Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Presidente Figueiredo
Located 107km north of Manaus,
PRESIDENTE FIGUEIREDO
sits at the heart of waterfall
country. It is also home to numerous caves and verdant jungle rich in fauna, with paths
snaking through beautiful scenery. It's the ideal spot for ecotourists; there are plenty of
places to stay, although it's also possible to visit as part of a day-trip from Manaus with
Amazon Eco Adventures (see p.374).
ARRIVAL AND INFORMATION
5
PRESIDENTE FIGUEIREDO
By bus
There are daily buses from Manaus's rodoviária
(6am, 10am, 12.30pm, 5pm & 9.20pm, returning to
Manaus 6am, 10am, 12.30pm, 2.45pm & 7pm; 2hr;
R$24.10).
Tourist information
The friendly CAT tourist o
ce is just
by the rodoviária along the BR174 at the Praça da Cultura, Km
107 (daily 8am-5pm;
T
92 3324 1308,
W
pmpf.am.gov.br).
This is where you can hire registered guides for the day.
ACCOMMODATION AND EATING
Café Regional Priscila
Estrada Cachoeira 23
T
92
9313 1643.
This hugely popular café is an obligatory pit
stop for anyone passing through Presidente Figueiredo
along the BR174; breakfast is their big thing, with excellent
home-made tapioca with cheese, nuts and
tucumã
(native palm; R$10) and delicious
farofa de carne sol
(R$7).
Daily 5am-7.30pm.
Hotel Iracema Falls
BR174, Km 115
T
92 9250 4370,
W
iracemafalls.tur.br.
This large complex at the entrance to
the Iracema Falls features accommodation in yellow
bungalows dotted around a large plot of verdant land.
Rooms are simply decorated with wooden furniture and the
occasional painting, and there's a large breezy resta
urant as
well as a pool, two kiddie pools and a volleyball court.
R$140
Novo Airão
NOVO AÍRÃO
, a small jungle town on the west bank of the Rio Negro, is 115km
northwest of Manaus. Its main attraction is the chance to feed
pink dolphins
from the
floating restaurant north of the town's small port (daily 9am-7pm on the hour; R$15;
T
92 9235 9155) - a practice that is frowned upon by some. Since the Arquipelago
Anavilhanas on the other side of the river was made a national park in 2008, it is no
longer possible to swim with the dolphins.
ARRIVAL AND INFORMATION
NOVO AÍRÃO
By boat
Slow boats from Manaus leave Tues & Fri at
8pm, returning to Manaus Mon, Thurs & Sun at 8pm
(8-9hr; R$45).
By bus
From Manaus's rodoviária, Aruanã has daily bus
services from Manaus to Novo Airão at 11.30am & 4pm,
returning to Manaus at 5.30am & 4pm (4hr; R$40).
By taxi
A taxi from Manaus to Novo Airão is R$180 per car
(up to 4 people), which makes it worth it if there's a group of
you. Driver Nilson can arrange pick-up (
T
92 9221 5147).
Information
There is an information centre at Av
Ajuricaba
s/n,
Bairro
Nova
Esperança
(daily
8.30am-12.30pm & 1.30-4pm).
JUNGLE TERMS
There are a few Brazilian
jungle terms
every visitor should be familiar with: a
regatão
is a
travelling-boat-cum-general-store, which can provide a fascinating introduction to the interior
if you can strike up an agreeable arrangement with one of their captains; an
igarapé
is a narrow
river or creek flowing from the forest into one of the larger rivers (though by “narrow” around
Manaus they mean less than 1km wide); an
igapó
is a patch of forest that is seasonally flooded;
a
furo
is a channel joining two rivers and therefore a short cut for canoes; a
paraná
, on the
other hand, is a branch of the river that leaves the main channel and returns further
downstream, creating a river island. The typical deep-red earth of the Western Amazon is
known as
tabatinga
, like the city on the frontier with Peru and Colombia; and regenerated
forest, like secondary growth, is called
capoeira
.
