Nothing about the Amazon is easy and everything is remote. Getting to the lodge for a week’s expedition was an adventure by itself. See video of trip at bottom of post.
Bush Plane over the Amazon
First we took a 2-hour bush plane ride from Manaus to the Rio Roosevelt lodge. Once we crossed the Rio Negro it was all green canopy below us and blue sky above.
from the plane all we saw was the jungle below us and various rivers zig zagging through the lush vegetation. From time to time we flew over a small village or indigenous settlement.
As we were getting closer to the confluence of the Rio Aripuanã with the Rio Roosevelt my thoughts went to the struggles of the 1914 Roosevelt- Rondon expedition to map the River of Doubt, now called the Rio Roosevelt.
Rio Roosevelt Lodge
We landed a the famous Rio Roosevelt Lodge where we unpacked our plane, enjoyed a jungle welcome drink and had a lunch. Once the boats were ready we met our guides for the week and took off on a 4-hour boat ride.
Rio Aripuanã
First we rounded the point where the mouth of the Roosevelt meets the Aripuanã. more than a 100 years ago Teddy Roosevelt and Brazilian adventurer / explorer Col. Rondon stood and planted a geographic marker to commemorate their expedition. Sadly we couldn’t locate it.
After 2 hours up the Aripuanã and pass several isolated Indigenous villages we met the Rio Guariba.
Rio Guariba
While the lodge is on the Rio Guariba, we still had about 2 hours to go on this river to get to the lodge.
The Guariba is very isolated and we did not see any villages or other boats or signs of civilization.
there were a few gnarly rapids on the much smaller Guraiba and we had to be carful in areas of low water and high rocks!
Arriving at the Holwer Monkey Lodge
We arrived at our lodge in the middle of the jungle. Ready for beer and a home cooked Brazilian dinner
Bush Plane Video
Boat ride Video
