The rooms are basic but clean and functional and seem pretty amazing for a lodge that is floating on the Amazon. Waking up to howler monkeys, arriving at night to the watchful red eyes of the caimans, going through the flooded forest (!!), everything is really spectacular. The guides were incredibly informative, and the visit to the local village was a great way to get a sense of the daily life of the people on the river. Learning about the concept of a locally-managed sustainable wildlife refuge was absolutely fascinating. In short, this was a huge part of our Brazil visit, which itself was the trip of a lifetime. Can’t recommend it enough.

The central building in the lodge is where we had meals, as well as an introductory talk after arriving, and a presentation by a naturalist on our final evening. Meals were tasty and filling, with a different preparation of fish and of chicken each day, along with rice, beans, salad and dessert, plus fresh juices.

We visited the forest by small motorboat and on a canoe (paddled by our guide). We’d been expecting to take walks, but the flood season had arrived early and almost the entire forest was underwater. (Although they say that the wet season begins in March, if you’re visiting in January or February, you may want to confirm what the conditions are a week or two before you travel there, just so you know what to expect.) But gliding through the forest, effectively 20 feet up in the trees, was magical in its own way, and on the one afternoon when our guide helpfully took us to a bit of higher land in the forest where we could walk a trail, the mosquitoes were so intense that we were happier to get back onto the boat after 20 minutes! (Apparently mosquitoes are fewer in the height of the wet season.) Definitely bring repellent and wear long sleeves and trousers!The naturalist in residence spoke very good English, and our guide knew the English names of some of the animals we saw, but we mostly conversed with him in Portuguese. He was extraordinarily adept at spotting animals high up in the trees. We saw various monkeys (but not the uakaris, sadly), porcupines, sloths, and many varieties of birds. We highly recommend this lodge if you want to feel you’re really in the Amazon and to experience it in a way that is supportive of local communities (whose members work at the lodge, and which benefit from the income.) It’s a great place, doing great work!