Your Amazon Basin river cruise will begin in the town of Francisco de Orellana, on the banks of the Napo River, where you board the Manatee, a comfortable and modern 3-deck vessel designed especially for rainforest exploration. Our Manatee Amazon Explorer riverboat accommodates 30 guests in comfortable cabins with private bathrooms and running hot water, individual air conditioning, on board laundry service, large dining room, inviting bar and lounge area, panoramic terrace, delicious cuisine and the finest multilingual naturalist guides, plus the highest safety standards, friendly service and efficiency.

In addition, it is equipped with two powerful 250 HP engines for a 12 knot output, two 60 kw generators for 110 and 220 V/60 cylces, Furuno GPS, deep sounder, radar, VHF, HF, satellite phone and video/cable.

The Manatee will be your home for the next 5 days while cruising the Napo River to discover the pristine rainforest of the eastern Ecuadorian Amazon Basin including a visit to Yasuni National Park. Your Amazon adventure will include observing parrots at a superb salt lick, trekking into the interior rainforest, enjoying lunch at a native campsite, paddling in dugout canoes, and bird watching from an observation tower, to name a few.

5 days/4 nights - departing mondays

Monday:

Morning flight from Quito over the Eastern Cordillera and down into the airstrip at the town of Francisco de Orellana, named after the discoverer of the Amazon River back in 1541. The Manatee will be pulling up to dock in time for you to board this exciting adventure vessel, ready to take you on an exciting journey of discovery and exploration with nature study, cultural interaction and even more of the magical wonders of the largest unexplored wilderness on earth. The journey starts promptly during lunch. By mid-afternoon to disembark to visit a local community at Pompeya, with its on-site archaeological museum for a lecture on the anthropology of the region (LD).

Tuesday:

Eke your way through a network of black water streams to a flood forest habitat, fish for piranhas and spot some of the hiding wildlife. With luck, you might be able to see fresh-water pink dolphins. Enjoy a jungle barbecue and Amazon hammock siesta, a refreshing swim and back to our vessel in time for dinner and a lecture at the terrace-bar of the Manatee.

Note: Optional overnight at an Indian camp under the star-filled sky and multiple nocturnal noises of the jungle, centered round an inviting campfire (BLD).

Wednesday:

After breakfast, get a great terrace view of the jungle before disembarking to observe a superb parrot salt lick. Trek into the interior rainforest and to visit a native Indian community that lives symbiotically with this unique ecosystem. Arrival for lunch at a native campsite. Refreshing afternoon swim at a lake and some optional fishing before returning by paddle dugout through blackwater creeks to our vessel. Evening lecture at our inviting terrace-bar (BLD).

Thursday:

Terrace breakfast for early-birds. The Manatee journeys upriver while hundreds of parrots and macaws start their morning flight. Take a dugout canoe journey through winding streams, bordered by native huts and abundant flora, the canopy towering over our heads. Our silent approach offers incredible sounds coming from the rainforest's interior. Return to the Manatee in time for lunch. Afternoon visit to a native house on stilts and surrounded by locally cultivated plants. Learn how pineapples, bananas, tapioca, naranjilla, cocoa, coffee and other tropical fruits are grown that you normally see already packed at supermarkets!

Friday:

Arrival to Francisco de Orellana and return flight over the immense rainforest and midday landing in Quito (B).

Rates on request

Not included:
Return airfare Quito - Francisco de Orellana - Quito: US$ 130
National Park entrance fee: US$ 20.
Visit to salt lick $25

Rates may fluctuate in accordance with current exchange rates.

Please note that the program may vary slightly so as to maximize your wildlife sightings, depending on the reports of our researchers and experienced naturalist guides based at the lodge.

For further information of booking inquiries please contact Sacred Earth.