeing you as food (and also the very high chance of getting lost too).

Amazon Jungle Trek

When I went to Manaus, I only planned a few days but ended up staying 10 days in total.

pink dolphins amazon river

I wish I could say all 10 were spent in the jungle, but it was down to airlines hiking the prices and me waiting it out in the city for them to drop back down.

Manaus itself really isn’t special. Being honest here, it was one of my least favourite places in South America , and that’s saying something.

The only real benefit is that it’s the gateway to the jungle. There is the teatro and also the highway connecting to Presidente Figureido (jungle town known for its waterfalls), but that’s about it.

I actually started with a one-day tour where we swam with pink river dolphins in The Amazon, explored parts of the nearby jungle, got acquainted with a local tribe and also saw where the two rivers meet that form the Amazon.

This option is great for those on a strict time schedule, however you’ll see hardly any virgin jungle or animals.

piranhas amazon river

After this I actually went and took Ayahuasca (again), and then decided I was to go back in and see more of the remote and deeper jungle .

I headed back to the same agency and booked a two-day tour, where we took several boats to head further away from civilisation.

This one was tonnes better, where we spent the day fishing for piranhas , catching alligators at night (in the small wooden boat you start to feel a little less invincible) and hiking through uncharted jungle.

You’ll see many spiders, monkeys , sloths and other beasts along the way too.

Best Time to visit Brazil Amazon

Now let’s take a look at the best time to visit this incredibly diverse region of the World. Here we’ll explore both the best time in terms of weather, and also when to see the most wildlife.

The Best Time for the Weather

Here we’ll cover the annual weather and the best time to visit for Manaus.

Know that as soon as you head into the deeper jungle, weather patterns can and do shift quite considerably , with heavier rainfall in certain areas.

amazon brazil boat tour

Average temps throughout the year barely deviate from between 79-81°F.

With this in mind you’ll know that it’s best to pack lighter and more breathable clothes . It’s also important to bring lots of high quality sunscreen as even though it can sometimes feel cool with cloud cover, you’ll still get toasted pretty well.

Technically there is a wet and dry season here, although you’ll feel like it’s all pretty wet regardless. December until May sees the most downpour , with between 300-400mm throughout each month.

With 395mm, March is the wettest month to visit Manaus and nearby jungle.

June until October is drier (you’ll still need a raincoat), with between 100-200mm falling throughout each of these months. If you hate rain, then head here in August which is the driest month with around 110mm of rainfall.

Given the jungle is going to be wild and un-maintained, you’re going to need a solid pair of hiking boots with good traction (as well as to stop you getting bit by the less friendly residents). We recommend these hiking boots for the guys , and also these solid boots for the gals .

The Best Time for seeing Wildlife

Of course, it’s also important to note your best chances of seeing different animals before pinning your flights into the Brazilian Amazon.

The best time to see wildlife is between late-June until early October.

guarana drink brazil

This is due to shrinking river banks as there’s less rain, meaning more animals will be out and about for all to see.

It’s an especially good time to potentially spot Jaguars , which otherwise remain quite elusive and hard to see.

Visiting the Brazilian Amazon: Tips

  • Firstly: double-check the weather before booking your flights, so you can set better expectations. Want the best chance to see lots of wildlife? Head between April and October. Want to completely avoid getting wet? Sorry but this is the Amazon, so bring that raincoat and get ready! There are better times for less rain, so again check these out in this guide.
  • Secondly: I suggest a minimum of 4 days in Manaus (The Amazon Jungle). This would be enough to see a decent portion of the jungle, wildlife and other worthwhile experiences. Whilst I didn’t do the longer 7 day tours, many other travelers I met did and swear it was the best thing they’ve done in a while, so if you have the time then consider a longer tour.
  • Lastly: Please keep an open mind and try new things when in the jungle! Here you can try some tasty foods such as Pirarucu and Tucupi, as well as a drink blended from Guaraná plant. See our Brazilian Amazon safety guide for more advice.

Got travel insurance for Brazil?

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Visiting The Brazilian Amazon

And that’s all for my action-packed guide to trekking in the Brazilian Amazon.

With over half of the Amazon lying in Brazil, this area is one the best to explore the more remote areas of the jungle.

Here you’ll also spot more wildlife, and be able to get in touch with tribes and have other incredible experiences.

In this guide I’ve covered the best time to visit, my suggestions as well as what you can expect from some of the organised jungle trips from Manaus.

Remember to read our backpacking South America guide, and if you have any questions, drop a comment below and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.

👉🏽 P.S. If you’ve found this guide helpful, you can buy us a coffee here to say thanks! Or, support us by downloading our South America Travel Bible to get our very best content.

“ Dear traveler! Some links in this post contain affiliate links. Meaning, if you click through and make a purchase, book a hostel or sign up for a tour, we may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you . Your support means a lot and helps us to carry on traveling and maintaining the quality of this site for you.”

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BNT - Brazil Nature Tours

visit amazon rainforest brazil

The Amazon harbors the largest remaining tropical forest on our planet, home to nearly one-third of the planet's plants and animals.

visit amazon rainforest brazil

Hotels in Amazon

visit amazon rainforest brazil

Uacari Floating Lodge

Uacari Floating Lodge is located in Mamirauá Sustainable Development Reserves, recognized by UNESCO and an exceptional area in the Amazon. There are many places to go and observe the abundant wildlife and interact with local communities.

visit amazon rainforest brazil

Rio Roosevelt Lodge

Discover the virgin Amazon forest with its perfection and admire the beauty and dazzle of various native birds of the Amazon rainforest while staying at the remote Rio Roosevelt Lodge

visit amazon rainforest brazil

Motor Yacht Tucano

The Motor Yacht Tucano experience is comfortable, intimate, efficient and fun. The very best way to experience the Amazon rainforest, expedition cruises in the Amazon offer travelers the best experience available in this natural paradise.

visit amazon rainforest brazil

Mirante do Gavião Amazon Lodge

Situated on the bank of the Rio Negro, Mirante do Gavião, is the newest boutique lodge in the Amazon, located close to Anavilhanas natural reserve.

visit amazon rainforest brazil

Malocas Jungle Lodge

Set in the heart of the Amazon Forest, 120 km from Manaus and next to Rio Preto da Eva River, Maloca Jungle Lodge provides simple accommodation in indigenous-style huts.

visit amazon rainforest brazil

The remotely located Juma Lodge is an authentic, comfortable lodge designed to integrate with the environment and allow guests to enjoy the wonders of the Amazon Jungle.

visit amazon rainforest brazil

Iberostar Grand Amazon

Embark upon a luxurious journey to explore the mighty Amazon and its stunning rainforest, on board the Iberostar Grand Amazon.

visit amazon rainforest brazil

Anavilhanas Jungle Lodge

Anavilhanas Jungle Lodge is a small and exclusive lodge situated in the heart of the Brazilian Amazon rainforest right in front of the Anavilhanas, the world’s largest fresh water archipelago.

visit amazon rainforest brazil

Amazon Village

The Amazon Village takes you into the heart of the forest, where the scents, the sounds, and the sights are all at hand.

visit amazon rainforest brazil

Amazon Turtle Lodge

Located in a preserved region, rich in animal and plant life, the Amazon Turtle Lodge sits beside Lago do Tracaja. Guests are provided with an exciting adventure with canoeing, jungle trekking and river fishing

visit amazon rainforest brazil

Amazon Tupana Lodge

On the shores of the Tupana River in the midst of a biological reserve the Amazon Tupana Jungle Lodge has a very charming atmosphere. The rustic architecture has been carefully planned to preserve nature and specially to adapt itself to the environment.

visit amazon rainforest brazil

Amazon Ecopark Lodge

Located in the midst of the lush jungle, the Amazon Ecopark Lodge a touristic, scientific and educational property at only 1 hour drive from Manaus Airport.

visit amazon rainforest brazil

Amazon Clipper Tradicional

The Amazon Clipper Tradicional offers guests the best way to enjoy the Amazon: on the water and integrated with the environment. It hosts 16 passengers in 8 basic air-conditioned cabins, with bunk beds and private bathroom facilities.

visit amazon rainforest brazil

Amazon Clipper Premium

Large enough to offer spacious cabins with lower beds and inviting public spaces; But small enough to dock at remote spots and cruise to hidden locations, the Premium is the perfect size for a comfortable cruise on the Amazon rivers.

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About amazon.

Located at the north of Brazil, the Amazon River Basin has 20% of all fresh water that exists on the planet. Of the twenty largest rivers in the world, ten are in the Amazon Basin. Even the Amazon River is 4087 miles long (2246 miles are in Brazilian territory).

One of the peculiarities of the Amazon basin are the aquatic plants on Amazon. The best known plant is the Victoria Regia, whose leaves sometimes can grow up to seven meters in diameter. Not surprisingly, the rivers are the main access roads within the Amazon, and the boats are the main means of transportation.

The meeting of the rivers Negro and Solimões is the most popular tour for amazon travelers staying in Manaus. Located about ten kilometers from Manaus, the two largest rivers in the region meet but do not mix for six kilometers, creating a spectacle of the dark waters of the Negro and the muddy waters of the Solimões , which then end up forming on Amazon the Atlantic Ocean.

Rio Negro is located at just 45 minutes by boat from Manaus and is a National Ecological Park called “Janeiro” where various ecosystems unite in the region and have the advantage of being easily accessible for travelers.

The National Ecological Park contains nine thousand acres of land and is operated by a tourism association comprised of companies in the sector, certified by the state’s government. At the park, visitors can travel by canoe through flooded areas, which are cut by large and small trees with vines and vegetation typical of this ecosystem. You will also get the chance to see the Victoria regia (Water - Lily) lake, which is a rustic but safe bridge that allow the visitor to cross the river to see this beautiful flower Amazon.

Facts about the Amazon forest region:

  • Before being named the Amazon River, the largest river in Brazil was called Rio Icamiabas by the natives. Icamiabas means women living without men, like the mythical Amazons.
  • One of the rivers of the Amazon, the Rio Negro has more water than all the fresh water in Europe.
  • You can find sharks and other sea fish in the Amazon River. Sharks have been seen 400 km upstream.
  • Marajó Island is not an island but an archipelago of about 2000 islands. The area of Marajó is greater than Switzerland
  • The largest river archipelago in the world is Mariuá, at the bed of the Rio Negro. Believe it or not, Mariuá is made up of over 700 islands.
  • The second largest freshwater archipelago in the world is in the Amazon and is called Anavilhanas. Located in the state of Amazonas, the Anavilhanas Archipelago consists of about 400 islands

Related Vacation Packages

visit amazon rainforest brazil

Juma Lodge Tours

The best of Juma Lodge are the unique nature activities. All trips are organized in small groups to offer a unique and personalized experience.

visit amazon rainforest brazil

MY Tucano - Voyage to the Heart of the Amazon

This trip departs every Saturday where you will have a chance to explore the most untouched rainforest in the Amazon. On our expedition vessel, we venture far up the The Rio Negro, an inhabited area in the Amazon River Basin.

visit amazon rainforest brazil

Uacari Floating Lodge Tours

Located in the largest protected flooded forest in the world, its main attractions are the huge variety of flora and fauna, like different species of monkeys and other wild animals.

visit amazon rainforest brazil

Amazon Clipper Cruises

The Amazon Clipper cruises are perfect for those wanting to experience the Amazon up-close in a comfortable way. The Amazon Clipper offers three packages for travelers, with itineraries ranging from three to six days.

visit amazon rainforest brazil

Tripster Panda

Visiting The Amazon While In Brazil? Here’s What You Need To Know

Brazil is a beautiful country filled with bustling cities, pristine coastlines, and gorgeous rain forests, unlike those found anywhere else in the world . When visiting Brazil, checking out the rainforest is a must, but this can leave you wondering if it is safe to do so and if you need to know anything before you start packing your bags.

Generally, it is safe to visit the Amazon Rainforest if you go on an organized tour. However, there are still some risks to visiting the rainforest, and you should be aware of these risks before you embark on your trip. 

To ensure you are properly prepared for your Amazon Rainforest adventure, k eep reading to find out all about the Amazon Rainforest and the dangers and wonders concealed in its midst. 

How Big is the Amazon Rain Forest?

The Amazon Rainforest is huge. It covers over 2.1 million square miles and touches eight different countries in South America. This means that there are country borders obscured in the rainforest itself. The Amazon Rainforest is also home to one-third of the planets living organisms.

visit amazon rainforest brazil

Sixty percent of the Brazilian territory consists of the Amazon. This means that visiting the Amazon while in Brazil is very easy, and there are many areas to do so. However, this also means that visiting the rainforest isn’t a walk in the park. You will need specific plans to visit the rainforest and book with a company rather than wandering in. 

How Dangerous is the Amazon Rainforest?

The Amazon Rainforest is known worldwide for its unique beauty and the ability to see creatures that you can’t see anywhere else on earth. However, this doesn’t mean that it is safe, and there are several dangers you need to be aware of. 

As mentioned above, the Amazon is safe to travel to, as long as you are aware and prepared for the dangers which may present themselves. Below is a list of some of the most common dangers tourists encounter in the Amazon.

The biggest danger, reported by almost everyone who has had the ability to visit the Amazon, is getting some kind of illness. This is because rainforests are filled with bugs of every sort and breeding grounds for mosquitos. And the mosquitos in the Amazon carry Yellow Fever and Malaria—two diseases that can be quite deadly. 

And if this weren’t enough, many tourists report catching illnesses from the food and water. So, of course, it would help if you did not drink any of the water in the Amazon, except that which comes in a sealed plastic bottle. But even if you are careful with the water, the naturally existing bacteria in the food you are eating may be different from your body at home, which can cause stomach upset. 

Some stomach upset is normal, but if it continues for a long period of time, it can lead to dehydration which is a serious condition that can lead to death. This is the biggest risk you take when traveling to the Amazon, and it’s important to keep in mind the amount of water you will want to drink to keep yourself healthy.

After illness, the next biggest risk to travelers in the Amazon is the weather. This is because the weather can often be unpredictable in the rainforest, and it can cause a chain of events that can create dangers for travelers. 

The biggest weather danger is the torrential downpours which can cause the river to rise rapidly and flood all of the channels that come from the Amazon river. These floods can wash out roads and create unfamiliar currents capable of sinking some of the most experienced boats. 

Because these floods are so dangerous, most guided tours of the Amazon only occur during a certain part of the year when these heavy rains are less likely. Therefore, June through September tends to be the best months of the year to visit when trying to avoid heavy rains. 

The whole reason you are headed to the Amazon is to see some amazing wildlife! But this wildlife can also be quite dangerous . Before you start imagining the danger of jaguars, alligators, and piranhas, which do exist in the Amazon, you should know that the real dangers you are facing will be much smaller. 

As we mentioned earlier, your biggest (and smallest) animal enemy in the rainforest is the mosquito, which carries many illnesses. But after that, you actually need to be more worried about leeches than any other creature. The Amazon has large populations of the Tryannobdella Rex, a species of leech that is deadly to humans. 

Even if you avoid the water and other places where pesky leeches could hide, you also have to worry about venomous snakes and frogs. These small animals can hide out in the underbrush, leading you to come into contact with them unexpectedly. 

visit amazon rainforest brazil

Frogs can be especially dangerous because even the poisonous ones may look cute to the unsuspecting tourist. In general, you should know in advance not to touch any of the creatures you come across. This includes plants as well, as although most plants aren’t dangerous, there are some in the Amazon poisonous to humans. 

If you’re starting to panic, don’t, as cases of animal attacks are quite rare in the Amazon. And the first step to avoiding poisonous creatures is to be informed and aware that they are there so that you know what to look out for.

What Do You Need to Survive the Amazon Rainforest?

If you haven’t been scared off just yet, then it’s time to learn about some of the things you will need to enjoy your Amazon adventure. If you collect all the things on this list and take the utmost caution, you’ll surely be able to enjoy a trip to the Amazon without mishaps.

Again, mosquitos are some of your biggest enemies in the entire rainforest. Therefore, you will want to be sure you have an up-to-date yellow fever vaccine and take malaria pills as instructed before you go. This will help protect you on your journey from most diseases carried by mosquitos.

Please speak with your doctor before you go, as they may have some additional vaccines to recommend. For example, when going to South America, many doctors recommend a hepatitis A vaccine that can help protect against one of the biggest causes of stomach upset on the continent.

Doctors may also recommend additional vaccines for the area, such as rabies, typhoid, and hepatitis b. You’d want to carry proof of all your vaccines on you, and be sure you let your tour guide know where to find your information if you were to be too hurt or ill to provide it. 

Just because you are vaccinated against yellow fever doesn’t mean you want to let the bugs have their way. Be sure to bring plenty of bug spray to protect yourself against their bites. Additionally, botflies are common in the Amazon, and if it lays eggs on you, the results can be disastrous (and gross) , so be sure to get a bug spray that protects against botflies as well. 

Wear Boots and Pants

Although it will probably be quite warm and humid when you visit, you must wear pants and boots at all times. This will again protect you from insect bites, as well as keep other critters like spiders and snakes away from your feet and ankles. 

Just be sure that you check your boots every morning before putting them on just in case something crawled in while you were sleeping.

Anti-Itch Cream

If you get bitten by something, the last thing you want to do is scratch and cause an open wound on yourself, which can lead to bigger problems. So be sure to pack plenty of anti-itch creams as well as some sort of wound cleaner like Neosporin to keep all your wounds clean, clear, and disinfected.

A Mosquito Net

Suppose you are camping while in the Amazon Rainforest. You will definitely want to grab a mosquito net to bring with you. Even if you aren’t camping and are staying on a river cruise instead, a mosquito net can be an invaluable tool to keep the bugs away at night. 

A Flashlight or Headlamp

Even if you are planning to hike during the day, there are places in the rainforest where trees almost completely obscure the sun. This means that you will want to bring light to be sure you can avoid stepping on a creature you would rather not. You’ll also enjoy being able to see where you are going as well. 

Sunscreen and a Hat

The sun can be quite powerful in South America, and even if you think you are used to the sun, a day on the river can have you fried to a crisp in a minute. So bring a hat with a wide brim to protect your face, as well as sufficient sunscreen for your entire trip. Be sure to reapply frequently.

It is also good to bring after sun cream or aloe vera for that spot you will inevitably miss with sunscreen. 

As mentioned in the previous section, you will want to avoid getting too close to the wildlife in the Amazon. But of course, this is also probably the whole reason you are there! S o invest in a good pair of binoculars to take with you to see the sights and animals from a safe distance. 

Bottled Water and Water Purification Tablets

Once again, you will want to avoid drinking the water while in Brazil. If you are in a city or on tour, you will likely have regular access to bottled water that is safe for you to drink. However, if you are planning on trekking and camping, it’s best to invest in a water purification bottle or tablets to be sure that you can make any water you come across safe for you to drink. 

Imodium and Other Over the Counter Drugs

Imodium is an over-the-counter drug known for its ability to help those suffering from diarrhea. And if you’re in the middle of the rainforest, this can be a real lifesaver. But, of course, you’ll also want to bring things like ibuprofen and basic first aid supplies with you as well. 

This is also something that you will want to discuss with your doctor before you go, as they can help you pick out other essential over-the-counter drugs that you may need while on your Amazonian journey. They can also make sure that whatever you pick is safe for you to take. 

Is it Safe to Swim in the Amazon River?

When planning a trip to the Amazon, you’ll probably read about how hot and humid it is. This can leave you thinking that it might be nice to take a dip in the Amazon waters when the temperature gets high. 

Unfortunately, this is not a good idea, as the waters are filled with leeches, alligators, and piranhas. This doesn’t mean that you can’t swim in the Amazon, though, because you can. Certain parts of the river are safe for swimming. It is best to ask the locals where these places are.

visit amazon rainforest brazil

That being said, the water of the Amazon river is a murky brown color, and the water is warm year-round. This means that it will not be as refreshing as you think it might be, and just taking a look at the light brown-colored water might be enough for you to decide you’d rather not risk the dangers of swimming in the water of the Amazon. 

Can You Call Emergency Services from the Amazon?

Another reason Amazon is so dangerous is that it is completely off the grid. So once you are walking around and exploring underneath the canopy of trees, you can assume that you will have zero cell service. 

This is another reason it is so important to go on an organized tour. An organized tour guide will usually have a way to radio for help, such as by walkie-talkie or maybe a satellite phone. Additionally, they will know the area and terrain and be sure that you won’t get lost. 

Although it wasn’t mentioned in the necessities list, it is good to have travel insurance for a trip to the Amazon. This is mainly because of the prevalence of food-borne illnesses in the region. So even if you don’t suffer a serious mishap (and hopefully you won’t), it can be nice not to worry when you want to have a certain bug bite or stomach symptom checked out. 

Do You Need to Speak Portuguese to Visit the Brazilian Rainforest?

When traveling to another country where they speak a different language, communicating is always a concern, and the Amazon in Brazil is no different.

If you book a tour, you will clearly be with a guide that speaks the language the entire time. This is a good thing because although many Brazilians in the cities in touristy areas speak English, once you venture out into the Amazon, you should be prepared for people to only speak Portuguese or another indigenous language. 

This doesn’t mean you have to learn the entire language before going, as a few words to help you in a bind will probably suffice. Just be prepared mentally to encounter people who speak not a word of English and have some hand motions and pointing ready to go. 

Is There a Risk of Robbery in the Amazon?

Just like when you go on any vacation, you will always want to keep a close eye on all of your belongings. However, it is highly unlikely that you will get robbed in the Amazon. You are much more likely to be robbed in a larger city or the airport than you are while trekking through the rainforest.

If you are the victim of a robbery, it is best to let the thief have any of the items they are trying to steal. This is because it is not uncommon for robberies to turn violent. Also, be sure to take a copy of your passport with you and keep it in a separate place from your passport. This way, you will get a replacement if your passport is stolen. 

Final Thoughts

Overall, visiting the Amazon Rainforest in Brazil can be a safe and amazing experience. However, you need to be sure that you are informed of and prepared to face all the dangers of this unique and beautiful land. 

So schedule your vaccinations, pack all the essentials, and brush up on your Portuguese because your journey to Brazil is right around the corner! And whatever you do, don’t forget that bug spray!

While you’re here, I think we might interest you with these:

Where Is The Pantanal Exactly? Not in the Amazon Forest – It’s a very common mistake to think the Brazilian Pantanal is located in the Amazon, but it’s not! Click and find out where it is actually located!

A Backpackers Guide To Brazil – Wanna know all the details about backpacking in Brazil? We have all the important info right here!

5 Great Places for Fishing in Brazil – Brazil is a great place for fishing with its rich and diverse fauna. With that in mind, we listed the 5 best places to go fishing while in the country!

Cover Photo: boat swimming through the Amazon River – Credit: ID  177556709  ©  Anna Artamonova  |  Dreamstime.com

Bruno Reguffe

What's up, everyone! I'm Bruno, and I'm a nutritionist living in Rio de Janeiro. I've been a longtime friend of Ana's, and I'm excited to help her expand on all things Brazilian with y'all, as well as sharing some of our culture and a few personal experiences while living in the country!

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Squirrel monkey in the Amazon Rainforest

Visit the Amazon Rainforest, Brazil

  • Accommodation

The Brazilian Amazon. The very words conjure up the image of an immense network of wild vegetation, waterways and lakes. From the air, this jungle looks impenetrable, and houses a tenth of the world’s plant and animal species, with many more yet undiscovered.

Brazil has the lion’s share of this huge biome, but experiencing its Amazon comes with some caveats. The town of Manaus, the gateway to many rainforest lodges, has gradually encroached on the forest over the years. It’s caused animals to scamper off into the undergrowth to parts where visitors never set foot.

This means that, although staying at northern Amazon lodges can be a great way to get a feel for the rainforest’s ecosystem, if you’re eager to spot wildlife you’re best going to the less developed southern Amazon — specifically, to Cristalino Jungle Lodge.

Manaus Opera House, Manaus

En route, you’ll pass two rivers, the Rio Solimões and the Rio Negro. They merge to form what we know as the Amazon River, which is 10 km (6.2 miles) wide even here, 1,600 km (994 miles) from the Atlantic Ocean.

Their meeting, however, is a little unusual: the yellow waters of the Solimões run alongside the black waters of the Negro for 6 km (4 miles) before converging. Some lodges farther away from Manaus sit right on the Rio Negro: its acidic waters attract fewer mosquitoes.

To stand a chance of seeing more species in the northern Amazon (including several monkey species), you’re best heading to a lodge around three hours from Manaus.

But, even if you stay closer, you’re quickly enveloped in the highly sensory world of the rainforest.

Days begin with the throaty calls of howler monkeys and perhaps the distant chug-chugging of a motorboat, as locals start going about their daily business. As dawn breaks, you can watch sheets of mist rising from the water. At night, you fall asleep to a thousand twangling sounds humming about your ears: the thrum of insects and cries of nocturnal creatures.

Wherever you go, the Amazon is a boon for botanists: you can boat amid giant waterlilies, and take medicinal plant walks with expert guides. They’ll tell you about the healing properties of ginger and kapok trees, among a multitude of other plants.

Neotropical otter in the Southern Brazilian Amazon

Given the lodge’s isolation, wildlife is much more prolific. You’re likely to see four monkey species (squirrel, howler, spider and capuchin) as well as many butterflies and birds, and potentially capybara. If you travel upstream, you might see giant river otters — great hulking beasts that are over double the size of a North American river otter.

The southern Amazon combines well with a trip to Brazil’s northern Pantanal , a wetland region that’s also a wildlife heartland.

Audley Travel specialist Tamatha

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Suggested itinerary featuring the Amazon Rainforest

This sample itinerary will give you an idea of what is possible when you travel in the Amazon Rainforest, and showcases routes we know work particularly well. Treat this as inspiration, because your trip will be created uniquely by one of our specialists.

The Amazon

Brazil in a nutshell: Iguaçu Falls, Amazon & Rio

10 days from $9,660pp

Map of the Amazon Rainforest

Places & hotels on the map, places near the amazon rainforest.

  • Manaus 10 miles away

Our expert guides to exploring the Amazon Rainforest

Written by our specialists from their own experiences of visiting the Amazon Rainforest, these guides will help you make the most of your time there. We share both our practical recommendations and the best ways to appreciate the Amazon Rainforest at its best.

Caiman lounging around in the Brazilian Pantanal, Brazil

Best of brazil: tips for a first-time visitor

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The view from Sugarloaf Mountain, Rio de Janeiro

What to do in Brazil: our highlights guide

Country specialist, Georgia, chooses some of her favorite things to see and do and where to stay in Brazil. Highlights include spending time in Rio and Salvador, the Amazon and the Pantanal’s wetlands, the best way to see the Iguaçu Falls and her pick of Brazil’s many beaches.

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Accommodation choices for the Amazon Rainforest

We’ve selected a range of accommodation options for when you visit the Amazon Rainforest. Our choices usually come recommended for their character, facilities and service or location. Our specialists always aim to suggest properties that match your preferences.

Anavilhanas Lodge

Anavilhanas Jungle Lodge

Uakari Floating Lodge

Uakari Floating Lodge

Amazon Eco Lodge, Amazon Eco Lodge

Amazon Lodge

Canopy Tower at Cristalino

Cristalino Jungle Lodge

Rainforest Cruises

  • Amazon River
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  • Indonesian Archipelago
  • Mekong River
  • Irrawaddy River
  • India Cruises
  • Machu Picchu
  • Iguazu Falls
  • Brazil Travel Guide

When Is The Best Time To Visit The Amazon Rainforest In Brazil?

Cumulus clouds, Rio Negro, Manaus

The Brazilian Amazon is the largest area of the Amazon Rainforest – with almost 60% of the entire Rainforest in Brazil. You can access this part of the Amazon by traveling to Manaus , a city that is located in the middle of the Amazon and is easy to get to by plane, air, or boat, by taking a Brazillian river cruise.

Brazil is said to have the greatest biodiversity on the planet, with around one-tenth of all the species in the world in the Brazilian Amazon . Amazingly, around two-thirds of all species in the world are found in tropical areas like the Brazilian Amazon – second only to Indonesia’s tropical climate. If you are planning a Brazilian Amazon tour then you are probably wondering when is the best time to visit the Amazon Rainforest in Brazil, so let’s find out.

Ceiba Tree With More Than 40 Meters

A Sumauma Tree,(Also Known As Ceiba) With More Than 40 Meters

The Seasons of the Brazilian Amazon

The first thing to know about the tropical climate of the Brazilian Amazon is that it has just two seasons – the wet, or rainy, season (also known as flooding) and the dry season. The equator runs through the Amazon and it has low elevation, so the weather here varies greatly from the rest of the vast country of Brazil. The wet season typically runs from January to June, although because the region is so vast this can sometimes fluctuate and the dry season usually occurs between July and December.

The plants and wildlife of the Amazon Rainforest have evolved and adapted to the dramatic changes between the two seasons, particularly the heavy rainfall and flooding. Some of the trees in the Rainforest have even developed bark that doesn’t rot! Many of the trees, like the Buttress Trees , use their large roots to anchor them to the ground, stopping them from falling over during the flooding, and allowing them consistently gather the nutrients they need to survive in these conditions.

visit amazon rainforest brazil

Aerial Helicopter Panorama Of Botafogo Bay

The Weather in the Brazilian Amazon

The temperature in the Brazilian Amazon doesn’t change too much throughout the year – averaging around 30°C. Believe it or not, it rarely gets much hotter than this, despite common perceptions and its proximity to the equator. This is unlike the rest of Brazil, like Rio de Janeiro , which can easily surpass 40°C in the summer season. The best time to explore the Amazon is in June just after the rainy season, when the Amazon is still flooded, so looks beautiful, but the rain has stopped.

Brazilian-Amazon-Rainy-Season

Aerial View Of Mist, Cloud And Fog During The Rainy Season

Brazilian Amazon Rainy Season

Running from January to June, during these months you will usually see literal flooding of the Amazon Rainforest. While it doesn’t rain every day – the showers usually burst in and out of sunshine-filled days – be prepared to get very wet. Monthly rainfall is usually around 33 cm per month. While it doesn’t get cold by any means, during this season temperatures can drop to the lowest they get in this region, to around 27°C, which is slightly less humid than the dry season.

Most of the rain falls at the mouth of the Amazon, close to the city of Belém, and in the upper parts of the Amazonia, flooding the Amazon River. During this season inhabitants have to use boats to travel around the Amazon, so this would be your mode of transport too if you plan to travel during this time. Unbelievably, the Rainforest sees so much rain during this period that the Amazon River can rise and fall by as much as 12 meters.

Brazilian Amazon Dry Season 

The dry season is from July to December. During this time the waters have dried up and the Amazon looks entirely different. Not only does the Brazilian Amazon look different during this season, but it also feels different, with some of the hottest and most humid months in this region. However, just because the season is called the “dry” season, it doesn’t mean there will be no rain, an average of around 5 cm per month of rain still falls during this season.

This season does, however, bring lots of surprises to the Amazon, like its creation of white sandy beaches along the river banks. An Amazon river cruise will pass by a number of these beautiful beaches on the Rio Negro, a unique view of the Amazon Rainforest that most travelers won’t expect. During this season you no longer need to navigate the Rainforest in a canoe or boat and are able to hike or walk the paths. There are also fewer mosquitoes during this season, making it an ideal time to travel.

By now you should have a better idea of when to go to the Amazon Rainforest of Brazil, but if you have any more questions then our travel specialists will be happy to help.

While Rainforest Cruises aim to provide accurate and up-to-date information, we make no representations as to the accuracy or completeness of any information herein or found by following any link on this site. Rainforest Cruises cannot and will not accept responsibility for any omissions or inaccuracies, or for any consequences arising therefrom, including any losses, injuries, or damages resulting from the display or use of this information.

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The Best Attractions to Visit on an Amazon Rainforest Tour from Manaus

Bare-faced Tamarin

Manaus is a remarkable city, incredibly isolated, and chock full of historical monuments from the days when the rubber industry brought untold riches to the region. But let’s face it, it’s the amazing Amazon rainforest that everyone is really here to see. These are the best attractions within easy reach of the city.

The port of manaus.

The only way to properly explore the Amazon is by boat, and almost all vessels leaving Manaus will depart from its hectic central port. This bustling spot sees hundreds of arrivals and departures each day, from large cargo vessels carrying manufactured goods to long distance double-decker passenger ferries and modest fisherman’s dinghies. It’s a dizzying flurry of activity that showcases the reality of modern life on the mighty Amazon river.

Port of Manaus

The meeting of the waters

Meeting of the Waters, Manaus

January Ecological Park

For a true taste of the Amazon within easy reach of the city, make a beeline for the stunning January Ecological Park. The flooded forests and fertile wetlands of this lush region are packed full of colorful bird life, monkeys, and caiman, making for an enjoyable and highly rewarding experience. Yet the star of the show are without doubt the mammoth Victoria lilies, some with a diameter as wide as 2m (7ft).

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Small rivers and tributaries

Spotting wildlife is near impossible on the Amazon river itself, so any day tour worth its salt will include a trip down some of her smaller rivers and tributaries to get up close and personal with the local fauna. Activities include swimming with river dolphins, fishing for piranha, or just admiring the numerous species of monkey as they swing back and forth between the trees.

Freshwater River Dolphin

Presidente Figueiredo and Terra de Cachoeiras

About two hours drive from Manaus is the much smaller settlement of Presidente Figueiredo, an eclectic mix of modern and traditional life. Though it’s the nearby Terra de Cachoeiras that bring tourists to the region, a picturesque “land of waterfalls” in a pristine section of the Amazon with plenty of swimming holes and hiking trails to explore.

Cachoeira do Santuário

Some tours stop at Tupé to give visitors a taste of indigenous Amazon life. Home to the Dessana tribe, these resourceful people moved to the area decades ago and have now turned to tourism to make ends meet. The locals perform a traditional song and dance routine, hold an insightful Q&A session, and offer their charming handmade artisan goods for sale.

Dessana

Further afield

All the above attractions can be enjoyed on a one day tour from Manaus. However, to get a real feel for the Amazon, it’s best to spend a few days deep in the jungle, far away from perils of modern civilization. Such adventures are typically done through a stay in a dedicated jungle lodge or by embarking on an epic Amazon cruise . Either way, you’re bound to spot plenty of local wildlife and relish in a true Amazon experience.

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TourTheTropics.com | Peru vs Brazil for an Amazon Rainforest Tour - TourTheTropics.com

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Peru vs Brazil for an Amazon Rainforest Tour

Cristalino Lodge View

The Amazon Rainforest covers 40% of South America and crosses nine nations. However, the largest amount of Amazonia is housed by Peru and Brazil.

First, let’s introduce the Amazon Rainforest and then mention the Amazon of Peru and Brazil specifically. After this, we will cover some of the differences between these fantastic regions to help you make the most of this incredible forest.

An Introduction

The Amazon Rainforest is the world’ largest tropical forest. This is also the world’s largest home to wildlife with more species found here than anywhere else on Earth.

The nine nations crossed by the Amazon Rainforest are Peru, Brazil, Ecuador, Venezuela, Bolivia, Colombia, French Guiana, Guyana and Suriname.

The countries with the most of Amazonia are Peru, Brazil and Colombia. Around 10% is then divided between the other 6 nations.

Jaguar near Tambopata Research Center, Puerto Maldonado, Peru

Within this vast tropical forest, you can find an incredible diversity of animals and plants. The iconic wildlife includes the many different monkeys, toucans, macaw parrots, giant river otters, jaguar and tapir. The forest is then full of tall emergent trees and many fascinating plants, including delicate orchids and bromeliads.

The Amazon River and its many tributaries feed this vast forest. Starting as a trickle in the Ecuadorian and Peruvian Andes, the river officially begins near the port city of Iquitos in northern Peru. The Amazon River forms with the merging of the Marañón and Ucayali rivers.

From Iquitos in Peru, the Amazon River flows east across the continent passing the southern tip of Colombia before entering Brazil for the rest of its journey.

Brazil’s Amazon Rainforest

Brazil contains the majority of the Amazon Rainforest with 60% of the forest housed within Brazil’s borders. This translates to around 1,283,000 square miles (3,323,000 square km) of rainforest.

Because the majority of this vast tropical forest is housed within Brazil, it’s no surprise that Brazil is considered the world’s most biodiverse country.

This is also where you find the majority of the Amazon River as it flows from Tabatinga, the first Brazilian port the river encounters, to the river mouth near the Brazilian port city of Belém.

The main city visitors to the Brazilian Amazon use as their gateway to the rainforest is Manaus. This is also the largest city in Amazonia. Manaus is also where you can find the confluence of the Amazon River and the Rio Negro, the Amazon’s largest tributary.

Tucano Cruise, Manaus, Brazil

The area where these rivers merge is known as the meeting of the waters and is an attraction in its own right. This is where both rivers run side by side for many miles. The Rio Negro is dark from tannins and the Amazon is lighter from the different sediments collected enroute. This creates a visual spectacle popular for visitors to Manaus.

Note that in Brazil it is only after this merging that the river is known as the Amazon. Before this point, right up to the Peruvian border, it is locally called the Rio Solimões.

From Manaus, you can enjoy fantastic expedition cruises into the Amazon Rainforest. Explore the forest to find different monkeys, colorful birds and hopefully some lesser seen animals and plants. You will also see tall rainforest trees with delicate bromeliads and orchids balanced on the branches.

Pompadour Cotinga - Cristalino Reserve

Expedition cruises, such as the Tucano Cruise from Manaus, not only take you on a river cruise, but also enable you to leave the main vessel aboard small skiffs for rainforest exploration. Led by skilled naturalist guides, enjoy finding some fascinating rainforest life as you explore smaller Amazonian waterways.

Tucano Cruise Dining

The Tucano Amazon Cruise

Aboard the Tucano Amazon Cruise, you will explore the Amazon Rainforest from Manaus. And you will travel down the magnificent ...

Another excellent area of Brazilian Amazon to visit is accessed from the gateway of Alta Floresta at the southern edge of Amazonia. Here, you can find the Cristalino Lodge and Cristalino Reserve. This backs onto a protected area mosaic of over 2 million hectares of Amazonia, which includes different connected reserves and parks. This is also one of the most well studied areas of the Brazilian Amazon.

This area of Amazonia is very near the incredible Pantanal Wetlands, which is another of the world’s most ecologically rich regions. This adds to the diversity of animals and plants you will see from the Cristalino Lodge as you explore surrounding rainforest.

Howler Monkey - Cristalino Reserve

Not surprisingly, on guided tours from the luxurious Cristalino Lodge you have a chance of spotting some incredible Amazon Rainforest animals and plants.

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The Cristalino Lodge

Currently, TourTheTropics.com cannot help you book this experience. However, you can visit the tour operator's website for more information.

Peru’s Amazon Rainforest

Peru contains the second highest amount of Amazon Rainforest after Brazil. This is also a fantastic section of Amazonia. The Peruvian Amazon contains one of the highest diversities of animals and plants, which is thought to be linked to the Andes mountains.

Aside from incredible wildlife, the Peruvian Amazon is fortunate to be home to beautiful oxbow lakes, protected areas and claylicks.

Woolly Monkey, Tahuayo River, Peru

The oxbow lakes are attractive areas where tributaries of the Amazon river once flowed. As these rivers constantly move through the forest, changing routes with their flow, the rivers often leave behind bodies of water of previous routes. These areas are often arced with the river’s previous curved ‘oxbow’ shape.

The lakes that form become very attractive to different animals and fruiting trees often grow at the lake edges. The water itself is often a home for giant river otters, lake-living birds and different amphibians. The different plants and trees that grow are also a draw for several different monkeys, hoatzin birds and macaws. Kingfishers and herons also perch on the branches and wait for fish.

Another attraction of the Peruvian Amazon, claylicks are areas of exposed riverbank where many different animals come to feed from the salt-rich and medicinal clay.

Not only helping top up necessary salts, the clay also contains chemicals that neutralize toxins found in different forest foods, such as unripe fruits and seeds.

Of the different animals that feed from the clay, such as monkeys, tapir, capybara and peccary, the most famous of claylick visitors are the large and colorful macaws.

The many large and colorful macaws of Peru’s Tambopata National Reserve have inspired many magazine cover stories. Witnessing these areas is an incredible experience as you’re greeted with an almost guaranteed spectacle of sound and color.

Peru’s Amazon Rainforest of Puerto Maldonado

Mentioning the incredible Tambopata National Reserve from Puerto Maldonado in Peru’s south leads us to the gateways to the Peruvian Amazon Rainforest.

Puerto Maldonado is located in Peru’s southern Amazon Rainforest and is a favored gateway for visitors combining Machu Picchu with the rainforest.

The protected areas you can visit from Puerto Maldonado include the lowland rainforest of Manu National Park and Tambopata National Reserve.

Both of these protected areas contain beautiful oxbow lakes and many macaw claylicks to see hundreds of colorful birds and other wildlife.

Clay Lick - Tambopata Reserve

Fantastic lodges for visiting the claylicks include the deep rainforest lodge of the Tambopata Research Center, which offers some of the best wildlife experiences in the Amazon Rainforest, and the Refugio Amazonas Lodge in the buffer zone of Tambopata National Reserve.

From the Refugio Amazonas Lodge, you can also visit a beautiful oxbow lake to see different lake-living animals. The lodge offers a similar experience to the community-owned Posada Amazonas Lodge.

However, note that from Posada Amazonas Lodge you have a higher chance of spotting giant river otters. From Refugio Amazonas lodge, you can visit a large macaw claylicks and the area has a slightly higher diversity of animals and plants.

The Refugio Amazonas Lodge

The Refugio Amazonas Lodge

The best end to a fantastic intrepid trip in Peru…!! Wish we had of spent more time there… Staff were ...

Includes: all meals, accommodation, selection of guided tours, transfers from and to Puerto Maldonado airport. | 3, 4, 5 days+

The Posada Amazonas Lodge

The Posada Amazonas Lodge

We went to Posada Amazona in August and we were not expecting this place. This is a beautiful lodge, incredible ...

Tambopata Research Center Macaws

The Tambopata Research Center

Positioned in the middle of the wildlife-rich Tambopata National Reserve, near one of the largest macaw clay licks in the ...

Includes: all meals, accommodation, selection of guided tours, transfers from and to Puerto Maldonado airport. | 4, 5, 6 days+

Peru’s Amazon Rainforest of Iquitos

Peru’s Amazon Rainforest of Iquitos provides access to the rainforest of the Amazon River itself. The Amazon River begins near Iquitos at the confluence of the Marañón and Ucayali rivers.

The protected areas near Iquitos for fantastic experiences of Amazonia include the Pacaya Samiria National Reserve and Tamshiyacu Tahuayo Reserve.

The Pacaya Samiria National Reserve

The Pacaya Samiria National Reserve is one of the largest of Peru’s protected areas. The reserve includes a high amount of flooded tropical forest and an incredible diversity of animals and plants.

Known as the Forest of Mirrors, the Pacaya Samiria Reserve also offers some beautiful scenery with the green canopy and blue sky reflected in the reserve’s nutrient-rich waters.

On fantastic river cruises, enjoy guided expeditions aboard motorized skiffs and on forest walks to see several different monkeys, colorful toucans and parrots, many other birds, fascinating reptiles and tall rainforest trees.

Pacaya Samiria, Iquitos, Peru

To complement the beauty of the Pacaya Samiria Reserve, we especially recommend some of the excellent luxury cruises from Iquitos, such as the Delfin I , Delfin II, Aqua Amazon or the Zafiro Amazon Cruise.

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The Delfin II

The Delfin II Luxury Amazon Cruise begins near Iquitos from the small town of Nauta. You will be transported in ...

Includes: all meals, accommodation, all excursions, select alcoholic beverages, juices, house wines with meals, luxury transfers from & to Iquitos airport | 4, 5 days

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The Aria Amazon Cruise

Relax in comfortable surroundings, enjoy delicious cuisine and head out to explore the Pacaya Samiria with skilled naturalist guides.

From Iquitos, you also have the option of an adventure-category cruise aboard La Perla. Although La Perla offers simpler accommodation, the cruise still offers comfortable suites and excellent guided tours.

The Tamshiyacu Tahuayo Reserve

Another area of exceptional wildlife near Iquitos is called the Tamshiyacu Tahuayo Reserve.

The reserve offers a higher amount of accessible higher-ground forest for guided rainforest walks to see some fantastic animals and tall emergent trees.

The reserve was initially established to protect the range of a rare bald-headed primate named the uakari. These monkeys can be seen deep in the reserve and are more unusual than the many other monkeys living in the area.

The Tamshiyacu Tahuayo Reserve is also a great place for birdwatching. Over 600 different birds have been recorded within the reserve, including colorful toucans, macaws, tanagers, cotingas and parakeets.

The reserve contains many other fascinating animals and plants, including delicate orchids, many tall emergent trees, tamandua anteaters, giant river otters, tapir and more. Camera traps placed by the Tahuayo Lodge, a top-rated lodge for visiting the reserve, have even captured images of resident and visiting jaguars.

The Tahuayo Lodge offers custom itineraries and a private guide for exploring the incredible biodiversity of the Tamshiyacu Tahuayo Reserve.

Howler Monkey - Iquitos Amazon

On tours over 6-days, you will visit both the main Tahuayo Lodge and the Tahuayo River Amazon Research Center located in even more pristine rainforest.

Enjoy a 1000 acre primate research grid, the largest canopy zipline in Amazonia, canoeing the reserve’s waterways and expertly guided wildlife walks. For an additional rate, you can also choose a dedicated birding guide, jungle survival and camping in Amazonia.

Tahuayo Lodge

The Tahuayo Lodge

From the Tahuayo Lodge, you will explore the Amazon Rainforest’s wildlife-rich Tamshiyacu Tahuayo Reserve with a private guide on a ...

Includes: all meals, accommodation at 2 rainforest lodges, private guide, custom activities, transfers from and to Iquitos airport. | 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 days+

Differences Between the Amazon Rainforest of Peru and Brazil

Although both the Amazon Rainforest of Peru and Brazil are fantastic places to visit, there are some differences between regions.

As an example, the Peruvian Amazon Rainforest contains more claylicks than anywhere else in South America.

Studies on claylick distribution show the rainforest of Puerto Maldonado in southern Peru as having more licks than anywhere else. This not only increases your chances of seeing several different colorful macaws, parrots and parakeets, but also wild cats, including ocelots, margays and jaguar that patrol the areas.

This region of Peruvian Amazon Rainforest also offers more accessible oxbow lakes to see giant river otters, hoatzin birds, cormorants, herons and birds. You can also spot different monkeys in lakeside trees.

The northern Peruvian Amazon of Iquitos then offers the most options for luxury Amazon River cruises.

Here, you have your choice of the Delfin I, Delfin II, Zafiro, and Aria Amazon Cruises. This is therefore the best option for a luxury experience of Amazonia if you would prefer a cruise.

If you would prefer a luxury experience from a lodge, the Peruvian Amazon offers the private Amazon Villa and Tambopata Research Center in the Deluxe Suites.

The Brazilian Amazon also offers a luxury experience at the highly regarded Cristalino Lodge from the gateway town of Alta Floresta.

The Cristalino Lodge also offers two giant canopy towers for excellent rainforest observation and birding opportunities.

Finally, the Tambopata Research Center offers a 20% chance of spotting wild jaguar, which is one of the highest chances of a jaguar encounter in the Amazon Rainforest.

Recommended Tours for the Brazilian Amazon Rainforest

The gateways to visit the Amazon Rainforest in Brazil are Manaus, a port of the Amazon River and the largest city in the Amazon, and Alta Floresta in Brazil’s southern rainforest.

Floating Deck at Cristalino Lodge

Accessed from Alta Floresta and nestled in the rainforest of southern Brazil, you can find the Cristalino Lodge.

The Cristalino Lodge offers one of the most comfortable rainforest lodges in Amazonia. Enjoy a very tall canopy tower, expertly guided tours, comfortable suites and relaxation areas with wildlife-filled surroundings.

When you aren’t relaxing in the lodge itself or enjoying delicious cuisine, you will be exploring Amazonia with your professional guide. Head out on guided expeditions to find an incredible diversity of animals and plants.

The wildlife you’re likely to see on Cristalino Lodge tours includes several different monkey, colorful birds like toucans, parrots, cotingas and tanagers, and much more.

Over 500 different bird species have been seen from the lodge and there are some fantastic facilities to help you see as many as possible. Enjoy two giant canopy towers to see over the rainforest with the many birds flying over the trees.

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The Tucano Cruise

Tucano Cruise, Anavilhanas National Park, Manaus, Brazil

The Tucano Amazon Cruise is an excellent cruise options from Manaus. Voyage up the Rio Negro, the Amazon’s largest tributary, to explore the Amazon Rainforest.

Because the Tucano is an expedition cruise, you will head out with naturalist guides on skiff expeditions and on rainforest walks to discover Amazonian animals and plants.

The Tucano vessel itself has been designed to get you deeper into the rainforest than other cruises, which means you have a higher chance of finding the most wildlife in the region.

Styled as a 19th Century steamship, the vessel offers a historic interior with solid wood decor, varnished panelling, and polished wooden timber flooring throughout. For accommodation, the vessel offers nine comfortable cabins with private bathrooms.

Recommended Tours for the Peruvian Amazon Rainforest

There are some excellent tours in the Peruvian Amazon Rainforest. The two main gateways in Peru are Iquitos in the north as a port of the Amazon River and Puerto Maldonado for access to the incredible Manu region and Tambopata National Reserve.

Some of the top recommended experiences include:

The Delfin II Cruise

Delfin II - Suite

The Delfin II offers a luxury cruise of the Amazon River from Iquitos in Peru’s northern rainforest.

Enjoy delicious cuisine, very comfortable suites and relaxation areas, and excellent guided tours to see iconic animals, trees and plants.

There are different suite types to enjoy aboard the Delfin II. These include the 4 Master Suites at the front of the vessel for the largest suite category, which also offers incredible views from the front of the vessel as you head deep into Amazonia.

Aboard the Delfin II, you will cruise the wildlife rich Pacaya Samiria National Reserve. As one of Peru’s largest protected areas, the Pacaya Samiria offers astounding levels of diversity.

Head into the rainforest to explore the waterways on skiff expeditions and trail walks over the dry season. Your guide will be pointing out the interesting animals and plants as you explore the Amazon. On these expeditions, you’re likely to see toucans, colorful macaws, several different monkeys, orchids, tall emergent trees and hopefully some lesser seen animals and plants.

Aria Luxury Cruise, Peru

The Aria Amazon Cruise offers a luxury cruise of the Amazon with longer itineraries than the Delfin vessels.

The Aria features a beautiful black hull, elegant interiors and offers delicious cuisine in their window-wrapped dining room.

As you cruise deep into Pacaya Samiria National Reserve, you will enjoy incredible scenery from your comfortable suite. Guests aboard the Aria frequently mention that some favorite moments were simply laying on their comfortable beds and looking out their floor-to-ceiling suite window.

While on expeditions from the main vessel, your skilled Amazon guide will be helping you find many colorful birds, such as toucans, cotingas, tanagers, parrots, macaws and parakeets. You are also likely to find several different monkeys, tamandua anteaters, two different sloths, caiman crocodilians, orchids and delicate tree frogs.

Of course, the beautiful scenery of the Pacaya Samiria National Reserve is another main attraction.

The vessel itself is decorated with polished timber floors and large windows throughout. Your suite then has a California king size bed and a comfortable window-side daybed. The elegant ensuite is then fitted with rain showers and organic bath products.

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La Perla Amazon Cruise

La Perla Cruise, Iquitos, Peru

As an adventure-category cruise, La Perla offers simpler accommodation than the others mentioned. However, accommodation is comfortable and there are relaxation areas throughout the vessel to admire the rainforest.

From La Perla Cruise, enjoy small-group expeditions from the main vessel into Pacaya Samiria National Reserve. Your guide will help you to see the many colorful birds, sloths, different monkeys, caiman crocodilians and many other animals and plants.

You can enjoy either 3-night or 6-night itineraries aboard La Perla Amazon Cruise. Travel deep into Amazonia as you explore the Yarapa River, Ucayali River, Maranon River, and Pacaya Samiria. The rainforest surrounding these tributaries offers an incredible diversity of wildlife and beautiful scenery.

Tambopata Research Center - Tambopata, Puerto Maldonado

The Tambopata Research Center offers one of the deepest lodges in the Amazon Rainforest. Not only this, but recent upgrades have turned this lodge into one of the most comfortable deep rainforest lodges.

Choose from a range of suite options and leave the lodge each day with your professional rainforest guide.

There are many rainforest trails to enjoy from the Tambopata Research Center. Your guide will be helping you spot spider monkeys, howler monkeys, squirrel monkeys, capuchins, peccary, and many other animals and plants.

A main attraction near the Tambopata Research Center is a very large macaw claylick where guests can observe hundreds of macaws at the clay. Several of Peru’s large and colorful parrots gather at the clay, which also increases your chances of seeing predatory cats, such as margays, ocelots and even jaguar.

Guests at the Tambopata Research Center also have a 20% chance of seeing wild jaguar by the river. In addition to these incredible wildlife spectacles, enjoy beautiful scenery of the Tambopata region, delicious food, and comfortable accommodation.

The Tahuayo Lodge, Peru

The Tahuayo Lodge offers a fantastic experience of the Amazon Rainforest from Iquitos in northern Peru. Enjoy a custom itinerary and private guide as standard to explore the wildlife-rich Tamshiyacu Tahuayo Reserve.

On tours of 6-days or more from the Tahuayo Lodge, you will experience both the main lodge and the Tahuayo River Amazon Research Center. The research center is located in even more pristine rainforest where you can see some fantastic wildlife. It’s from here that you stand the best chance of spotting the rarely sighted uakari monkeys, which were a reason for the reserve’s foundation.

Behind the Tahuayo River Amazon Research Center is a 1,000 acre primate research grid, which researchers are using to study reserve wildlife. This also offers you some fantastic trails and a better chance of spotting wildlife displaying normal behaviors.

Enjoy rainforest walks scouting for several different monkeys, colorful birds, different reptiles and amphibians, and caiman crocodiles on nocturnal tours. You will also experience the reserve on canoe tours, motorised boats, the large canopy towers and zipline.

Refugio Amazonas - Peru's Rainforest near Puerto Maldonado

The Refugio Amazonas Lodge is a great option for shorter tours in the Amazon Rainforest. Nestled in the buffer zone of Tambopata National Reserve, enjoy fantastic tours to see many different monkeys, colorful birds, giant trees and different flowers.

The lodge offers a choice of accommodation options, including some luxury suites. Enjoy delicious cuisine, different relaxation areas and cultural attractions. You will then enjoy morning and afternoon guided exploration of the surrounding Amazon Rainforest.

The lodge has found that this area is a preferred nesting site of harpy eagles, which means the lodge offers one of the highest chances of seeing the magnificent birds, as they nest in the nearby ironwood trees.

Not only a great lodge for shorter experience of 3 or 4-days, the Refugio Amazonas Lodge is also a great lodge for a family rainforest vacation. This is due to the comfort of the lodge and the childrens’ trail, which communicates rainforest information in a child friendly way.

Ash - Author & Travel Advisor

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wood huts on cleared land in the middle of forest in Caroebe, Roraima

‘My dream is to buy a piece of land’: the ‘outsiders’ farming at the Amazon’s last frontiers

Struggling to compete with large-scale landowners, smallholder farmers move ever deeper into Brazil’s disappearing forest

O nésio Nascimento has worked the land his whole life, moving from one Brazilian farming frontier to the next. During the coronavirus pandemic, he sold 20 hectares (50 acres) of land in northwest Mato Grosso state and used the money to buy another 100 hectares further north in the Amazon, in south Roraima.

Today, he grows cassava and bananas on his land, an hour’s drive down a bumpy dirt road, which turns to mud during the rainy season. Flanked by small herds of cattle, the road is used by loggers to extract valuable Amazon hardwoods from nearby pristine forest.

Onésio Nascimento on his land in Caroebe, south Roraima.

Even in this far-flung part of the Amazon, Nascimento, 59, is not alone as an “outsider”. Almost all his neighbours on Road 34, in the banana and timber town of Caroebe, migrated from other Amazon states such as Mato Grosso, Rondônia and Pará, attracted by cheap land.

In recent years, infrastructure mega-projects, large-scale cattle farming operations and soy plantations have driven up land prices in settled regions of the Brazilian Amazon, many of which were colonised during the country’s military dictatorship from 1964 to 1985.

The spike in land prices, combined with other difficulties faced by family farmers in the region, such as access to credit, has encouraged many to sell up and search for opportunities on ever more distant frontiers, perpetuating a cycle of displacement and deforestation.

South Roraima’s vast expanse of “vacant lands”, which are not conservation areas or privately owned, have sparked interest from a range of groups, including small farmers, squatters, speculators, cattle ranchers and land-grabbers, who demarcate land and attempt to sell it to third parties. In many cases this is Indigenous land they have illegally entered and have no rights over.

Property with for sale sign in Rorainópolis, southern Roraima

“It is one of the last frontiers of the Brazilian Amazon,” says Paulo Barni, a professor of forestry management at the State University of Roraima. “And the vacant lands are sitting there, available for people to demarcate and then take possession of.”

While attention has been focused on the billion-dollar illegal gold and tin ore mining industry operating in Roraima’s Yanomami Indigenous land , Amazon deforestation in the state’s southern municipalities has exploded in recent years.

According to data from Brazil’s National Space Research Institute (INPE) , total deforestation in the four municipalities that make up south Roraima – Caroebe, Rorainópolis, São João da Baliza and São Luiz – more than doubled in the 2019-21 period from the previous three-year period, to 27,800 hectares from 12,700 hectares.

The destruction continued to increase in 2022 and 2023, with 19,100 hectares cleared. Within the first few weeks of 2024, preliminary data suggests at least 800 hectares were cleared, half in Caroebe, where Nascimento lives.

In February this year, Caroebe was the eighth worst- affected of the municipalities hit by Brazil’s forest fires, as Roraima saw an unprecedented burning season .

Forest felled on the banks of Road 34 in Caroebe, south Roraima

Meanwhile, invasions of Indigenous lands by loggers and land-grabbers have also increased in south Roraima.

“We are surrounded on all sides by dirt roads,” says Levi da Silva Kaykûwû, chief of the WaiWái Indigenous people, whose 406,000-hectare territory is often targeted by loggers. “These days, they are getting ever closer.”

N ascimento had heard about the opportunity to buy land in south Roraima from an informal land broker, a travelling salesperson typical in the Brazilian Amazon, who profits from transactions between landowners and buyers.

Born in Paraná state in Brazil’s south in the late 1970s, Nascimento’s family were among millions of poor farmers who flocked north to the Amazon, squeezed out by a shift to mechanised agriculture and monoculture crops. They settled in Vilhena in the state of Rondônia , where the family grew coffee, rice, beans and corn on a small patch of land but suffered great hardship, he says.

By the time Nascimento was a young man, in the late 1980s, growing crops and working at a logging firm, large-scale cattle ranchers were moving into Rondônia, putting the Amazon crisis firmly in the international spotlight .

In 2020, after 18 years, he decided to sell his small farm in Aripuanã – a logging and cattle-rearing town with one of the highest deforestation rates in the Amazon – in Mato Grosso state: by then, Brazil’s agricultural powerhouse.

Cattle graze alongside Road 34 in Caroebe, south Roraima.

Working conditions had become more difficult for smallholders as wealthier farmers with mechanised equipment moved in, outcompeting them on crop yields.

Today, Nascimento lives next door to his ex-wife and her new husband, who also bought property on Road 34 in south Roraima.

He says environmental officials began “persecuting” him and his neighbours after Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who ran for president on a pro-environment platform, took office in January 2023. “They only go after the little guys,” says Nascimento. “With Bolsonaro, at least we could work.”

Brazil’s far-right former president Jair Bolsonaro , under whom Amazon deforestation rates soared, won Roraima with a higher percentage of votes than any other state in the 2022 elections.

Nascimento has no real land title, just an informal sales document. This fragile paperwork doesn’t allow him access to bank credit. “To legalise, you have to have a lot of money. It’s difficult,” he says.

An hour’s drive deeper down the road where Nascimento lives, which is being opened little by little – probably by illegal loggers according to local sources – recently cleared land abuts the native forest.

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Celia Regina da Silva recently moved to Caroebe, south Roraima

Celia Regina da Silva, 53, arrived recently from Rondônia, where she quit her job as a sales supervisor at a telephone company. Her husband and son were hired by the owner of a patch of land, 300 hectares of native forest, to take an inventory of which trees are valuable, so they can be removed and sold to sawmills in the region.

“I’ve only been here a short time, but now my dream is to buy a piece of land and move in,” da Silva says.

Deeper down the dirt road, recently constructed wooden huts sit on cleared land, empty except for some basic furniture and sawdust, suggesting logging activity; roads used to remove hardwoods already snake through the forest.

The road ends close to the Trombetas/Mapuera Indigenous Territory, which loggers and land-grabbers have targeted.

S outh Roraima has long been a hotspot for the illegal logging trade. In 2020, a logger was killed during an enforcement operation in the municipality of Rorainópolis. The National Force, a joint military and civil police unit, was deployed there last year to protect the Pirititi Indigenous territory, home to an isolated Indigenous group, after land-grabbers invaded it. In December, the National Force’s presence was extended for another 90 days.

“There is an extremely well-organised group [of land-grabbers] working there,” says Alisson Marugal, a federal prosecutor in Roraima.

Such is the land boom in Roraima that dedicated brokers use social media to advertise large properties.

Daniel Alves da Silva stands in front of a field in Vila São José, in Cantá, Roraima

But Evanilson Ribeiro da Silva, who uses Facebook to broker property sales, says the migration rush he has witnessed over the past six years in the region stalled in 2023.

Fears about the Lula administration’s crackdown on environmental violations has discouraged new settlers and large cattle ranchers from buying land, he says. “People are desperate because they have a problem with the Workers’ party government, which is very strict with inspections.”

Daniel Alves da Silva, 59, says he feels the same. A veteran Amazonian journeyman from São Paulo, he has bought and sold 13 properties in 26 years in Rondônia and south Roraima, where he has lived for the past 11 years.

“Anyone who wants to sell land isn’t selling because people are afraid of this change of government,” says da Silva, who is returning to Rondônia to take up sawmill work.

If the BR-319 highway is paved, as planned, it would connect the Rondônia capital of Porto Velho with Manaus, in Amazonas state, and Roraima would be less isolated from the rest of Brazil. Experts say this would raise land prices and the rate of deforestation.

Dusty roadworks in Rorainópolis on the BR-174 highway

“It would be catastrophic for the region,” says Barni, the forestry professor. “One of the things that keep the forests maintained is the state’s relative isolation.”

Despite the drought that has affected his banana crops and the threat of environmental officials knocking on his door, after a lifetime of moving around, Nascimento hopes to stay in south Roraima.

“It’s more peaceful here,” he says. “God willing, I’ll bring my kids.”

This report was co-published with Mongabay and supported by the Pulitzer Center’s Rainforest Journalism Fund

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Rains Are Scarce in the Amazon. Instead, Megafires Are Raging.

Hundreds of square miles of the rainforest have burned as countries in the region battle a record number of fires fueled by extreme weather.

Two people in the back of a pickup truck look out over a fire at night in a rural area.

By Ana Ionova and Manuela Andreoni

Ana Ionova reported from Rio de Janeiro, and Manuela Andreoni from New York.

By this time of the year, rain should be drenching large swaths of the Amazon rainforest. Instead, a punishing drought has kept the rains at bay, creating dry conditions for fires that have engulfed hundreds of square miles of the rainforest that do not usually burn.

The fires have turned the end of the dry season in the northern part of the giant rainforest into a crisis. Firefighters have struggled to contain enormous blazes that have sent choking smoke into cities across South America.

A record number of fires so far this year in the Amazon has also raised questions about what may be in store for the world’s biggest tropical rainforest when the dry season starts in June in the far larger southern part of the jungle.

Last month, Venezuela, northern Brazil, Guyana and Suriname, which encompass vast stretches of the northern Amazon, recorded the highest number of fires for any February, according to Brazil’s National Institute of Space Research , which has been tracking fires in the rainforest for 25 years. Fires also burned across Colombia ’s Andes highlands, as well as parts of that country’s Amazon territory.

The fires in the Amazon, which reaches across nine South American nations, are the result of an extreme drought fueled by climate change, experts said.

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The region has been feeling the effects of a natural weather phenomenon known as El Niño, which can worsen dry conditions that were intensified this year by extremely high temperatures.

That has made the rainforest more vulnerable to fast-spreading blazes, said Ane Alencar, the science director at the Amazon Environmental Research Institute in Brazil.

“The climate is leaving forests in South America more flammable,” she said. “It’s creating opportunities for wildfires.”

As countries continue to burn fossil fuels and the planet reaches the highest average temperatures measured by scientists, a grueling year of fires is expected around the world. Severe blazes have already ravaged large parts of the United States and Australia , and a worse season is forecast for Canada , where more acres burned last year than had ever been recorded.

Another year of devastating fires could be especially damaging in the Amazon, which stores vast quantities of carbon dioxide in its trees and soil. It is also home to 10 percent of the planet’s plants, animals and other living organisms.

If deforestation, fires and climate change continue to worsen , large stretches of the forest could transform into grasslands or weakened ecosystems in the coming decades. That, scientists say, would trigger a collapse that could send up to 20 years’ worth of global carbon emissions into the atmosphere, an enormous blow to the struggle to contain climate change.

Once this tipping point is crossed, “it may be useless to try to do something,” said Bernardo Flores, who studies the resilience of ecosystems at the Federal University of Santa Catarina in Brazil.

In January, wildfires burned almost 4,000 square miles of the Brazilian Amazon, an almost fourfold increase from the same month last year, according to Mapbiomas , a collective of climate-focused nonprofit organizations and research institutions.

In February, more than two-thirds of the fires in Brazil have occurred in Roraima, the country’s northernmost state. They have burned homes and subsistence crops in several Indigenous villages, leaving a thick haze over rural areas and creating hazardous air quality in the state’s capital, Boa Vista.

As a result of the prolonged drought, the vegetation in this part of the Amazon has become “combustible,” Dr. Alencar explained. “Roraima is like a barrel of gunpowder right now.”

Researchers say that most of the fires sweeping through the region were initially set by farmers using the “slash and burn” method to allow new grass to grow on degraded pastures or to fully clear recently deforested land.

Fueled by the dry conditions and searing temperatures, many of these fires burn out of control, spreading miles beyond the area that was originally set ablaze.

“Fires are contagious,” Dr. Flores said. “They modify the ecosystem they pass through and increase the risk for neighboring areas, like a virus.”

In Roraima, the blazes have mostly burned areas within the Lavrado, a unique savanna-like region nestled within the Amazon, said Erika Berenguer, a senior research associate at the University of Oxford and at Lancaster University.

This ecosystem, known for its wide-open grasslands and a rare population of wild horses, overlaps with several protected areas, including the Yanomami Indigenous reserve, where illegal mining and forest destruction have led to a humanitarian crisis.

After months of scarce rains, dense rainforest that is typically too humid to catch fire has also become more susceptible to flames.

In Roraima, the fires have now spread to protected forests and Indigenous lands in the southern region of the state, according to Haron Xaud, a professor at the Federal University of Roraima and a researcher at Embrapa Roraima, an institute monitoring the fires.

While fires are common in drier boreal forests in Canada and other parts of the Northern Hemisphere, they do not naturally occur in the much-wetter Amazon rainforest. Tropical forests are not adapted to fires, Dr. Xaud said, “and degrade much faster, especially if the fire becomes recurrent.”

Some of the wildfires started by humans in the Amazon have grown into “megafires,” typically defined as blazes that burn more than 100,000 acres of land or that have an unusually significant effect on people and the environment. These kinds of fires, Dr. Flores said, will become more frequent as the planet warms and deforestation damages the Amazon’s ability to recover.

Environmental factors are already changing the Amazon. Dry seasons are becoming longer, and average rainfall during those periods, when rains diminish but do not stop altogether, has already dropped by a third since the 1970s, Dr. Berenguer said. That has made El Niños increasingly dangerous.

“When you have all of these factors together, you have the conditions for a perfect storm — the perfect firestorm, that is,” Dr. Berenguer said.

The fires in the Amazon region have had a striking effect on carbon emissions. In February, wildfires in Brazil and Venezuela emitted almost 10 million tons of carbon, the most ever recorded for the month and about as much as Switzerland emits in a year, according to data from Europe’s Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service .

The El Niño pattern should wind down in a few months, bringing some respite to the Amazon.

But more devastating fires could erupt if the parched soil does not receive enough rainfall in the crucial wetter months ahead, Dr. Alencar said.

“The question is whether the forest can recover before the dry season, whether the Amazon can recharge its batteries,” she said. “Now, it all depends on the rains.”

Simón Posada contributed reporting from Bogotá, Colombia.

Manuela Andreoni is a Times climate and environmental reporter and a writer for the Climate Forward newsletter. More about Manuela Andreoni

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Quentin Septer

Rampant Wildfires Are Threatening a Collapse of the Amazon Rainforest

Firefighters standing amidst a blazing forest fire at night

The Amazon Rainforest is on fire. Or much of it, at least. On February 28, Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research announced that 2,940 fires had burned in the Brazilian Amazon over the course of that month—a record-breaking number for a February. Many of them are still blazing.

Real-time satellite monitoring shows that so far in 2024, more than 10,000 wildfires have ripped across 11,000 square kilometers of the Amazon, across multiple countries. Never have this many fires burned so much of the forest this early in the year. Scientists worry this is pushing the region closer and closer to a tipping point, where widespread degradation and repeated burning of the forest will become unstoppable.

“Fire is a contagious process,” says Bernando Flores, a researcher at Brazil’s Federal University of Santa Catarina, who studies changes in the Amazon. “If nothing is done to prevent fire from penetrating remote areas of the Amazon, the system may eventually collapse from megafires and become trapped in a persistently flammable, open-vegetation state.”

The Amazon Rainforest spans 6.7 million square kilometers, accounting for more than half the planet’s remaining rainforest. It is home to 10 percent of the planet’s terrestrial biodiversity, and plays a vital role in stabilizing both local and global climates. The Amazon stores between 15 and 20 years’ worth of global CO 2 emissions, and it has a cooling effect on the world thanks to the moisture that its plants store and transpire into the atmosphere.

Since the 1980s, the Amazon Basin has been warming at an average of 0.27 degrees Celsius per decade. Some parts, including the forest’s central and southeast regions, have been warming even faster, at a rate of 0.6 degrees per decade. Today, dry season temperatures are, on average, 2 degrees higher than they were 40 years ago.

A recent paper published by Flores and colleagues in the journal Nature finds that patterns of rainfall have also changed. In the southern Bolivian Amazon, for example, annual rainfall has declined 20 millimeters per year since the 1980s. The Amazon has become “more flammable” as a result, Flores says.

These trends have come to a head this year. A study published in late January by researchers from World Weather Attribution, a scientific collaboration that tracks the influence of climate change on weather, found that the drought that has afflicted the Amazon Basin since the middle of last year is primarily being driven by climate change. This historic drought, the most severe ever recorded in the Amazon, has also been amplified by the El Niño weather phenomenon —a cyclical climate pattern defined by unusually warm temperatures over the central and eastern Pacific Ocean, which typically lasts for 9 to 12 months.

”When we have El Niño, or drought, the forest is drier and more susceptible to wildfire,” says Dolors Armenteras Pascual, an ecologist and professor at the National University of Colombia. Record-high temperatures and this extreme drought have sapped the Amazon’s trees of their moisture, leaving the forest understory littered with woody debris that has grown dry, primed to ignite. Amid this heat and dry air, the trees of the Amazon also struggle to draw the water they need from parched soil. They are “degraded” as a result.

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“Degradation means that you still have standing forest, but you are losing some of the structure, some of the functioning,” says Armenteras Pascual. “You might even look and think it’s really a beautiful forest, but it’s not so healthy.”

Being degraded also makes a forest more prone to wildfire. And once a part of the Amazon burns, it’s more likely to catch fire again. “When a forest burns, trees die, releasing organic matter above the soil and opening the canopy,” says Flores. “Hence, more fuel is available and more sunlight and wind can desiccate this fuel, causing the ecosystem to become more flammable. The consequence is that burnt forests are much more likely to burn again.”

When considering the impacts of human disturbance and extreme drought over recent decades, as much as 38 percent of what remains of the Amazon Rainforest may already be degraded, Flores and his colleagues found.

By considering all of the factors contributing to the degradation of the Amazon—climate change, drought, deforestation, wildfires—the team also developed models projecting heat, degradation, and fire trends into the future. The findings are gloomy. By 2050, their models show, temperatures over the Amazon Basin are expected to be 2 to 4 degrees Celsius warmer than they are today, depending on greenhouse gas emissions over the next two and a half decades. By 2050, the Amazon’s dry season may be a month longer than it is now. Wildfires are expected to increase in frequency and severity.

As a result, they estimate nearly half the Amazon may reach a “tipping point” by 2050, when it will cease being a forest at all and transition into savannah and grassland.

The impacts of this would be devastating on local and global levels. A 2021 report from the Science Panel for the Amazon found that 10,000 of the rainforest’s plant and animal species are at risk of extinction due to climate change and habitat destruction. A widespread collapse like this may well push these species over the edge. Many of the Amazon’s 40 million human inhabitants may be displaced by unbearable heat, and Indigenous peoples in particular would lose their livelihoods, ways of life, and knowledge systems.

As alarmist as this might sound, Armenteras Pascual thinks the warnings of Flores and his colleagues are, if anything, understated. “It’s not like half of the Amazon will collapse and the other half will go on just fine,” she says. “The whole system might collapse—the whole system in terms of hydrology, which is probably the most important role of the Amazon globally, its role in cooling the climate.”

If the Amazon were to undergo a “large-scale collapse” by 2050, as Flores and his colleagues warn, it may emit as much as 120 billion tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, currently equivalent to about 3.5 years of global CO 2 emissions. Global temperatures may rise 0.3 degrees Celsius as a result .

For now, the unusually high number of fires are expected to continue burning through the month of April, when the rainy season begins. “It’s fire season,” Armenteras Pascual, who is working with the Colombian government to monitor emissions from fires in the Northern Amazon, says. “Just this past week we had 7,000 hectares burning that no one is talking about, in one of the nature preserves that we have near the border with Venezuela.”

“There are some fires here in Colombia as well,” she adds. Data from the satellites shows that just over 1,000 fires burned in the Colombian Amazon in the first week of March. “Fires are burning,” Armenteras Pascual says, “and they’re picking up.”

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Amazon wildfires could burn at unprecedented scale as El Niño and drought make rainforest 'more flammable'

Wildfires in the Amazon normally peak in March, but this year they're expected to last through to April at least, with a huge uptick expected in the coming weeks, scientists have warned.

Flames and smoke curtain of a forest fire in the Brazilian Amazon.

The Amazon may experience unprecedented wildfires this year that could severely damage its vital ecosystems, experts have warned. 

Record-high temperatures, severe drought conditions and the El Niño weather phenomenon have combined to make the Amazon "more flammable, " Bernardo Flores , a researcher at Brazils Federal University of Santa Catarina, told Live Science. Experts monitoring conditions in the Amazon are now concerned there will be a big uptick in fires over the coming weeks. 

"Climatic changes in the Amazon region are increasing the frequency and intensity of extreme drought events, which are happening in combination with heat waves," Flores, whose recent work focused on the potential collapse of the Amazon, said. "These hot-droughts desiccate the forest soil and organic matter, allowing wildfires to spread deeper into standing forests."

The Amazon Rainforest is among the most biodiverse ecosystems on Earth. It is home to 10% of the planet's terrestrial biodiversity and plays a vital role in stabilizing both local and global climates. But the region is under increasing threat from warming, deforestation, droughts and wildfires.

Most wildfires in the Amazon are the result of humans burning recently deforested areas. "In some of the places where deforestation is going on, they cut the forest just before the dry season so that they can burn and clear the land in the dry season," Dolors Armenteras Pascual , an ecologist and professor at the National University of Colombia, told Live Science.

"Once the forest is converted it is used for agriculture. Those pasture fires can enter the standing forest, and that's when there is a degradation process in the standing forest," she said.

Related: Catastrophic climate 'doom loops' could start in just 15 years, new study warns

Scientists monitor conditions in the Amazon in real time and use these data to create fire risk models predicting when and where wildfires are likely to occur weeks and even months in advance.

Two such models are NASA's GEOS S2S (subseasonal to seasonal) forecast and Land Data Assimilation System (LDAS), said Benjamin Zaitchik , a professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Johns Hopkins University. Zaitchik and his team use these models — along with remote sensing satellites — to monitor ongoing weather conditions, such as temperature and rainfall. Those data are then combined with measurements of soil moisture, groundwater, and vegetation conditions to forecast a given region's fire risk in the near future. 

Late last year, a team from Brazil's Center for Monitoring and Early Warning of Natural Disasters (CEMADEN), led by Liana Anderson , reached out to Zaitchik and his colleagues and asked them to help forecast the Brazilian Amazon's fire risk. 

"The monitoring and forecast tools were quite clear that there was elevated fire risk across much of the Amazon throughout the (Northern Hemisphere) fall and winter seasons," Zaitchik told Live Science in an email. "This was in part due to low rainfall in sections of the Amazon, but it was even more strongly predicted due to high air temperature across the region."

The northern Amazon fire season normally peaks in March. Forecasts for 2024 indicate that very warm and likely dry conditions will continue through to April at least, Zaitchik added.  

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These predictions have already started to materialize. On Feb. 28, Brazil's National Institute for Space Research announced that a record-breaking 2,940 fires burned in the Brazilian Amazon in February.

The forecasting models may help governments and aid organizations get out in front of wildfires in the Amazon. "The Amazon is a vast area, so any ability to preposition fire control materials can be very important," Zaitchik said.

Similar forecasts from Colombia's Institute of Hydrology, Meteorology and Environmental Studies (IDEAM) show that fire risk in the Colombian Amazon is expected to increase in coming months as well. The Colombian government is currently working to position firefighters and aircraft in regions where fires are expected to blaze. 

Looking further into the future, Flores says that wildfires in the Amazon are expected to increase in frequency and severity as a result of climate change . "Fire is a contagious process," he said. "If nothing is done to prevent fire from penetrating remote areas of the Amazon, the system may eventually collapse from megafires and become trapped in a persistently flammable open-vegetation state."

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Quentin Septer

Quentin Septer is a freelance science journalist based in Bogotá, Colombia. His writing has appeared in The Gazette, The Boulder Weekly, the Earth Island Journal, and Scientific American. He is also the author of Where Land Becomes Sky: Life and Death Along the Colorado Trail.

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Dips and Trips

Record Number Of Fires Ravages Amazon Rainforest In Brazil In 2024

I n just one month, nearly 3,000 forest fires were registered in the Brazilian Amazon . This fiery month of February now holds the record for Brazilian wildfires since the recording of fires first began in this area.

INPE, the Space Research Institute of Brazil, reported last week that its satellites had picked up 2940 fires in the month of February. This tops the previous record by more than 1200 fires and is four times the amount of fires reported during the same month last year.

Fires are being blamed primarily on extreme droughts and dry forest conditions brought on by a steady heating up of the climate. “The climate factor certainly plays a role in this anomaly”, according to Ane Alencar, the scientific director of the Amazonian Research Institute (IPAM).

Deforestation for farming is also listed as a primary cause of wildfires in Brazil. A staggering 190,000 wildfire outbreaks were reported last year, largely triggered by rampant deforestation for agricultural development. The Yanomami Indigenous Territory , the area most devastated by this year’s fires, continually faces challenges from illegal mining and extensive deforestation for agriculture. By some estimates, the northern state of Roraima – where the Yanomami reserve sits – has lost half of its native vegetation to agricultural development.

Drought and forest fires have also heavily impacted Brazil’s tourism sector, with several tourism-based companies reporting temporary shutdowns . Travel agencies, jungle hotels, and houseboat companies are among those most impacted. Tourism Brazil and its partners have recently released an informational booklet to assist those in the tourism sector to become more disaster-resilient.

Brazil is home to over half of the Amazon’s rainforest, an area referred to as the ‘lungs of the world’. Since 2000, however, agriculture has been driving GDP growth in Brazil . Advancing cattle and soybean production has tripled the area of farmland and substantially reduced the rainforest. Fires in the area are causing devastation to the wildlife as well as the forest, with many animals killed directly or indirectly as a result of wildfires.

Animals that manage to survive the fires are often found suffering from what animal rescue groups refer to as ‘grey hunger’ , as they try and exist in areas where fire has reduced the vegetation to ashes. Animal advocates are raising red flags about the coming wildfire season, as the actual dry season in Brazil does not start until June. Animals caught in fire-ravaged areas will face serious challenges ahead if the current drought conditions persist.

By this time of year, these regions of Brazil are typically being drenched by seasonal rains. Relentless drought conditions have kept these rains at bay, however, and Brazil is not the only nation suffering from a lack of rainfall. Extreme drought conditions are currently impacting nine South American nations. Experts state that this drought is fueled by climate change, with unprecedented global and regional temperatures altering the seasonal norms.

Scientists are warning that fire events like this past February in Brazil pose an even bigger threat. The Rainforest regions have now reached a tipping point where they are no longer able to bounce back from these catastrophic events, say the experts. Carlos Nobre, a senior scientist at the National Institute of Amazonian Research in Brazil, puts it bluntly: “We have to get to zero deforestation, zero forest degradation.” But all is not lost, according to Nobre. “We still have a chance to save the forest”.

Record Number Of Fires Ravages Amazon Rainforest In Brazil In 2024

Brazil Feb Monthly Inflation Forecast at One-Year High Reuters Poll

Reuters

FILE PHOTO: A vendor rests on baskets at the Ver-o-Peso market, ahead of the summit of Amazon rainforest nations in Belem, Para state, Brazil August 7, 2023. REUTERS/Ueslei Marcelino

By Gabriel Burin

(Reuters) - Brazil's monthly inflation rate likely accelerated to a one-year high in February, a Reuters poll found, from where it should begin to fall back again in coming months due to abundant supplies of farm products and softer economic conditions.

Except for some seasonal effects, consumer prices in Brazil have remained tame since the start of 2023, thanks to a tight policy stance by the central bank that is causing the economy to cool, despite a raft of modest rate cuts.

Official inflation data on Tuesday are forecast to show a faster monthly clip for February, rising to 0.78% - likely the highest since February 2023 - from 0.42% in January, according to the median estimate of 25 economists polled between March 6-11.

"We expect a rise of 0.78% on the back of a seasonal hike of tuition fees, while fuel prices were impacted by the increase of the ICMS (state tax)," said Mauricio Nakahodo, senior economist at MUFG.

Brazil's bi-weekly inflation gauge picked up in mid-February driven by higher education prices. The sector led an overall rise with a 5.07% jump mainly due to seasonal hikes in school fees.

On a yearly basis, consumer prices are predicted to have increased 4.44% last month, slowing down from 4.51% in January and returning to the official target for 2024 of 3% plus/minus 1.5 percentage points.

One of the reasons behind this is the country's consolidation as one of the world's top food producers. In the most recent sign of progress, Brazilian sugar exports jumped 162% and coffee shipments rose 77% last month.

At the same time, pressure on domestic consumer prices continues to decrease as Latin America's No.1 economy slows down. The Brazilian central bank's modest campaign of rate cuts has restrained bank lending.

The monetary authority's benchmark for the cost of borrowing is 11.25%. Very high real rates are restraining economic growth and reducing companies' pricing power.

In the medium-term, inflation is now seen ending 2024 at 3.76%, according to a weekly central bank poll among private sector economists. The latest consensus estimate was lower than 3.80% in the previous week.

"Broadly, we think that inflation will moderate from current levels in 2024 ... as the demand-supply gap narrows, the labour market cools slightly, and global price pressures subside," Societe Generale analysts wrote in a report.

(Reporting and polling by Gabriel Burin; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)

Copyright 2024 Thomson Reuters .

Tags: Brazil , polls

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    Brazil is home to over half of the Amazon's rainforest, an area referred to as the 'lungs of the world'. Since 2000, however, agriculture has been driving GDP growth in Brazil. Advancing ...

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    Reuters. FILE PHOTO: A vendor rests on baskets at the Ver-o-Peso market, ahead of the summit of Amazon rainforest nations in Belem, Para state, Brazil August 7, 2023.