Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Aerial view of the Rio Negro winding through the Amazon
250 uninhabited islands
stretching for more than 187
miles (300 km). Depending on
the season and time of day,
it is possible to see caimans,
sloths, snakes, frogs, and a
wide range of bird species.
Sprawled across an area of
1,350 sq miles (3,500 sq km)
of protected rainforest on the
left bank of the Rio Negro, the
Estação Ecológica
de Anavilhanas
(Ecological
Station of Anavilhanas)
is part of the Anavilhanas
islands. Created in 1998 and
named after the Archipelago
dos Anavilhanas, it boasts
several species in great
danger of extinction,
including jaguars and
night monkeys.
A day-and-a-half's journey
from Ilhas de Anavilhanas,
Barcelos, the only town of
any size along the river, is an
interesting place to start a
jungle expedition for intrepid
adventurers. Another two
days upriver, the town of São
Gabriel Da Cachoeira is a
beautiful place deep in the
Amazon with stunning jungle
scenery and wildlife.
Novo Airão
71 miles (115 km) W of Manaus.
@
from Manaus.
g
from Manaus.
Ibama
Rua Ministro João Gonçalves
de Souza s/n, Manaus
.
Tel
(092)
3613 3080.
Parque Nacional Jaú
Tel
(092) 3613 3277.
The small town of Novo Airão
is located on the western side
of the Rio Negro, opposite the
Archipelago dos Anavilhanas.
Pleasant, yet laid-back, with
only a handful of attrac-
tions, the town draws
tourists mainly for the
pink dolphins that
come to a platform
behind the
El Delfin
restaurant at Novo
Airão's small port.
The restaurant
owner has been
feeding dolphins
from the restaurant for several
years. They now appear to
be friendly and swim with
visitors who feed them. Along
with its standard fare, the
restaurant also sells raw fish
to offer the dolphins from
the wooden platform.
The area neighboring
Novo Airão is home to a
number of interesting sights,
such as
Airão Velho
, the
overgrown ruins of the old
town center, with prehistoric
spiral and figure-like petro-
glyphs. The beautiful and
peaceful
Igarapé do Mato
Grosso
, a forested section
of a tributary river nearby,
makes a great place for a
walk or a swim in fresh
water.
The
Parque Nacional
Jaú
is a two-day trip from
Novo Airão, and is a wonder-
ful opportunity to visit virgin
Amazon rainforest. A permit
is required from the
Ibama
office in Manaus.
}
Encontro das Aguas
g
from Manaus.
One of the main tours offered
from Manaus, the Encontro
das Aguas (Meeting of the
Waters) is where the Rio
Solimões joins the Rio Negro.
The relatively creamy and
alkaline light brown or
“white” water of the Solimões
(Amazon) river takes several
miles to absorb the dark, acid
water coming in from the Rio
Negro. The Solimões is light
because it starts mainly in the
Andes and brings plenty of
silt with it. The Rio Negro
wells up primarily in the
swamplands and smaller hills
of the northeastern Amazon
and contains much more
decomposed plant life than
it does soil or silt.
Small boats go out from
Manaus allowing tourists to
take photographs and see the
clear line between light brown
and black running down the
middle of the river. It is a
two-hour return trip from
Manaus, and the best time to
visit is between 7 and 10am.
Toco toucan in
Amazonas
Visitor feeding fish to pink dolphins
at El Delfin in Novo Airão
Meeting of the Rio Solimões and
Rio Negro at Encontro das Aguas
