Voyage to the Heart of the Amazon

6 Night Voyage
 UNESCO World Natural World Heritage Site
About the Central Amazon Conservation Complex

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2024-- Voyage to the Heart of the Amazon  - 7-day/6-night cruise Scheduled Departures -- 2024
Jan 15-21	Apr 2-8	Aug 10-16	Nov 02-08
Jan 29 - Feb 4	Apr 16-22	Aug 24-30	Nov 16-22
Feb 12-18	May 7-13	Aug 13-19	Dec 07-13
Feb 20 - 26	May 21-27	Sep 07-13	Dec 21-27
Feb26 - Mar 4	Jul 06-12	Sep 28-Oct 04
Mar 5-11	Jul 27 - Aug02	Oct 19-25
Mar 12-18

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2025-- Voyage to the Heart of the Amazon  - 7-day/6-night cruise Scheduled Departures -- 2025
Jan 15-21	Apr 9-15	Jul 02-08	Oct 01-07
Feb 12-18	Apr 19-25	Jul 16-22	Oct 15-21
Mar 05-11	May 07-13	Aug 6-12	Nov 5-11
	May 28 - Jun 03	Sep 10-16	Nov 26 -Dec 02
	Jun 11-17	Sep 20-26	Dec 10-16
		Sep 23-29	Dec 24-30

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NOTE: The M/Y Tucano can be chartered for as few as 12 persons on dates not set for scheduled departure above. A shorter is available on a charter basis only.

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This is a true expedition voyage and we explore far into the wilderness into some of the most untouched rainforest in all of the Amazon. We venture far up the least inhabited major river in the Amazon Basin on our expedition vessel, the Motor Yacht Tucano. Weaving in and out of small channels on the Rio Negro, we explore areas very rarely visited and seek out the mysterious life of the wilderness that stirs in the forest and in the heart of wild nature. Voyage to the Heart of the Amazon is the most thorough, detailed, and sophisticated trip offered in the entire Amazon. Our guides are accomplished naturalists and we see creatures almost never seen by other visitors. The trip is rather like being on a time machine in that we are able to visit places that have not changed for millions of years. Truly the trip of a lifetime. About the Central Amazon Conservation Complex

HEART OF THE AMAZON CRUISE

Saturday - Day 1

Early this morning all guests board the vessel the Motor Yacht Tucano and depart upstream on the Rio Negro. Through the morning we will cruise through the world’s largest river island system, the Anavilhanas Archipelago. From the observation deck we scan the magnificent tangle of vegetation at the water’s edge. By mid-afternoon the vessel has gone beyond the frontier of settlement and entered a wilderness area. Both shores are covered by dense rainforest. Though we cannot predict what we will see, we have a good chance of observing pink river dolphins and a large collection of exotic birds. Most certainly we will be treated to magnificent forest vistas and the spectacular trees themselves. In the late afternoon we embark in the launches and hunt for wildlife. We may also go for a swim in some of the world’s most clean and refreshing water. (LD)

We return to the M/Y Tucano for hors d’oeuvres on the observation deck and a toast to the rainforest sunset. Following dinner we will embark in our launches in search of nocturnal creatures such as the Caiman, the Amazon’s crocodilians. We may also see one of the large night birds such as a Potoo with its bulging eyes and large mouth adapted to swallow the huge Mariposa Moths. (D)

Sunday - Day 2

Early this morning we explore the rainforest along the waters edge in our launches or kayaks, each group with a naturalist guide. We should hear and perhaps see howler monkeys and we should hear a morning serenade of toucans. After breakfast we go for a walk in the forest where we will get a good start on understanding Amazon ecology. Around midday we return for lunch and the vessel will get underway, perhaps stopping at a place to swim. In the late afternoon we will again explore the forest in our launches and listen to the sunset chorus of birds and frogs. (BLD)
 

Monday - Day 3

This morning there will be an early exploration of the waking forest. We will keep our eyes open for monkeys... on most trips we see them often. We return for breakfast followed by either a walk in the forest or an excursion in the launches. M/Y Tucano will travel during the middle of the day and we stop in the afternoon for an excursion. Tonight the vessel may travel a bit more as we marvel at the night sky crowded with stars. (BLD)
 

Tuesday - Day 4

After our two morning excursions The M/Y Tucano will navigate along the heavily forested shore, scouting for wildlife. We may stop for a visit at a settler’s home carved out of the forest. In the early afternoon we will be near an extraordinary river called the Rio Jaueperi. Here we will see a kind of forest known as the varzea. We will scout along the shoreline for some of the extraordinary creatures found only in this unique environment. Weather permitting we will have a night excursion to observe nocturnal creatures. (BLD)
 

Wednesday - Day 5

Today we will voyage to the west side of the Rio Negro and continue to scout in our launches and walk in the forest. We will explore according to the weather and water depth areas rarely visited by anyone else. Tonight the M/Y Tucano goes downstream and river depth permitting, will enter an east bank affluent of the Rio Negro and explore on deep into the rainforest on this small river. After our nocturnal exploration of the rainforest in our launches and we return to the Motor Yacht Tucano for “Caipirinha Night” on and perhaps try a bit of samba on the top deck. (BLD)
 

Thursday - Day 6

We begin the day with a dawn excursion hunting for wakening wildlife followed by a full Brasilian breakfast. We will then go one last time into the forest. In the mid-afternoon we will begin to journey downstream to arrive late in the day at the “Encontra das Aguas” a stark several mile long line where two of the world’s largest rivers, the Amazon and the Rio Negro join in a turbulent maelstrom. Here the dark water of the Negro runs beside the opaque brown water of the Amazon. At sunset the M/Y Tucano will once again turn her bows upstream on the Rio Negro and journey to our overnight anchorage north of the City of Manaus. As we pass in front of Manaus, we will marvel at the scale of one of the world’s largest and most vibrant port cities, that is over one thousand miles from the sea. Tonight we will have a farewell dinner and prepare for an early departure in the morning. (BLD)
 

Friday - Day 7

Early this morning, after a hearty breakfast, all guests disembark from the M/Y Tucano. (B)

Meal Codes: B= Breakfast, L= Lunch, D= Dinner. 

Please note
the day to day schedule must be considered approximate. The exact order of the days and specific features may be altered due to navigational and other scheduling considerations.

Degree of Difficulty
Good health is necessary. While guests can have a quite enjoyable trip by simply staying on board the M/Y Tucano and participating in launch excursions, participants in our walks in the forest must be able to comfortably walk for two or more hours at a time. There are several excursions off the vessel daily and guests may choose to participate in some but not all of them. The vessel is air-conditioned in the middle of the day and during the night.