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Locally Hosted Independent Tour Suggested Departure Day: Saturday

NOTE: This program highlights Tucano's 4-night cruise of the Amazon. 
Twice monthly the Tucano also has a 7-night program; details available on request.

ITINERARY (Subject to change without notice):

Day 1 - Saturday - Depart USA: Depart your USA gateway city on evening flight.

Day 2 - Sunday - Arrive Rio de Janeiro and connect to Iguassu Falls: Morning arrival in Rio de Janeiro and make connection for flight to Iguassu Falls, arriving midday. Meeting and transfer to your hotel, the Orient Express Hotel Das Cataratas, located in the National Park right at the falls. Balance of the day at leisure.

Day 3 - Monday - Iguassu Falls: Today you will spend exploring these awesome falls  from the Brazilian side, with 275 falls and spanning a 2-mile wide precipice,, with wide panoramic vistas. Eleanor Roosevelt is said to have exclaimed upon viewing them: "Poor Niagara! This makes Niagara look like a kitchen faucet!". In the morning enjoy a guided walking tour on the Brasilian side.  In the afternoon take the Macuco Safari and motor launch excursion for a ride along the turbulent river for different views of these falls, including ducks in and out of the cascades themselves. Also stop by the Parque de Aves for a visit to the huge walk-through aviaries and butterfly farm.  (B)

Day 4 - Tuesday - Iguassu Falls - Rio de Janeiro:  This morning you will cross over the border to the Argentine side for yet another series of walks to view these spectacular falls. One catwalk takes you to the edge of Devil's Throat; two others take you down along the base of the falls, offering the "Up Close and Personal" encounter with the falls. Afternoon transfer to the airport for flight to Rio de Janeiro. Meeting and transfer to the Belmond Copacabana Palace on famed Copacabana beach for three night stay.(B)

Day 5 - Wednesday - Rio de Janeiro:  Full day excursion visiting this naturally beautiful city called "Cidade Maravilhosa", the Marvellous City. Visit the Largo do Boticario (Apothecary Square) with just seven colorful colonial facades around a cobblestoned square and shaded by ancient trees. You'll take the modern cogwheel train for 20-minute ascent up famed Corcovado Mountain and ascend by elevator and escalator to the base of the statue of Christ the Redeemer for a spectacular 360 degree panorama of Rio. Time for photographing Rio from this vantage point. Then continue with two stage cable car ascent to the summit of Sugar Loaf for yet another panoramic vista of the city, Bay and on the horizon Christ the Redeemer statue. En route enjoy lunch at one of the popular "churrascarias", Brazil's barbeque restaurant with a never ending array of food! (B/L)

Day 6 - Thursday - Rio de Janeiro: Day at leisure to explore at your own pace. You might want to arrange an optional excursion to Petropolis, the imperial city of Petrópolis is located 55 miles from Rio with a scenic drive through the countryside of the Serra da Estrela mountains to Petropolis to visit the summer residence of Emperor Dom Pedro II.  This has been restored to its original splendor and today is the Imperial Museum. The museum is home to a collection of tapestries, colonial furnishings and portraits, as well as the Imperial Crown with over 600 diamonds and pearls. Pricing and details on request. (B)

Day 7 - Friday - Rio de Janeiro-Salvador Bahia: Morning transfer to the airport for flight to Salvador, Bahia. Upon arrival, meeting and transfer to your hotel, the Pousada Convento do Carmo in the heart of historic Pelourinho. Spend the afternoon exploring Salvador, Bahia, first city founded in Brazil and a treasure house of colonial architecture. Visit the city's important sites including newly rejuvenated "Pelorinho", the city's colonial center, filled with churches, cobblestone streets and colonial houses, São Pedro Fort, where the independence of Bahia was proclaimed; Castro Alves Square,  Terreiro de Jesus surrounded by five churches. Here you will find one of the most spectacular churches in the world: São Francisco Church with its magnificent gold-leaf interior. It is a tour through the History of Salvador and its beautiful buildings hundreds of years old. (B)

Day 8 - Saturday - Salvador Bahia: Day at leisure to explore this historic city at your own pace. Pelourinho, the historic district, is filled with shops, art galleries and boutiques, in addition to restaurants and bars. You can also arrange optional schooner cruises in the bay. This evening you will enjoy a performance by the Bale Folclorico de Bahia, one of the most respected folklore dance troupes in the world. They perform in the intimate Miguel Santana Theatre in the Pelourinho in a seamless presentation of the multiple African traditions that underpin Bahian culture. We will see the sacred dances of the Candomblé; puxada de rede, a song by fishermen in honor of Yemanjá, the goddess of the sea; maculelê, an acrobatic stick and sword dance with its origins in the cane fields; capoeira, a martial art/dance of Angolan origin and the samba de roda, a spinning, swirling version of this exuberant national dance. After the show dinner will be served in one of the many fine restaurants in the area. (B/DS)

Day 9 - Sunday - Salvador Bahia - Brasilia - Manaus: Morning transfer to the airport for your flight to Manaus with a stopover in Brasilia, the capital of the country and a thoroughly modern city. Founded in 1960 and completely pre-planned, Brasilia is a space age city often called the 'City of Tomorrow'. Visit the Dawn Palace, Houses of Congress, the underground Cathedral and Embassy Row, among other places of interest. Lunch included today during your tour. Late afternoon return transfer to the airport to continue on to Manaus, deep in the heart of the Brazilian Amazon. Evening arrival and transfer to Hotel Tropical, a huge sprawling hotel on the banks of the Rio Negro.

Day 10 - Monday - Depart Manaus: Morning visit to the main points of Manaus, capital of the state of Amazonas, and a great "free port" city with a mixture of architecture from the varying past. Stop by the famed Opera House, built during the rubber boom days, brought piece by piece from Europe including some 6000 tiles on the roof. The interior has been restored to the original opulence. Also stop by the market, a miniature copy of the now-demolished Parisian Les Halles, built in 1882 and filled with exotic regional produce. Next stop by the regional museum with an excellent collection of Indian artifacts and flora/fauna of the Amazon. Afternoon embarkation on the MOTOR YACHT TUCANO. Depart upstream on the Rio Negro and as the vessel glides upstream enjoy the first talk about Amazon environments. By late afternoon you'll enter one of the world’s largest river island systems, the Anavilhanas Archipelago. The boat will weave along a winding channel with rainforest on both sides in a riot of brilliant vegetation. Weather permitting, you will go for an excursion in the gnarled and dense flooded forest known as the Igapó. Along the river bank you may see some Squirrel Monkeys and hear the other-worldly growls of Howler Monkeys echoing through the primitive rainforest. The Amazon has one of the greatest collection of birds in the world and you are sure to see some of these brightly colored jewels perched in the treetops.

Day 11 - Tuesday - Exploring the Amazon:  Rising early, enjoy an excursion in the Lago Janauari Ecological Park, a dense forest that is flooded with the coffee colored water of the Amazon River. Explore a labyrinth of small channels overhung with gargantuan trees and vines. Listening to the chatter of creatures in the undergrowth, keep your eyes open for monkeys, Three Toed Sloths, and the occasional Collared Anteater. By mid morning return to the M/Y TUCANO for a hearty breakfast and some time to relax. By late morning leave the vessel again to explore this environment rich in life.

Near midday, following lunch, navigate downstream to the “Encontra das Aguas”, the several mile long joining of two of the world’s greatest rivers, the Rio Negro and The Amazon. The dark and light waters run side by side for several miles without mixing. Often Pink River Dolphins and also Grey River Dolphins leap and cavort along this stark line of contrasting currents. Then begin to navigate upstream on the Amazon River until the late afternoon.

On Brasilian maps this river is given the name Rio Solimões - but it is the same vast, turbulent, mighty river that we know as the Amazon. At this point in its course, it has truly become the most magnificent river on the planet and carries fully 20% of all the fresh water on Earth.

Travel upstream on the Amazon River into the late afternoon to a channel on the south bank of the Amazon where, conditions permitting, the ship can access a large lake called Lago Janauacá. Here you'll encounter a new and fascinating environment known as the Varzea. In launches glide down narrow channels where we expect to see creatures found only on the South side of the Amazon River. Tonight launches take you to hunt for nocturnal life. In the beam of powerful spotlights you should see the glowing eyes of Caiman, the Amazon’s crocodiles. (B/L/D)

Day 12 - Wednesday - Exploring the Amazon: Begin the day with an early launch excursion, and mid-morning excursion walk to a small village. You'll appreciate the slow pace of life that follows the rhythms of the seasons and river cycles. About midday the M/Y TUCANO will return to the deep brown and forceful current of the Amazon River. The afternoon's destination depends on the vessel’s Captain: either to the north or south side of the Amazon River depending on the season, the weather and the best chance of observing wildlife. Late afternoon further explore the wilds of this tropical paradise. (B/L/D)

Day 13 - Thursday - Exploring the Amazon: This morning scout for more of the bizarre creatures of the Amazon and visit local homesteaders where you walk through their gardens and learn how traditions help families survive in the remote interior. Time permitting also visit one of the river towns where trade still thrives in goods that have been grown, caught, or collected in this vast rainforest.

During lunch the M/Y TUCANO heads downstream on the Amazon River and navigates east with the swift current. Through the afternoon the ship weaves in and out of islands that dot the North bank of the river offering vistas of forest and homesteads along the river banks. In the late afternoon, near the Rio Negro, you'll  venture out for one more excursion along a narrow channel called Parana Xiborena or return to Lago Janauari Ecological Park. At sunset the ship slowly ascends the Rio Negro, passing along but not stopping at the Porto de Manaus, one of the world’s great ports. More than a thousand miles from the sea, Manaus is the major port for much of the entire Amazon. You'll see boats of every imaginable shape and purpose that serve this continent sized forest. Tonight sample the national drink of Brasil, the Caipirinha and have a farewell dinner. (BLD)

Day 14 - Friday - Arrive Manaus and fly Manaus-Miami:  Morning arrival in Manaus and disembarkation at the riverside dock of the Hotel Troipical. Meeting and transfer from the dock to the airport to check in for your departing flight. (B)

PLEASE NOTE - IMPORTANT:
The following Payment, Change and Cancellation Policies are for general information only.
This is a sample program which will be customized to fit your Trip Wishes, Travel Style and Parameters.
Your personal customized program will carry Terms & Conditions specifically applicable to your program's inclusions
and will be the governing Terms & Conditions.