Manatee Amazon Explorer

The 90 feet long (27 m) and 24 feet wide (7 m) “Manatee Amazon Explorer” riverboat has been specially built for cruises in the Ecuadorean Rainforest…

Description

The 90 feet long (27 m) and 24 feet wide (7 m) “Manatee Amazon Explorer” riverboat has been specially built for cruises in the Ecuadorean Rainforest.

Accommodation

The yacht accommodates 30 passengers in 14 cabins doubles with a private bathroom, air conditioner, and hot water.

Services & Facilities

  • Dinning room
  • bar
  • laundry
  • store
  • reading room and balcony
  • Canoes
  • bird watching
  • jungle walks, fishing,
  • river exploration, lakes and lagoons, swimming,
  • Night camping in the jungle.

Programs

DAY 1 ARRIVAL (THE EXPEDITION BEGINS)

Today the adventure begins, following the pathways of the Spaniard Explorer Francisco de Orellana who discovered in 1541 the worldwide famous Amazon: the river with the largest volume of water flowing into the ocean, (get some 160 kilometers inside the Atlantic Ocean). After a short flight from Quito, we will start this adventure from the town of Coca, called like this due to the indigenous groups who used to commerce with coca leaves. From the airport we will make or way to the shores of the Napo River, where we will start a one and a half hours canoe ride that lead us to the Manatee Amazon Explorer. Once onboard and after getting comfortable, we will start our navigation downstream on this wonderful Napo River. After lunch our expert naturalist guides will help you to practice the use of binoculars, so you can enjoy the first wildlife sightings on the river shores. Later in the afternoon some briefings about the Amazon and its wildlife will be provided. A welcome cocktail will prepare us for dinner.

DAY 2.- EXPLORING THE WATER WAYS OF THE AMAZON

An early wakeup call will invite us to enjoy the second day in the Amazon… After breakfast, we will ride our motorized canoe to explore the shores of White Water Rivers, here we can spot dozens of bird species and why not some canopy mammals. The Manatee will continue navigation downstream to the last Ecuadorian town on the Napo River: Nuevo Rocafuerte. After a short visit to this small border town, we will continue to the confluence of Napo and Aguarico rivers, the most eastern point of Ecuadorian territory. The Manatee will take the international waters of Aguarico to lead us to the Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve. An optional nocturnal walk or canoe exploration can be arranged to enjoy the nocturnal wildlife.

DAY 3.- LAGARTOCOCHA: THE PINK RIVER DOLPHINS PARADISE

Once again our motorized canoe will let us explore one of the most beautiful highlights of our trip. Within the Cuyabeno wildlife Reserve, Lagartococha is an Igapo flooded forest. Here we can enjoy wonderful landscapes and incredible wildlife: macaws and toucans flying in the sky and pink river dolphins swimming calmly in their waters. A beautiful morning followed by a hike in the afternoon. As this is the furthest point of our trip, the Manatee will start the navigation back to the original point, but this time upstream.

DAY 4.- THE GREAT YASUNI

Today we will visit the largest National Park in Ecuador: the Yasuni, and explore the river who give the name to the reserve with one of the largest biodiversities of the world. Declared by UNESCO a Biosphere Reserve, Yasuní is home of hundreds of thousands of species from little insects up to jaguars, anacondas, giant otters and caimans the largest predators of the Amazon. Here we will explore Jatuncocha (Big lake) a wonderful landscape oxbow lake with the chance of swimming once again, or enjoy a paddle canoe ride.

DAY 5.- THE PEOPLE OF THE AMAZON

Today is dedicated to the indigenous communities and the people who live in the Amazon basin. We will have the opportunity of watching how they live, how they build their houses, what they feed on, etc. Also we will visit one of the schools of the area to share with the children their experiences on their bilingual education. The Manatee will continue navigation upstream with some activities onboard, programmed for you in the afternoon.

DAY 6.- THE BIOLOGICAL CORRIDOR PAÑACOCHA

This is the natural link between Yasuni National Park and Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve. Is a beautiful Igapo system, with magical meanders, creeks and lakes where species can migrate from one to the other reserve. Today we will have the opportunity to walk, to swim, to enjoy our rustic but charming jungle camp where we will enjoy lunch. We will start early morning and come back on board the Manatee in the afternoon.

DAY 7. – PARROT CLAY LICKS AND LIMONCOCHA BIOLOICAL RESERVE

In the tropical rainforest, there are hundreds of places where the soil can be exposed. This origin what we call clay licks due to the particular behavior of several animal species to occur to this places and "lick the clay". Licking this clay they can get benefit of the mineral salts solved on it. These salts control acidity and toxicity of some of the seeds that, especially parrots, ingest every day. Today is the time of visiting the two most accessible clay licks in Ecuador within the Yasuni National Park.
In the afternoon we will close the circuit of visits with the Limoncocha Biological Reserve, a very important flora and fauna refuge. This reserve was considered the world's record of bird watching in the 70's and home of the mysterious Black caiman in a natural state. Its green waters, due to blue green algae growing on the surface of the water, is surrounded by floating vegetation with hundreds of species of frogs and insects. Also here we can try to fish the feared piranha. We will be back on board the Manatee at 8:30 p.m.


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    Publicado en Cruises Ecuador Jungle.