Ever heard of the Rio Japurá? How about the Rio Tefé? There's a good chance you've not heard of these rivers, yet they are two of the largest in the central Amazon basin. Our Great Rivers of the Amazon III tour is an exploratory voyage of the lower sections of both watercourses, which happen to be opposite-bank, blackwater tributaries of the Rio Solimões (the Portuguese name for the Amazon River west of Manaus). And both are extraordinarily poorly known ornithologically.

From the city of Manaus, capital of the huge state of Amazonas, we'll fly west along the Rio Solimões to arrive in Tefé where we’ll be based for a few days, birding the vast Tefe National Forest. A series of terra firme trails have been opened recently, providing access for researchers and responsible tourists to observe and document the abundance of wildlife that has evolved in this special place. Some of the species that will be on our radar include Bonaparte's Parakeet, Ocellated Woodcreeper (the perplexus subspecies of flooded forests), Hairy-crested Antbird, Chestnut-belted Gnateater, and several interesting primates including the rarely seen Buffy Saki Monkey, Red-capped Mustached Tamarin, and Avila Pires's Saddleback Tamarin.

From Tefé, we'll cross the mighty Rio Solimões, birding some river islands on our way for Orange-fronted Plushcrown, Castelnau's Antshrike, and Varzea Thrush on our way to Mamiraua Ecological Reserve, the most extensive varzea forest in the Amazon Basin. Here we'll be based out of Uakari Lodge, which floats within an oxbow lake and features very comfortable cabins and good Brazilian cooking. During our time at Mamiraua, we'll search for Wattled Curassow and other varzea specialties like Plumbeous Antbird, Zimmer's Woodcreeper, Scarlet-crowned Barbet, White-eared Jacamar, and the White Uakari, a strange and spectacular primate with a bald red face.

After three days at Mamiraua, we'll get picked up by the Dorinka, the luxury river boat you might be familiar with from our Manaus tours, to venture into rarified waters, ascending the Japurá to reach Amana Sustainable Development Reserve. Amana offers access to undisturbed terra firme forest in that "mysterious" sector of the Amazon between the Negro and the Colombian border wherein numerous species appear to turn over east-west, replaced by (mostly) close relatives -- or by nothing closely related. Here are a few targets to whet your appetite: Chestnut-headed Nunlet, Lanceolated Monklet, Yellow-crowned Manakin, Chestnut-crested Antbird, Reddish-winged Bare-eye, Tawny-tufted Toucanet, Pavonine Quetzal and Nocturnal Curassow. We'll keep an eye out too for Black Uakari in the flooded forest and Mottle-faced Tamarin in the terra firme.

This will be a truly adventurous birding tour, and we'll expect to see a wonderful variety of birds and mammals as we learn more about the areas we will explore, and exactly what occurs in them.

Select the KEY INFO tab or click here for our itinerary plus space requests, status, fees, limits, and guides for any departure.

Client comment
"The best feature of the tour was the guides! Bret Whitney's knowledge, skill, and passion as a birder, tour leader and scientist are unparalleled. Micah Riegner is exceptional as well. He's passionate about the birds as well as all things nature. Office service was great! The tour manager and office staff are always friendly, courteous and very responsive. We've traveled with Field Guides for 30 years because they are a top-notch company and have had very little desire to try another company. We know we won't be disappointed on a Field Guides trip ." C.P., BRAZIL'S JAPURA & TEFE RIVERS