Mamirauá Reserve (Tefé)

The core of the Central Amazon protected areas, a World Heritage site. A community co-managed floating lodge lets you paddle canoes through the flooded forest to see white uakari monkeys and pink river dolphins.

The Mamirauá Sustainable Development Reserve lies in central Amazonas State, Brazil, at the triangle where the Solimões River (upper Amazon) meets the Japurá River. In 1996 it became Brazil's first 'sustainable development reserve'. It covers about 1.12 million hectares, almost all of it seasonally flooded whitewater várzea forest. Together with the neighbouring Amanã Reserve and Jaú National Park, it forms the UNESCO World Heritage 'Central Amazon Conservation Complex'. A distinctive feature of the reserve is community co-management: riverside residents take part in management and tourism, and visitor income goes directly back to the communities and to scientific research.

Visitors base themselves in Tefé. A flight from Manaus takes about 1 hour, or you can take a fast boat up the Solimões for more than 13 hours. The lodge then arranges a motorboat trip of about 1.5–2 hours into the reserve, to the Uacari floating lodge on the lake. Packages usually book 3–7 nights and include transport, meals, community guides and about two canoe, hiking or night excursions a day. Independent travellers cannot enter the core zone alone.

Water levels fluctuate by more than 10 m a year. From about May to July is high water: the forest is flooded up to the canopy, and paddling through the trees is the best time to see the white uakari (red-faced uakari), which is found only in this area, along with squirrel monkeys and signs of jaguars moving through the trees. From about September to November is low water: forest trails and sandbanks emerge, making it good for walking and birdwatching, and you can watch Amazon pink river dolphins and black caimans gathering at lake mouths. December to April is the rising-water season: it is rainy, but the scenery remains beautiful.

Allow four to five days, including travel to and from Tefé. Bring long sleeves, insect repellent, rain gear and a torch, as electricity and internet at the lodge are limited. In 2023, during a severe drought, mass deaths of river dolphins occurred at Lake Tefé. In years with extreme water levels, itineraries may change, so check with the lodge before departure.

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