Photos from 2 weeks on the Amazon River
 

Estacion Seca suggested I put these here for interested parties after posting in this thread a few shots of orchids that I saw while there.


Back in 2014, we spent 2 weeks in a boat on the Amazon in Brazil, leaving from Manaus, going to Santarem and then going back to Manaus. The purpose of the trip was more about exploring than the cities, although we did stop at a couple of cities and towns too.

The trip was in the middle two weeks of July right after the end of the rainy season which means that it was almost the peak water level which that year was, I believe about 48-52 feet above the low water level. Yeah, it's hard to imagine that there are places that in Dec would have a 4 story building dry, and in July, the entire building could be under water. Most of what we saw were birds and reptiles, but also a few other things. Most of the epiphytes that we saw were bromeliads, but I did see a few orchids.

I took about 7500 photos and narrowed those down to about 1500 when I got back. My primary camera and lens were new. I had taken a bunch of test photos before I left, but it was definitely a bit of a learning curve despite the camera being very similar to the one that it replaced. 99% were shot from one of three small boats with 7-10 people riding along. We stayed in a much larger boat that was capable of sleeping 24 besides the crew, I believe. It was an amazing trip.

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Collection: Amazon River Trip 2013

Wow, Steve, what an amazing trip that must have been! I clicked on your link, and so far I've only been able to scratch the surface of what you posted, but the bird pictures are absolutely fabulous! I love wild birds of all types. Thank you for sharing!

Fantastic, Steve, thanks for the treat!

It was pretty amazing. It wasn't cheap, but in the grand scheme of things, it also wasn't that expensive, especially when you consider it wasn't your average beach vacation.

It was through a local college, but anyone (associated with the college or not) was welcome to come along. The youngest was a 17yo German kid that had just graduated from HS. The oldest was a 70-something lady that had been many times. A particular professor sponsors the trip, and most years, goes twice a year, once at the end of the dry season when the water level is low and once in the summer when it's high. Because my wife was a student and took the professor's class as an elective, I think her cost was about $3500 which includes food and drinks and room for the full 2 weeks. You have to cover alcoholic beverages, souvenirs and your plane tickets to/from Brazil. I think my cost was a little less than $5000. I bought a very nice camera and lens and we bought some cloths and things for the trip. We could have gone cheaper and if we ever do it again, we would.

And the food was amazing! It was a feast every day for breakfast, lunch and dinner cooked by a lady on the boat with us.

Amazing photos. Good eye!

Steve,TY from armchair travelers such as myself.