Brazil Wildlife Trips

The trip packed a lot in to it so I would strongly recommend anyone thinking about this trip to add a few days to the start in Salvador (as I did) or to add some days at the end in Rio. The travel, with 7 internal flights is quite wearing but the rewards are amazing. Tremendous wildlife in the Amazon and Pantanal, great scenery at Iguaçu, the Amazon and Rio and a wonderful range of colour, culture, music and vibe in Salvador. Diego was an excellent leader, the group was very good, the transport and hotels were good and the whole experience totally unforgettable. A shame we had two days of rain in Rio, but who can control the weather ?

This is a good trip. I used average to describe the accommodations because it is basic but very acceptable according to the type of trip (local boats). This comment applied to the food also. I would have seen more hiking in order to see and explore the forest, villages, animals. There is so much to discover. Hot and humid as I did the tour in May.

A wonderful thought quite challenging two weeks though very much as expected. Great itinerary; boats way better than expected; excellent food. Superb tour leader....

I booked this holiday as from my research it was the only one that really covered Brazil. I had originally thought that perhaps the wildlife side of the holiday might be a bit too much but I actually think the amount of time spent in the Amazon and Pantanal was perfect. Our tour guide was great, he made us all feel welcome and gave us good advice along the way. The only negative would be the flights. We all felt that direct flights would have been so much better. They were available but we felt this is where Explore was being cheap! One of the days we had to sit at the airport for 5 hrs!! If direct flights are an absolute no, then instead of sitting 5 hrs, perhaps the guide could have shown us around nearby!

The accommodation was as a described in the trip notes varying from a Radisson hotel to cute beach huts, cramped metal cabins on the ferry and hammocks close together on the deck of our private boat. If you can't cope with that then don't book this trip. We had a great group and a wonderful guide who coalesced as friends and had an amazing experience. Don't expect to see much mammalian or reptilian wildlife apart from some monkeys, dolphins and Cayman but on the motorised canoe trip on the smaller reaches of the Rio ***** and on Marajo there was copious exotic bird life. Be super careful about food hygiene on the public ferry - a few of us succumbed - but otherwise the food was good and the fruit delicious as was the piranah soup made from the piranah we caught that day.

This trip is not for the faint- hearted. But for me, part of the appeal was very basic accommodation, sleeping in a hammock on deck and showering in cold river water. If you don't expect any luxury on the water, you'll love it. With no changing facilities on board apart from a rudimentary loo/ shower you get to know your fellow travellers very well. And great teamwork when the boat was caught in a storm, battening diwn the hatches. Explore make it clear that it isn't what most people would describe as a cruise!