brazil
UAKARI LODGE
Imagine, if you will, the world's largest floodplain, an area the size of England which for six months every year is flooded to the tree-tops; a 12 metre rise in waterturning the forest floor into a mysterious underwater world.
Now imagine that you're staying smack in the middle of it, your accommodation a chain of floating huts. Out front, the Amazonian tributary is your swimming pool...
if you're game to take a dip with flesh-eating piranhas and wide eyed caiman. Welcome to the jungle.
Uakari Lodge is the only place you can stay in the Mamiraua Sustainable Development Reserve, a biosphere of pristine Amazonian jungle andriver containing more creepy crawlies than you can poke a stick at.
All around you is as wild as wild gets on this planet, but your lodgings are absurdly civilised. Caipirinha anyone? Each abode is made of floating logs and thatch and joined by floating walkways leading back to a central lodge with reception area, restaurant, bar, TV room, library and conference room.
Given its location, the lodge is designed forminimum environmental impact, with rainwater collection, solar power forlighting and water heating, and a sewage filtration system.
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Amenities
- main lodge with recreation area, games, library
- bar
- canoe trips (with guides)
- treks (with guides)
- fishing(with guides)
- mozzienets
- interpretation and observation trails
- VHF radio communication system (there is no telephone)
Price Guide
- 3 nights US$550 per person
- 4 nights US$630 per person
- 7 nights US$990 per person
- day rate US$150
Accommodation Type
Thatched roof floating huts. There are ten apartments and a maximum capacity of twenty people can stay at the resort at any one time. Each room has its own terrace, bathroom with hot water shower, two large single size beds. All apartments have a view to the forest from the terrace and a hammock for soaking it all in.Directions
Mamiraua is located roughly halfway along the AmazonRiver – about 1,600km from the river mouth and the
same again downstream from the headwaters.
There are several flights a day from Manaus (the main jumping off point for Amazon trips) to Tefe with several carriers. Try Brazil's Varig Airlines at www.varig.com.
Another carrier is Rico www.voerico.com.br
Tefe can also be reached by boat from Manaus. The
trip takes two days. If you are coming downriver from
Peru/Columbia (and possibly the Triple Frontier towns
of Tabatinga/Leticia or from Iquitos), there are also
regular boats. Transfers from Tefe to the Lodge are
included in your accommodation package.
Contact
T: +55 97 3343 4160
M: +55 97 8116 1349
E: ecoturismo@mamiraua.org.br
W: www.uakarilodge.com.br
You will LOVE!
- sitting around the dinner table with researchers stationed in the reserve discussing their work
- canoeing up small tributaries – it’s an experience reminiscent of Conrad’s ‘Heart of Darkness’
- spotting the rare white Uakari monkey after which your lodge is named
- spotting the pink river dolphin, along with any number of other jungle inhabitants
- visiting the local river villagers who also make use of floating houses and even floating pastures for cows and chickens
- fishing for piranha
- feeding the 'pet' caiman at a researcher's floating lodge
- trekking through above-water swathes of virgin Amazon forest
- brazilian cuisine featuring dishes typical of the Amazon; a lot of fresh fish
- sitting in a dinghy on an flooded lake watching the sun set over the jungle and reflecting of the still waters
- shining your torch in the eyes of hundreds of caiman on the way back to the lodge in the evening
- sipping caipirinhas after a long day in the jungle
You might NOT LIKE!
- as you are in a flooded forest, staying on a floating lodge and travelling in boats, there is no opportunity to do things on your own
- no internet or telephone
- no meat on the menu (lots of fish, fruit and vegies)
- mosquitoes the size of cows
- the noise: the red howler monkey earns its name, usually starting from first light
- rain that can soak to the bones like you wouldn’t believe
- it's five star experience, not five star luxury - the only spa is the bubbling cauldron made by piranhas when you throw a chicken carcass in
- if you're not in to nature, in all its often prickly glory, this isn't for you; if you are, welcome to your heaven
- if you're under twelve years old as you're not allowed
- tropical diseases that occur in the Amazon: hepatitis, leishmananiasis, dengue and yellow fever. But the chances of contracting anything in Mamiraua are not huge (it's more likely in the cities like Manaus)