4 Days Amazon Jungle Adventure Tour

I have truly mixed feelings about the tour. The jungle is absolutely amazing and definitely worth experiencing. The accommodation was simple but okay, electricity (so also AC) working only during night time, but that's also fine. Food was tasty, especially the local fish. Most of the activities were engaging, and the night in the forest was a highlight - organizing the camp site, fireplace, making natural plates and spoons, dinner and breakfast cooked by the guide on the fire. The walk in the jungle on another day was also really enjoyable, as was the pirania fishing. The swimming pool in the lodge was a nice feature - although usually I wouldn't value it that high, it was a real relief after all the heat. Also the boss (I think?) does a great job, organising the logistics and managing all the people arriving each day for 2/3/4 days joining proper activities. Unfortunately, there were also many downsides, which made the experience not so perfect: - Communication issues - it was hard to get any information on which activities we'd be attending. The "company guide" asked what is the next activity, was saying he doesn't know and never coming back with the answer. One of activities included swimming in a waterfall, but no one mentioned it nor told us to take swimsuits. Another time, while swimming in a pool, people asked when an optional activity takes place. The answer was "oh, we're leaving in 5 minutes, get ready". - Safety issues - most of the activities required boat rides, and these were filled over the capacity. Once the boat edge was literally 10cm above the water level. This was the time when we drifted on the underwater rocks and got stuck, which resulted in small leakage in the boat. We also stuck a couple more times in shallow, due to low water levels and overcrowding. - Canoeing tour is in fact a tour in the usual motor boat, just through narrower canals. - Visit to the local community was a complete misunderstanding - we saw a couple of stilt houses, a football pitch and then were lead to a place at the waterfall (the one we could potentially swim in if only one let us know in advance), with bars and loud music - not really a jungle experience... - The optional activities were overpriced (comparing to e.g. prices on another one day tour with different tour operator), as was the price of mosquito net for the night in jungle (55 R$!). Overall, the experience of the Amazonia itself is unique but maybe it's worth considering different tour provider...

We enjoyed the 4 day Amazon tour! The activities were really fun and we enjoyed them all. Special shout out to our guide Wesley who was very friendly and could tell he really loved working there! I’d 100% comeback :)

Overall, it was a good experience. Some of the guides were more helpful, informative, and friendly than others. (Most did not introduce themselves. They would just say “follow me” and then we would all get in the boat.) Examples: - our fishing guide did not offer any advice for catching piranha until the last 10 minutes of our fishing outing - during a visit to a nearby community, the Portuguese-to-English translation we received drastically simplified what the community members had said - packing list was not sent until the day before the trip The trip was enjoyable and worth the price, just don’t expect a high-end and deeply informative experience. The lodging is safe but has some “nature” inside. The food is fine but lacks flavor. (I highly recommend making use of the hot sauce they provide, if that fits your palate.) Running water was intermittently turned off for maintenance. Air conditioning only runs at night, but most of the day is spent outside anyway. For the price, relative to other providers, it’s a solid budget option. Pardon the formatting mess. Apparently Viator doesn’t like hard-returns.

The location and activities were all what I expected. However, I was truly impressed by how attentive, personable, and kind all the staff were: from the cooks, to the bartenders, to the guides. If you get Marcos and Danny as your guides, you’re in for a great treat! All the meals were also very tasty and there’s the added bonus of two house pups! Would definitely recommend this location and experience to friends!

In my opinion this is the best way to experience and learn about the Brazilian amazon. Disclosure - due to a personal injury I only experienced 3 days of said trip. Nevertheless I shall try and share the experience as best as I can. Accomadations: the stay takes place on a small island in the Rio Negro. Due to its relatively acidic waters, the lodging area is generally mosquito free. Each room is cleaned before use and contains basic living essentials - bed, shower sink etc. Do expect there to be some insect life or frogs sometimes in your room (it's still the wild). There is no hot water, and power and wi fi are on from 6 pm to 6 am. Other than that there is a very nice pool and hammok area, a bar, and the food that was served was home cooked, good quality and actually pretty tasty. Excursions: there is a set itinerary for each group of travels depending on the packaged purchased. I'll share my experience on the one's I was part of: 1. Visiting the "river people" - a short boat ride, very educational yet not as exciting as I thought. 2. Visiting an indigenous tribe - absolutely fascinating. They welcomed us with traditional dances, were very kind and offered us a try of their cuisine. I must say that towards the end of the visit there was a gift shop that did make it feel a bit artificial. 3. Canoeing - it wasn't really canoeing, rather a relaxing and educational boat ride on order to spot animals and exotic fruits and plants. Surprising and exciting. 4. Camping in the jungle - wasn't very "survival" type camping, but it was fun. We made a bonfire, cooked, slepped in hammoks with mosquito nets and socialized. In the morning we were able to catch a baby alligator and hold him for a while. 5. Piranha fishing - a great way to enjoy the piece of nature and a chance to actually see piranhas up close. I didn't manage to catch anything, but felt the carnivorous fish nibbling which gave me a good sense of the force and size of the animal. Staff: most of the staff spoke English, and all were very kind and accommodating. They did their best to assure everyone's safety and enjoyment. I would definitely book this trip again if I had the chance.

The staff here are very good and maintain a very positive environment; I found them a pleasure to deal with. However, I wanted to share a word of caution for future visitors. While I personally didn't have anything go missing, I spoke with a couple of other people who unfortunately had items disappear during their time here. It is difficult to say exactly how these items went missing, but I would recommend being extra careful with your belongings and keeping your valuables secure just in case. Overall, a great team, but it’s worth staying mindful of your property.

Excellent Stay, Food& Service

Great excursions/trips led by knowledgable, friendly and experienced guides. The location is ideal as less than an hour from Manaus but this carries feeling that not fully immersed in Amazon rainforest also. Facilities are reasonable, there is a swimming pool and bar. The accommodation is far from luxury, to be expected, although the air-conditioning didn’t work to my frustration.

Great experience camping in the jungle. Nature walk was amazing. The guide could not speak English. This was suppose to be an English tour. 4th day was not planned correctly. I felt like we wasted time. Dolphins do not show up like the pictures. There is no native tribe to be seen The guide definitely wants you to have fun. He was really funny. I think his main strength was being in the camp site and the jungle.

Nothing special. Food was not that good. Accommodations were pretty rough. Wouldn’t recommend. 5hrs of downtime per 1hr activity

I had a great time at the lodge, the staff was super friendly and as a solo traveller i felt safe and had a bunch of fun! Thank you very much to the helpful and kind staff.

It was an amazing experience! One of our best (if not the best) trip in our life. We were with a really good guide and we learn a lot of things in a funny mood. The hostel was really confortable too, with really good meals. The only downside was the organization : due to a lack of communication, the programmation of activities could change from a minute to one other, and sometimes at the last minute (which left us less time to prepare accordingly).

It was the perfect mix of exploration and downtime for a vacation. Staying overnight in the jungle cutting down trees and sleeping in the Amazon nobody can take away from you

The anaconda lodge is basic, but the location cannot be beat. The bed is comfortable. While there is wifi available all day there is no electricity from 6am until 6 pm when the power comes on. The food was not fancy but was good. If you have to have all of the amenities, they may not be available in the middle of the Amazon, but this place has most of what you need. Pick up and drop off before and after the trip were easy. The excursions were great. Fishing for piranha, searching for cayman, camping in the rainforest, and the jungle trek were everything that I wanted them to be. They do offer two additional excursions that are not included, because they do not control access to the excursions. Those were swimming with the dolphins and a visit with indigenous people. Both excursions combined were about $50 US and well worth it. The swimming with dolphins felt a little exploitive as these are wild animals that may/have become dependent on humans feeding them for a trick. They are beautiful in their own way, especially seeing them out in the wild. The visit with the indigenous people was some may say touristy but was my favorite activity of the trip. They were beautifully caring on their traditions that the modern world makes more difficult to maintain each day. I was there in the dry season (October) but the Amazon has plenty of moisture even in the dry season. Please bring sunscreen and bug repellent. Apply both and then reapply because by the time you recognize you need to refresh that protection it is almost assuredly too late. The staff were great. Wesley is wise beyond his youth and was knew more about the jungle that I could ever know. The rest of the staff speak only a word or three of English. I found that learning some basic Brazilian Portuguese phrases went a long way to an enjoyable and richer experience. There will be instagramable moments to be sure, but there is also a large amount of free time. Bring a book if you are so inclined, or just enjoy the sounds of the birds occasionally interrupted by a passing motorboat. Many people enjoyed a swim at the pool or took long naps. It is a great place to be present in that moment. If you must have your creature comforts, I am not certain this is the place for you. If you are up for an adventure and an experience to look back fondly upon, this fulfilled its promise and then some.

This is a great first experience of the Amazon Rainforest, you get to do a lot of activities which are fun and meet a lot of people at the lodge! The camping night was our favourite and would recommend this to everyone! Our guide, Wesley was especially great!

A wonderful four-day experience in the heart of the Amazon forest, I highly recommend it. We had a great time both at the lodge and with the various activities offered!

The tour ended up being an expensive nightmare. Fittingly, Amazon Amazing Tours did not respond to our criticism but rather blocked our phone number. Hence, we decided to warn future potential buyers of this trip here. - You're being ripped off. We paid 2000 Reais per person for this tour because it was supposedly more ecological and with "professional guides" compared to other agencies. Needless to say that we ended up in a group with people booking through other agencies (e.g. Encontró das Aguas, Safari ecología) and paying only 1400 Reais. Everything was exactly the same for everyone - there was no difference in accommodation or food options that could explain a price difference. - The agreed upon tour programme was not respected by the tour guides. There was a complete lack of organization - activities were done randomly and in a chaotic fashion. Paid for activities that were not delivered include an overnight stay at an indigenous community with spearfishing at night, processing of cassava/manioc flour, planting cassava, extracting rubber from trees, teaching of survival techniques, watching of pink dolphins - Persistent lack of communication by tour guide: he never mentioned what we were going to do and how we should prepare for it, resulting in us not bringing essential items to stay safe in a potentially dangerous rainforest environment (e.g. he made us get in the boat and go somewhere without telling us that we were headed to camp in the forest for the night) - Problematic alcohol addiction of tour guide: he was day drinking throughout the whole trip, often stopping at small floating kiosks to buy more beer or even asking tour members to buy him a beer. Especially while camping in the jungle, the guide was completely drunk, lying in the mud and mumbling random stuff - he certainly wasn't able to watch out for wild animals. The fact that he was carrying a machete while drunk made us feel extremely unsafe and we did not dare to confront him. - The tour was advertised as ecological, which turned out not to be true: guides and staff of the forest lodge were throwing plastic rubbish and cigarette buds into the river and forest. There also was a big pile of rubbish hidden just behind the lodge.

It an amazing experience for people who enjoy wild life, are flexible and are easy to adopt to the environment.

Unbelievable trip! Me and two friends done 3 nights 4 days camped in the jungle for 2 nights out the 3. Unbelievable experience. Like no other. Food was very good to a lot of variety, which was surprising in the middle of the jungle. Would definitely recommend.

Totally sucked on every level. Accomodations were awful. Bathrooms should be condemned. The guide had a bad attitude. The tour operator kept changing the itinerary multiple times a day. The food was repetitive and barely edible, unless you love eating dry chicken, pasta and rice daily. They occupy your time by just boating down the river with no destination for 2 hours and getting sunburned. That happened for 2 consecutive days. Finally, all 15 of us excitedly went piranha fishing with a bamboo stick and no reel. Unsurprisingly, nobody caught anything. Total crap on every level. There were no highlights to this trip other than everyone commiserating!

This review is of two components. 1) The Amazon Experience - The Anaconda Lodge was very nice, and the staff helpful. Unfortunately, due to a build-up of grass on the river, it became virtually impassible by boat. As a result, we were only able to do two excursions: visit to a nearby town with an abandoned rubber tree era hotel, and an overnight stay in the jungle. All other excursions were cancelled, due to inaccessibility by boat, and the lodge was closed because new guests could not reach it. These two excursions were very good, and quite memorable. 2) Refunds - Amazon Amazing Tours issued cash refunds to those guests who booked directly with them, because guests could not participate in all the planned excursions. For those of us who booked through third party agents, such as TripAdvisor, we were told to apply for refunds via these agents. I have messaged Amazon Amazing Tours twice via TripAdvisor messaging, seeking my refund, and have not received the courtesy of a reply. Prior to this, if I sent them messages regarding the tour, they typically responded within 24 hours. It would be easy to argue that the grass build-up on the river was unforeseeable, and therefore an 'Act of God,' which would not entitle guests to refunds. To me this would be totally understandable. However, since the company chose to issue cash refunds to some guests, and no refunds to others, this seems unfair and somewhat arbitrary. As a result, I cannot recommend Amazon Amazing Tours, and would suggests to persons interested in an Amazon adventure tour seek out another tour company.

I went to this tour, booked over WPP and did not know what to expect. Just want to say that it met all my expectations. The tour is very well organized in an awesome environment quiet deep in the joungle. My tour guides - Eddy, Ben and Adelson were amazing and helped me with anything I needed. So, If you are hesistant about booking, don't be and go for it.

Great Knowledge, Great People would gladly come back and do a stay in the jungle again. Thoroughly enjoyed my time trying to catch caimon in the tributerieries of the Rio negro

I went to the Anaconda Lodge for the 4 day tour recently in October 2024 and had a really great time. All the staff there were very friendly and helpful. My room had powerful air conditioning each night. Everything was well organized with an activity in the morning and afternoon along with plenty of free time to relax at the lodge or go for a hike. The meals were very good with fish and chicken at lunch and dinner and eggs and a meat at breakfast along with vegetables and fruit at each meal. The lodge was nice with a pool I swam in a few times and lounge chairs and a bar with cold drinks (both alcohol and non- alcohol) that you serve yourself at and pay when you leave. The activities were fun and educational and I especially liked the overnight camping in the rainforest. We slept in hammocks with a mosquito net and had a campfire and cooked chicken over the campfire. This really was a great experience and great value for the money. Leonardo, who arranged everything, was very organized, friendly and helpful. The meeting of the waters was not part of our tour, but Leonardo organized a trip for us to take us up to see it at the end of our trip for a reasonable price which was really great to see and was much appreciated by all of us who went to see this, that he did this for us. I highly recommend this tour as I had a great time and it was great value for the money.

This tours is neither good, nor bad. The good. You get to spend 4 days in the jungle hearing raw nature. You can touch the animals that the tour guide catches like the caymans Fruit tour is amazing The bad You are touching animals that’s maybe inhumane as they are wild. There is no swimming with the dolphins, just swimming in the river where the dolphins are. The tour guides are following a schedule so if they see something, and time does not permit, they don’t stop to check it out. They point it out and continue to the original intended destination Very little notice of when the schedule change so most of the time, you don’t know what you are doing Things people can’t control Electricity; when there is no electricity due to rain, sleeping becomes unbearable as it is hot out there without AC/Fan Summary I don’t fault the guides for these tour, but the structure of the organizers really should be clear with the itinerary and what to expect from this tour. Guides 4.5/5 Organizer 2/5

Good trip and good guides. The guides David, João and Marcelo were the mans. Safety was good and no problems at all. Really nice experience

It was an amazing experience! Everything was perfectly organized and they really care for you. They really consider the weather so they change the certain programme points to what fits the current weather the best. But in the end you do all whats on the list - just in a different order.

My fiancé and I didn’t have a good experience with this operator. After reading all the good reviews, we were really looking forward to this tour and the contact with Leonardo before the tour was good. But it turned out our guide was very unmotivated, and at some times even rude. The information about (life in) the Amazon that the guide was supposed to share was véry minimal (while we were really looking forward to this), and we even had to ask/convince the guide to go spear fishing (which was on the programme), but he didn’t want to do it because he wanted to sleep early. I really think that we shouldn’t be asking/convincing our guide to do things that are already on our programme (and paid for!). On top of that, during the tour we found out that a lot of people paid way less than we did (someone in our group even paid half of what we paid and she even had one day more!). We understand that there can be price differences and people can negotiate for a better price, but the price difference with the rest of our group just felt really unfair. The rest of the activities were really cool and the Amazon is amazing, but the guide didn’t contribute to that in any way. We recommend to book with another operator!

Unfortunately, this tour did not meet our expectations from the description at all. We were in a large group (initially around 20 people, split into approx 10 each), and these groups changed daily so the guides were never sure who had seen what, or even who everybody is and what tour they are on! This created the additional concern that none of the guides knew about any medical conditions or dietary requirements that had been mentioned during the booking process - Vegetarians were not catered for. Our guide spoke very limited English (despite booking an English speaking guide), so we did not feel that we got as much out of the experience as Portugese speakers. There was not enough room at the lodge for everybody, so we stayed in hammocks for 2 nights, packed too close together due to the group size. We only got a room on our 3rd night by being fairly firm about it. Mosquito nets were provided but were generally too small and had many holes. We also felt that there was not much respect for the environment - guides were dropping cigarette butts, and we heard that guides were climbing trees to catch sloths for tourists to hold whenever the sloths were low enough. There was also quite a bit of litter around the lodge, and toilet paper around the camps.

Beautiful and scenic, a lot of amazing experiences, but some alterations were made to the schedule and some things on the agenda we did not see.

This was an amazing experience. we stayed 3 nights, 1 in the jungle where you cook dinner over a fire and sleep in hammocks, and the other two in Ipanema lodge. The guides were very friendly and we felt as though they really cared about delivering a fulfilling and enjoyable experience for us. We went alligator spotting, fishing for piranha, sloth spotting, where we got to hold the him, met people from the local communities, and also went on educational walks through the jungle. Overall it was an incredible experience and we made memories to last a lifetime.

For those who never visited the Amazon, the surroundings, tranquility and nature were amazing. The trip from Manaus to pier, then boat transfer, (view meeting of the waters) road travel on unpaved roads and wooden boat transfer to the lodge meandering along the Amazon River is fantastic. Guides were really friendly and helpful. The lodge was decent for the location but can do with more upkeep. The food was good but always the same fish, rice, pasta & chicken after four days it becomes boring. The jungle camp was great so were the other experiences eg pirvana fishing, sunset, jungle tour, aligator catch. You can easily do this in 3 days, 4 days is a waste of time and money.They will use it as a filler. The tour to the local villagers was not to expectations. We had no interaction and/or knowledge of community just half an hour and we left.

I stayed four days in the lodge and one night in the jungle, it was an amazing experience where I made lots of friends. The Amazon is green to the core and the people are all amazing and accommodating, bring your best mosquito spray and get ready for the experience of a lifetime!

Amazon river, creeks, surroundings, living conditions, peacefulness, relaxation, adventure, bird singing, breeze, etc

This may not be a tour for everyone. The activities were planned but may get changed by weather or number of tourist on the day. Fun to catch fish, alligator encounter but unfortunately not many animals or birds that we can see this time. Communication to the family owned tour operator was not smooth and the transportation safety can be a concern. But overall, people leading the activities at the lodge are very friendly and have tried their best to take care of everyone. Do expect a very very basic room setup and you just might have to sleep with unexpected insects. Anyway, it is the natural of jungle.

Don't' go to Amazona's at dry season. First of all the place we did reserve was Anaconda lodge and instead of it without asking or any communication we find ourselves from Ipanema Lodge. After that communication and activities planned were really poor. We respect and understand dry season but DON'T SELL SAME AGENDA at high water vs dry season. This is scam, same as Alps are selling skiing at the summer time. Overall this was experience and taken as trip to remember, but too many things which were like Monty Python movie.

We did a 3 day tour. It was still very dry, so the tours stated in the description could not be carried out. Tip; Please note that the program cannot be fulfilled during the dry season, which is fair. The lodge is poorly maintained and very dirty. Much is broken and there were even used sheets on the bed. We paid a lot for air conditioning but were not compensated for the fact that we had a broken air conditioning the first night. Mr Leonardo didn't think that was an argument. Don't be tempted by the swimming pool either, it is not available. Lunch and dinner are ok, breakfast is mediocre. The bar was self-service, fine, but there was only beer. I won't recommend this tour, you don't get your money's worth.

I highly recommend Amazon Amazing Tours. I booked a journey on the Amazon from Belem to Manaus, which was quite an adventure, and comfortable in an air-conditioned suite on board, followed by a four-day three-night excursion into the rainforest. Our marvellous guides, Carlos and Davide, explained flora and fauna, went beyond a call of duty to point out and demonstrate animals, such as a sloths and caimans, dolphins etc, and were in any imaginable way extremely helpful. The rainforest lodge was basic but comfortable, clean, serving excellent food. My experience exceeded my expectations!

It was a great experience. It’s not like the photo’s. But so extraordinary. I would recommend this to everybody!!

I really enjoyed 3 nights and 4 days at Amazon rainforest Brazil. The guide Mr. David Daniel Paton was really excellent and entertained us very well with his maximum power. Met many nice friends and was very safe 👍

Amazing your. Honestly. You go on many different tours each day. From piranha fishing, to capturing cayman, looking for monkeys, into sleeping in the jungle. Spotting many different animals. I recommend to friends and family. David and Carlos are amazing Tourguides! Best regards from Gus and Christian

I really enjoyed my trip to Amazon. It was amazing. The tour guide was excellent and worked very hard to entertain me. I’m happy

The tour was 10/10 it was very interesting and like an adventure. The guide was very good and friendly, I will definitely do this again

I had a great time at Ipanema Lodge. From Cayman Spotting, piranah fishing, jungle walk… it was an amazing & unforgettable experience.

All are so great! Gero arranged transfer services for me and my friend from airport to our hostel! He is very thoughtful! One of their members_ Luiz bring us to exchange dollars and have a look in Manaus that I didn't expect! Throughout the tour in Amazon, our guide_Tonies introduce detailedly on those plants and animals. Without him and the boat man, we probably cannot see the sloths and caman! And this guide is the one that truly love the forest that he showed us what is do friendly to the environment! I appreciate him so much! The apartment in Amazon are clear and with air conditioning system which make me have a very good sleep! Thankful to having this experience!

That was one of the best experiences i ever have in the wild . If you are adventurous this the best thing to do. I witness one of the best sunrises and sunset in mylife due to the reflection on the water surface also the diversity of sounds colors, flavors will reconnect you deeply with nature. all of that wouldn t be possible without our amazing guide Jungle james that was very funny, speak perfect english, and took gret pride into transmitting his knowledge to us that guy was a nature encyclopedia. If you plan a trip to brazil i think you should give this tour a try you wouldn t regret it.

The first day was confusing and wondered what was going on . Leonado said the time and place at airport HE would pick me up but didn’t arrive and told me at the last minute it was someone else coming . The driver was nice but didn’t speak English at all to tell me what was going on . No uniform and in his own private car . The whole first day with lack of info from Leonado was unprofessional and if I could have cancelled it I would have . Luckily we picked up a girl who was vacationing at the lodge that spoke English so she inform me of exactly what was happening. Once you make it out to the lodge there are others to tell you what’s happening the the rest of the trip was amazing. As you can expect in the middle of nowhere , the food is the same every day , I enjoyed it. So ask questions when booking as it feels like Leonado doesn’t really care too much once you have sent your money thru

My partner and I attended the 4D/3N Amazon jungle tour (Anaconda lodge) in March 2023. The lead guide was José with DeDe as the supporting guide. Overall, this is a worthwhile, challenging and meaningful experience, and I'm glad I went. However, there are a few things you should know before you sign up: GUIDES: • I liked the guides. José was enthusiastic and friendly. They absolutely wanted us to have an excellent time and DeDe was especially great at spotting animals and insects, and was keen to share that with us. I felt mostly safe and it was clear they knew how to navigate the river, understood where everything was (even in the pitch-black night). It must be very difficult to keep inexperienced foreigners safe in a hostile place, so I have so much sympathy for them. It must also be hard to organise all these activities for differing tastes and needs. • José was the only English-speaking person at the lodge. His English is not great so it was a bit hard to understand him at times. He mostly talked to tourists with Spanish speaking skills but he was kind and courteous to everyone. However, I wasn't sure how accurate his information was - for example, he said the ruins in Paricatuba were a place to house those with mental health issues but I did some research and all the sources said it was actually a leper colony for those with leprosy. I love knowing about the plants and the animals around us but when the participants asked him questions there were several instances where he did not know the answer. There were some instances that DeDe had to step in to fix something (e.g. José hoisted the hammocks without the mosquito nets and DeDe had to quickly fix these). Of course we cannot expect someone to know everything, but he also tended to repeat what he said multiple times with no new information. The other reviews for this trip said their guide was very knowledgeable so it just depends on who you get. • We are grateful for DeDe, who has incredible survival skills, a great eye for spotting wildlife, is good at navigating the boat, and was very physically strong. We felt safe with him, even if we couldn't communicate with him verbally. • There was one specific instance where good communication was important. We were on open waters with a thunderstorm nearby - we only saw the lightning and did not hear the thunder so it was maybe over 10 miles away. But we could see the lighting fork and we didn't know whether the lighting was coming closer or not. Generally, it is dangerous to be out in a metal boat with no mast in the open water and I felt very nervous. I am sure it was safe as the guides themselves wouldn't want to die. However, we tried to communicate our concerns but it was difficult with the loud boat motor, and it was lost in translation. It was totally fine in the end and I'm sure the lighting was quite far, but I do think some reassurance and communication would have gone a long way. • As a general note, animal sightings are not guaranteed but it's clear that every safe effort will be made to facilitate this. I appreciated this a lot, and please note that things like animals and weather conditions are totally out of their hands. ACTIVITIES: • Communication before the day of the tour was not good. I had to email a few times and WhatsApp on the day to get a clear pick-up time (otherwise the pick-up window was 7:00-9:30am). We were not even sure if the tour was going ahead on the day before the tour. • But once we got there, we got to do a lot! We went piranha fishing, saw pink dolphins, went looking for alligators, saw an Indian village and traditional dance, stayed overnight in a camp deep in the Amazon jungle, saw an island filled with birds emigrating from Mexico, saw the "monster" of the Amazon (a huge fish), and explored the village of Paricatuba and the ruins. Honestly, getting to hear and see the sights of the Amazon is amazing. While I didn't swim with the dolphins, the other people with us thought it was a highlight. • The activities were spaced out so there was always time to rest and prepare for the next activity. • The timetable changed frequently so you didn't know what you were always doing in a given day. This was because there are some overlapping groups that come and go, and some people are here for different lengths of time (2, 3, or 4 days), so they might swap activities to suit the people at the lodge at the time. You sometimes might find yourself with a full group or a much smaller group. I was fine with this and these things will always require flexibility, but the changes of itinerary can be confusing and we had to ask José what was happening today and the timings. • The camping in the jungle is optional for 4D/3N package. I would carefully consider if it's for you. It was the most challenging experience for me of the tour, but I am a camping novice. It is not a comfortable experience but it is a real adventure. It was an unusually mosquito-heavy night and we saw swarms of mosquitoes. I didn't wear thick enough trousers due to the heat and even with spray, I got over literally 200 mosquito and spider bites that night (but I had the worst bites out of everyone in the group so you may have less trouble). You will sleep in a hammock covered in a mosquito net that does help a bit, but you have to make sure no part of your skin is touching the net as that will be prime skin for insects. It is hot and there is no breeze. Once the fire was started, the camp was a lot better (smoke from fire drives the mosquitoes away) and José and DeDe made us some delicious chicken and rice on a stove made from the wood cut down from surrounding trees (honestly amazing survival skills). DeDe said that he saw a jaguar come near the camp a few days ago, but the fire tends to keep animals away. José woke up a few times in the night to check the fire was still live. The sounds of the Amazon were totally unique and otherworldly. I'm glad I did it but I probably wouldn't rush into doing it again for a while. LODGINGS: • The rooms are very basic, but otherwise safe. There is no hot water to shower with - and you can forget about having things like toiletries. Bring all your toiletries like shampoo, lotion, shower gel, and handwash soap as there weren't any in the room. • There is no electricity except between 6pm-6am. This means you can't relax in your room before 6pm because there's no AC or fan to keep you cool during the day, and the room gets stuffy and hot. As it's quite a relaxed timetable with lots of time for breaks, you'll be spending a lot of time in the hammocks (as they get a nice breeze), the pool, or the canteen area. Also, if for any reason your clothes get wet (as you are in a rainforest), there is no way to speedily dry them except on the provided washing lines - but in torrential rain, that won't work either. • The animals and insects rule the Amazon, so that goes for the lodges. We had roaches, ants, spiders, etc. - they're fine, but you should not expect a spotless or bug-free room. • We noticed the fan in our room had a bit of exposed wire in the cable. My partner touched it by accident and received a painful shock. I would expect this would have been at least taped up for safety. • Food was basic but yummy - I liked the buttered manioc pancakes, fish, and beans. But my partner didn't agree with the food and had some stomach issues. The food is usually cold by the time it is served (it might be prepared elsewhere?) but this didn't bother me. The food also is quite repetitive but as it's only 4 days, this seemed fine. OVERALL VERDICT: This tour was one of the relatively less expensive ones (it came to £650-ish between the two of us) as we booked quite a bit in advance. They delivered everything they said they would (the one activity we couldn't do was because of the torrential rain - I certainly do not begrudge them for it). They kept us safe, although not necessarily comfortable, and I appreciated how much work they did to make sure we had some great experiences. BUT knowing what I know now, I would have probably tried another provider and paid more for better lodgings and a better English speaker. I think they could have told us more tips on how to better be comfortable in the jungle knowing some people were not experienced campers (e.g. wear thick trousers - José just mentioned trousers). The tour was light on factual information, and I would have appreciated a guide that was able to explain in more detail the things we were seeing and hearing. It was a bit hard to understand what José was saying sometimes. As for better lodgings, this is important because after a day of exploring, you just want somewhere to recuperate and we struggled to sleep, so by day 4 we were completely shattered. *** If you want to come to the Amazon jungle with Amazing Tours and you've never done this before, here's some general advice from a fellow novice: • Bring weapons-grade mosquito repellent and clothes which can stop mosquitoes biting through the fabric (you will need certain tightly-woven fabric). Make sure you get repellents with DEET or picaridin. • Bring long socks that would allow you to tuck your trousers in your socks. This avoids the dreaded "inside bug" problem. You won't need to do this at the lodge or lighter activities, but if you're going into the jungle you should do this. • We got the fan room but fortunately still got air conditioning, but either way I highly recommend air-conditioning. It is very hot and stuffy, and you will need a good night's rest. • Bring first-aid stuff - antiseptic wipes/gels, iodine, plasters, hydrocortisone for the bad bites, immodium if the food doesn't agree with you. They came in handy for us even for just 4 days. We could have probably asked for some, but it's simply easier if you bring it along so you have plenty on hand. • Bring a really good raincoat that is made for the tropics, not piddly London rain. When it rains, it RAINS and there is nothing less fun than having your clothes soak through until you're cold to the bone for hours. Make sure you put your bag underneath your raincoat so all your stuff in your bag doesn't get soaked too. • Bring a bottle of water at all times. The guides will not have any back-up water for you, and this will be entirely your responsibility. There is a water refilling station at the canteen so you can refill your bottle everyday. Obviously, the bigger the bottle, the more you have to carry, so think about how much water you need. You won't need as much water for relatively close-by and short activities like the pink dolphin and piranha fishing. You will need lots of water for jungle trekking and camping. • Bring suntan lotion. It's very sunny and you get the full glare of the sun on a boat with no roof. • Bring the toiletries you'll need as the lodge won't have them.

This trip was fantastic! Highly recommend anyone who plans to visit Amazon. I wasn’t too enthusiastic after reading other reviews, but so glad I booked it anyway. First of all, ADJUST YOUR EXPECTATIONS! This is deep in the jungle, next to all the beautiful Amazon rivers, and in a total rural area (didn’t have electricity until 12 years ago), so of course nothing is going to match a comfortable city life (e.g. there’s only cold shower, but it’s the same temperature as the river and actually feels super refreshing in the hot summer), but this is a far more comfortable experience than typical backpacking/camping, and plus all the hosts do their best to accommodate you and make you feel like home. Once you’ve set the correct expectation of enjoying nature in all its wilderness and rawness, then you’ll easily find peace and happiness in its tranquility and all the beautiful surprises it offers:) I LOVE all the activities! If you enjoy camping, you’d love the night in the jungle sleeping in a hammock. Otherwise I suggest to stay at the lodge instead as it’s more convenient. All the animal spotting was super fun and we caught plenty of piranhas too. Food was great (again expectation management! I was expecting much less diversity): people there really go out of their way to cook for you! Remember traditional Amazonian food is just fish and manioc flour and nothing else. So the fact they provide other meats, cheese, fresh fruits and vegetables is a lot of effort, and I personally really enjoy the food. Because it was rain season, it rained a lot and sunrise was mostly cloudy. However, hearing all the bird chipping, watching dolphins, and being able to navigate with a boat was amazing (in dry season, most places can’t be reached by a boat)