Orchids of the Rio Negro
This is one of the most popular of the Orchids in the Wild Tours. Nearly 100 people have enjoyed a trip on the RV Otter with Gilberto Castro and his crew. The Otter’s trip begins and ends in Manaus. Participants must arrive no later than noon of the tour start date and leave no earlier than 4PM of the tour end date (see itinerary). Travelers arriving the day before the tour starts will enjoy a tour of the Manaus Opera House and a hosted dinner at one of Manaus’ fine restaurants. This OCA trip features a relaxing voyage on the flooded waters of the Rio Negro. The waters of this river are quite acidic and colored with tannins, and as a result, there are no biting insects such as mosquitoes on the river. Passengers will enjoy the gorgeous sunrises and sunsets from the SS Otter and partake of daily excursions on motor driven canoes into the flooded forests of the Amazon. There we will find orchids, bromeliads, many other gorgeous flowering plants, several species of monkeys, sloths, iguanas, macaws, and toucans. For the orchid lover or the bird lover, this is an amazing journey. The RV Otter features a small reference library, a common room, a bar, fantastic food accommodating vegetarians, and one of the quietest and most relaxing journeys you will ever have the opportunity to partake of.
Dates & Prices
Trip 1. May 1-May 12, 2025. 12 Days, 11 nights
Trip 2. May 15-May 21, 2025. 7 days, 6 nights
Prices:
Trip 1. $3900 per person double occupancy. $1325 single room supplement.
Trip 2. $2400 per person double occupancy. $800 single room supplement
Deposits, Payments and Due Dates:
Deposits: February 1, 2025
Trip 1. Deposit $1000
Trip 2. Deposit $1000
There may be still rooms available after this date, inquire mary@orchidconservationalliance.org
Final payments due
Trip 1. March 1, 2025
Trip 2. March 1, 2025
Costs include: Transfer from the Manaus airport to Ibis Styles Manaus or comparable hotel, two nights pre-trip hotel accommodation, pre-trip dinner at a local restaurant, tours of the opera house and the riverfront market, guides, all accommodation and meals aboard the RV Otter, and entry to any parks or reserves. Your trip fare also includes a standard tip for the RV Otter crew amounting to $100 per traveler. Additional tips at your discretion are always appreciated but certainly not required. Filtered drinking water is always available gratis on board the RV Otter.
Not included: Round trip airfare to Manaus, flight or travel medical insurance, soda or alcohol on board the Otter, personal items and souvenirs. Note: travel medical insurance is mandatory for all OCA tours.
Group size: Minimum of 10 and a maximum of 16 (Not including the tour leaders). There are only eight cabins available on the RV Otter, each of which can accommodate two persons.
Conservation donation: The profit from the trip (Trip 1, ~$1000; Trip 2, ~$600) is donated to the Orchid Conservation Alliance. The Orchid Conservation Alliance is a 501(c)3 organization, and for USA residents, the donation may be tax deductible. A formal acknowledgement letter with the exact amount donated is sent to each participant at year’s end.
Degree of difficulty: This is one of the easiest of our tours, with little hiking or walking. Participants should be able to climb in and out of the canoes, walk short distances (generally less than a mile or two on flat, somewhat uneven ground), and climb stairs (on the boat).
April 30, Trip 1. May 14, Trip 2.Guests arrive in Manaus. Hotel transfer provided by OCA. OperaHouse tour in PM. Dinner at a local restaurant.
May 1, Trip 1. May 15, Trip 2.Tour of riverfront market. Transfer to RV Otter for lunch. Departure for meeting of the waters, where the black waters of the Rio Negro meet the cappuccino waters of the Solimoes to form the Amazon. Travel upstream to arrive at Lake Murucu after dinner.
May 2–May 11, Trip 1. May 16–May 21, Trip 2.Cruising on the Rio Negro and it’s tributaries. Daily excursions by motorized canoe into the flooded forest looking for orchids. Additional events will include visits to riverside towns, a visit to a rubber baron’s museum home, a forest picnic, a visit to see Aganisia cyanea in the Jau National Park, and a pink dolphin encounter as time permits. Clearly, the shorter second trip will have fewer of these events than the longer trip. However, we expect to see many orchids on both trips. Among the standouts we should see are Cattleya violacea, Eriopsis sceptrum, Galeandra devoniana, and Orleanesia amazonica.
May 12, Trip 1. May 21, Trip 2.The Otter will return to port in Manaus shortly after lunch with plenty of time to catch a 3PM flight. Transfer to the airport or to a hotel will be provided as travelers may need.
Peter Tobias
Peter Tobias
Peter Tobias initiated OCA’s Rio Negro trips in 2015 and has led four trips with Gilberto Castro on his boat The SS Otter. With that experience, and a few caipirinhas, he is able to identify almost all of the orchids you will see. The library on the Otter also has several books on Brazil orchids to help identify the plants, birds, bromeliads etc.
Gilberto Castro
Gilberto Castro
Gilberto Castro has been running the Amazon for decades as a biologist, nature guide, and boat captain. His boat, the Otter, regularly carries people for orchid trips, botanical illustration trips, and fishing trips, depending on demand and the state of the river. His encyclopedic knowledge of the Amazon and his intimate knowledge of its nooks and crannies makes him the go-to guy for our trips.
Plane reservations and health precautions: We strongly urge that you not make airplane reservations until the final payment due date. It is only then that we will know for sure whether the trip will go or not. If the trip is cancelled for lack of participants, (no Rio Negro trip has been cancelled in the past), all deposits will be refunded.
When the trip roster is finalized, all participants will be required to fill out an information form. Health and travel information will be requested then. Note: a travel medical insurance policy including a $50,000 (minimum) evacuation clause is required for all participants.
As of this writing, September 9, 2024, it is not clear whether visitors will require a visa to enter Brazil. We will let you know when the situation is clarified.
All participants should be fully vaccinated for Covid. We are all traveling together in an enclosed space. Please take every precaution to not arrive on the RV Otter with a communicable disease.
Air Travel Note: There are not many direct international connections to Manaus. We are aware only of COPA Airlines from Panama City and Azul Airlines from Fort Lauderdale. Experience has taught us that Azul Airlines can be undependable, thus we recommend COPA from Panama City. COPA has many connections to cities in the US and is a partner of United Airlines. This is how Peter Tobias gets to Manaus. While travelers should feel free to get to Manaus as they please, we strongly urge use of COPA Flight 141 from Panama City even though it arrives at an awkward hour in Manaus. Your registration for this trip includes two nights in an excellent local hotel for your nighttime arrival and for the night before the trip. Thus you have a full day before the river trip in Manaus for resting from the flight(s), sightseeing, gift shopping, and the trip included OCA sponsored visit to the Opera House and dinner at a local restaurant. The hotel is the Ibis Styles Manaus, which is just a block from the Opera House square. The morning of the trip we will visit the Manaus riverfront market before embarking on the Otter.
Laundry: Laundry is available on the Otter, courtesy of one of the crew members. There is no set fee for laundry. I (PT) usually add an additional tip of $5 per load for her effort.
Wifi: Wi-fi is available via Starlink on the RV Otter for a small fee.
Food: Brazilian cuisine is delicious but not spicy. The boat features a wonderful, resourceful cook who serves up fish, meat, cooked vegetables, pasta, salads, and deserts of many types. Generally each day features a new cake for snacking. Vegetarian options are always available. We ask about food requirements, such as gluten and lactose intolerance on the registration form. So far, no one has gone hungry!
Currency: Currency in Brazil is the Real (plural is Reis). In Manaus there are ATMs available, and most tourist facilities accept credit cards but not US currency. ATMs are not typically available outside Manaus. The boat captain, Gilberto Castro, exchanges $US cash for Reis at a rate better than the ATMs. He will also change back Reis for $US at the end of the trip. Thus travelers are urged to bring $US cash for the boat trip rather than bring Reis or withdrawing Reis at a Manaus ATM. At this writing the exchange rate is approximately 1$US to 5 Reis. On the boat, you will need cash to pay for your bar tab, laundry and any souvenirs you may buy at the towns and other places we stop at; however, we suggest that you bring no more than $500, in twenties. If arriving early or staying after the trip you may want to exchange some money or withdraw funds from the ATM.
Accommodation: Cabins on the RV Otter all have air conditioning, openable windows, and am en suite bath with hot/cold showers. The beds can be set up as two single beds or as a double bed. Soap and towels are provided. Outlets are provided in each room so you can recharge your electrical devices
The Otter: The Otter is a small (60 ft) cruise boat with ten cabins, each double occupancy. Common areas of the boat are indoors and outdoors. There are four decks, one (the sunset deck) with an outdoor jacuzzi. Outdoors you can enjoy shade or sun, and take a nap on hammocks. From the decks one can observe birds, flowering trees, bromeliads and orchids (binoculars highly recommended). Multiple decks allow you to move around the boat. For budding artists, there is a small library with work tables where you can paint or draw to your hearts content. Our captain, Gilberto Castro, accompanied the artist, Margaret Mee, on some of her famous botanical explorations of the Amazon, and some of Mee’s artwork is displayed on the boat.
Each day starts with a fantastic breakfast, along with coffee/tea, etc. Afterwards, participants board motorized canoes and journey out on the flooded Rio Negro to see some orchids (many at eye level!), bromeliads and other plants, monkeys, sloths, iguanas, birds (toucans, parrots, and many more), go for a hike, do some sight-seeing or visit a small village on the river. In the afternoons, you can enjoy swimming in the Rio Negro. Breathtaking sunrises and sunset, and incredible scenery. In the evenings guests enjoy drinks (there is a bartender) and exchange stories about the day’s adventures.
For more information, articles written about this tour, as well as videos and powerpoint reservations, please visit https://orchidconservationalliance.org/project/rio-negro/
