Few countries in the Americas hold more mystique and intrigue than the massive nation of Brazil. No feature on the continent of South America is more recognizable, more written about, or more wistfully contemplated than the mighty Amazon River. Despite this amazing river’s nearly 4000 miles of length, remarkably few ports of access exist. In fact, the entirety of the Amazon Basin, some 2,800,000 sq. miles (!), represents the largest contiguous area of intact rain forest, and least populated area, in the entire Western Hemisphere. No wonder the draw of the Amazon is irresistible to the nature-loving explorer in all of us! This tour is centred in the heart of the basin, in the states of Amazonas and Para, where we will access the entire suite of micro-habitats in the region. From the white water river islands and flooded varzea forests of the Amazonas and Negro river systems, across hilly terra firme, we will spend time in boats, and afoot, searching out the Amazon Basin’s most spectacular and iconic bird species. Wildlife possibilities range from Tapir and Pink River Dolphin to the elusive Jaguar. This tour is an in-depth exploration of the best Amazon birding has to offer.
Harpy and Crested Eagles, Black-faced & White Hawks, Lined Forest Falcon, Dark-winged & Grey-winged Trumpeter, Grey, Variegated & Rusty Tinamou, Little Chachalaca, Black Curassow, White-crested, Spix’s & Marail Guan, Horned Screamer, Azure Gallinule, Hoatzin, White-winged & Rufous Potoo, Black-bellied Cuckoo, Amazonian Pygmy Owl, Red-and-green Macaw, Scarlet-shouldered & Sapphire-rumped Parrotlet, Crimson-bellied, Santarem, Golden, Golden-winged & Tui Parakeet, Festive Amazon, Vulturine, Short-tailed, Caica, Dusky, Orange-cheeked, Black-headed & Red-fan Parrot, Guianan Puffbird, Guianan & Amazonian Trogon, Green-tailed & Paradise Jacamar, Black-spotted & Brown-chested Barbet, Red-necked & Green Aracari, Guianan & Gould’s Toucanet, Scaly-breasted, Red-necked, Golden-collared & Yellow-throated Woodpecker, Varzea Piculet, Amazonian Umbrellabird, Crimson Fruitcrow, Purple-breasted & Guianan Red Cotinga, Capuchinbird, Guianan Cock-of-the-rock, Glossy-backed Becard, Spangled & Pompadour Cotinga, Natterer’s Slaty, Saturnine, Cinereous, Castelnau’s, Glossy, Blackish-grey & Spot-winged Antshrike, Ash-winged, Pygmy, Spot-backed, Brown-bellied, Rufous-bellied, Long-winged, Klages’s, Leaden, White-eyed, Sclater’s, Ihering’s & Grey Antwren, Guianan Warbling, Willis’s, Black-and-white, Black-headed, White-plumed, Ash-breasted, Black-faced, Chestnut-crested, Ferruginous-backed, Rufous-faced, Harlequin & Xingu Scale-backed Antbird, Pale-faced Bare-eye, Alta Floresta, Variegated & Spotted Antpitta, Point-tailed Palmcreeper, Long-billed, Zimmer’s, Red-billed, Ocellated, Uniform, Hoffmanns’s & Chestnut-rumped Woodcreeper, Curve-billed Scythebill, Cinnamon-crested & White-crested Spadebill, Fiery-tailed Awlbill, Crimson Topaz, Black-eared Fairy, Racket-tailed Coquette, Olive-spotted Hummingbird, Parker's, Red-and-white, White-bellied & chances for Scaled Spinetail, Lesser Hornero, Brownish Elaenia, Pearly-breasted Conebill, White-eyed Attila, Screaming Piha, Tiny & Saffron-crested Tyrant-Manakin, White-throated, White-fronted, Black, Snow-capped, Flame-crested & Yellow-crested Manakin, Wing-banded Wren, Masked Yellowthroat, Guianan & Chestnut-belted Gnateater, Guianan Tyrannulet, Painted Tody-Flycatcher (Tody-Tyrant), Pelzeln’s, Zimmer’s & Snethlage’s Tody-Tyrant, Short-tailed & Double-banded Pygmy Tyrant, Slaty-capped Shrike-Vireo, Rose-breasted Chat, Red-billed Pied Tanager, Fulvous Shrike-Tanager, Paradise, Flame-crested, Fulvous-crested and Spotted Tanager, Golden-sided Euphonia, Blue-black (Rothschild’s) & Yellow-green Grosbeak
Brazilian Tapir, Giant Otter, chances for Pink River Dolphin & Jaguar
lowland rain forest, varzea, terra firme forest, Campina forest, white-water & black-water river islands, rivers
warm to hot and humid
8 with 1 Rockjumper leader & local birding leader
moderate pace, some longer walks
basic to comfortable
moderate with numerous challenging species
450+
good
Rob Williams was knowledgeable about all kinds of animals, and went out of his way to point out lizards he spotted that I would otherwise have missed. I greatly appreciate that. Some of the best moments on the trip for me included sightings of Jaguars, otters, Crab-eating Fox, agoutis, Guinea Pigs, Capybaras and Tegu Lizards. Iguazú Falls was spectacular.
This was a really wonderful trip, so rich in birds, mammals, scenery and food. I really valued the outstanding knowledge all three guides shared with us, their constant awareness of our needs, and their senses of humor. We covered a lot of ground but there was always plenty of time for birding and we were always well fed. I really loved this trip and would recommend it to everyone who wasn't to see plenty of birds.
Guides - in addition to Tuomas we a great local guide - whose bird-finding skills were fully up to Rockjumper standards, so had all the resources needed to get us onto the birds. Highlight of the trip was undoubtedly birding in comfort and style on the river cruise section. Being paddled in a canoe through flooded varzea forest must be the height of birding luxury. Land-based sections of the tour were also rewarding despite the inevitable heat and chiggers (fortunately minimal rain). Overall a very satisfying tour, with more lifers for me than on a longer trip to Colombia in 2019 that also included Amazonian habitat on the Vaupes River. A great bunch of people too.
The tour was fantastic and both of our guides were excellent. We enjoyed traveling with Lev. He is so enthusiastic! He is an excellent birding guide and also very knowledgeable about the natural history of the animals we saw. That made the experience even more enjoyable. He worked very hard to enable us to see some of the trickier birds, like the Zigzag Heron that was hiding in the trees. It turns out, he even speaks 'zigzag', as he carried on a 10 min conversation (back and forth calls) with the heron, trying to coax him into a better view. It was wonderful having a local guide, Leo, on this trip as well. He added a lot to the birding experience, was essential for dealing with logistics, and had a wealth of knowledge about the history of Brazil and the places we visited, that made it an even more interesting trip. Well Done Rockjumper!!
WOW – this was an entirely different trip than the main trip. The Pousada facility was a little more rustic than some of the other accommodations but nothing we couldn’t handle. It was certainly better than a hammock at the guard headquarters which Bradley indicated was the only thing available prior to Pousada. This portion required what seemed like a lot more walking and climbing over tree falls than anywhere else on the trip. It seemed that more of the birds were skulkers but then we were focusing on “ant-somethings” which are notoriously secretive. Again, it was disappointing there was not a single ant swarm and the mixed flocks were generally small and moved away from the trails fairly quickly. It was also frustrating that the best of the three trails (Capelinha) in the park was not available to us due to an on-going mammal-use survey. But, none of these things were within the control of Tuomas, Bradley, or our local guide. They were pros at adapting and modifying to take advantage of the trails that were available to us. By my count the main trip list was about 446 and we gained 81 sp on the extension, however, 40% of those were lifers, so worth the effort and expense, in my opinion. Our local guide, Gilberto, was indispensable. His recent knowledge was invaluable to know where to go for the target species.
Tour Leader: Dušan Brinkhuizen
Pricing notes : *Prices are estimated and dates may change*
Tour price (Per person): USD9,000 * GBP7,136 * EUR8,346 * AUD13,870
Can be linked with: Brazil - Amazonia NP Extension 2025
Brazil - Atlantic Coastal Forest I 2024 - January 2024
Brazil - Atlantic Coastal Forest II 2023 - October 2023
Brazil - Amazon Rainforest Birding Extension (Small Group) 2023 - September 2023
Brazil - Northeast - Mega Birding Tour 2023 - September 2023
Brazil - Birds & Wildlife of the Pantanal & Cerrado (Small Group) 2023 - September 2023
Brazil - Amazon Rainforest Birding Extension II 2023 - September 2023
Brazil - Madeira & Tapajós endemics of the Rio Aripuanã (TM) 2023 - August 2023
Brazil - Birds & Wildlife of the Pantanal & Cerrado II 2023 - August 2023
Brazil - Atlantic Coastal Forest I 2023 - January 2023
Brazil - Southeast - Mega Extension 2022 - October 2022
Brazil - Atlantic Coastal Forest II 2022 - October 2022
Brazil - Southeast - Mega Birding Tour 2022 - October 2022
Brazil - Amazon Rainforest Birding Extension (Small Group) I 2022 - September 2022
Brazil - Birds & Wildlife of the Pantanal & Cerrado (Small Group) I 2022 - September 2022
Brazil - Amazon Rainforest Birding Extension II 2022 - September 2022
Brazil - Birds & Wildlife of the Pantanal & Cerrado II 2022 - August 2022
Brazil - Birds & Wildlife of the Pantanal & Cerrado I 2022 - August 2022
Brazil - Amazon Rainforest Birding Extension (Small Group) II 2022 - July 2022
Brazil - Birds & Wildlife of the Pantanal & Cerrado (Small Group) II 2022 - July 2022
Brazil - Northeast - Mega Birding Tour 2019 - September 2019