Brazil - Madeira & Tapajós - Endemics of the Rio Aripuanã 2025

23 Jun 2025 - 05 Jul 2025 (13 days)

BRL29,950 - Spaces Available

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Tour Leader: Bradley Davis

Tour price (Per person): BRL29,950 * GBP3,884 * EUR4,667 * AUD7,813 * USD4,863

Single Supplement: BRL4,150 * GBP538 * EUR647 * AUD1,083 * USD674

Can be linked with: Brazil - Acre Extension 2025

Brazil - Madeira & Tapajós - Endemics of the Rio Aripuanã 2026

24 Jun 2026 - 06 Jul 2026 (13 days)

BRL32,000 - Spaces Available

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Tour Leader: Bruno Renno

Pricing notes : *Prices are estimated and dates may change*

Tour price (Per person): BRL32,000 * GBP4,150 * EUR4,986 * AUD8,348 * USD5,196

Can be linked with: Brazil - Acre Extension 2026

Nowhere inspires more awe and wonder at the raw beauty of remote nature like the Amazon Basin of South America. Pioneered by Major Candido Rondon de Silva, explorations in this region of Brazil became the stuff of legend, as Rondon enabled the first telegraph line and subsequently the first road, to cross the Brazilian Amazon. He discovered numerous indigenous groups, named several major rivers, and is hailed by many Brazilians as one of the true heroes of Brazil’s native people and lands.

This area of Brazil became most famous with the publication of a biographical work on Theodore Roosevelt’s ill-fated expedition on the Rio de Duvida (River of Doubt). None other than Rondon himself escorted and outfitted the expedition in 1914, that nearly cost the ex-president his life. The mishaps of Roosevelt’s adventure only added to the mystique and draw of the area, which continues to be one of the least-accessible, most remote areas in the World. Luckily for us, the Pousada PiraAçu is a very conveniently located lodge where superb birds and wildlife await, including the near mythical Rondonia Bushbird. We we will focus our efforts on seeking out the numerous special bird species on the lodges many trails and river systems. Fine birding will be had in the Porto Velho and Humaita area, on the West Bank of the Madeira River, where we will have exposure to completely unique habitats, and species, on the other side of the Madeira interfluvium. This will be an unforgettable adventure into the heart of the Amazon!

Top Birds

Rondonia Bushbird; Harpy & Crested Eagles; Cryptic & Slaty-backed Forest Falcons; Brown-banded & Western Striolated Puffbirds; Ivory-billed Aracari; Golden-collared & Gould's Toucanets; Bonaparte’s, Crimson-bellied & Santarem Parakeets; Peruvian Warbling, Rondonia Warbling, Humaita, Black, Sooty, White-throated, Banded, Rufous-faced, Ferruginous-backed, White-breasted, Spot-backed, Dot-backed, Scale-backed & Hairy-crested Antbirds; Black-necked Red Cotinga; Crimson Fruitcrow; Purple-breasted, Spangled, Purple-throated & Pompadour Cotingas; Blue-backed, Black, Snow-capped, Flame-crowned, Band-tailed, Red-headed & Fiery-capped Manakins; Black-spotted & Pale-faced Bare-eyes; Variegated, Alta Floresta, & Thrush-like Antpittas; Predicted, Plain-throated, White-eyed, Madeira, Ornate, Sclater’s, Ihering’s, Rusty-backed & Leaden Antwrens; Saturnine, Glossy, Natterer’s Slaty, White-shouldered, Amazonian & Pearly Antshrikes; Masked Crimson, Red-shouldered, Black-faced, Hooded, Red-billed Pied, Flame-crested, Fulvous-crested, White-winged Shrike, Dotted, Masked, Paradise, Opal-rumped, Green-and-gold, Swallow & White-rumped Tanagers; Small-billed, Grey, White-throated, Brazilian, Variegated & Red-winged Tinamous; Spix’s Guan; Nocturnal & Razor-billed Curassows; Campina Jay; Sunbittern; Sungrebe; Dark-winged Trumpeter; Tawny-bellied Screech, Crested, Spectacled, Amazonian Pygmy & Black-banded Owls; Long-tailed, White-winged & Rufous Potoos; Spot-tailed & Little Nightjars; Crimson Topaz; Needle-billed, Great-billed & Reddish Hermits; Black-eared Fairy; Green-tailed Goldenthroat; Black-bellied Thorntail; Long-billed Starthroat; Grey-breasted Sabrewing; Blue-chinned, Rufous-throated & White-chinned Sapphires; Black-girdled Barbet; Curl-crested & Red-necked Aracaris.

Top Mammals

Lowland Tapir; Tucuxi; Golden-backed Squirrel Monkey; Black-horned Capuchin; Golden-and-white Tassel-ear & Golden-and-white Bare-ear Marmosets; Emperor Tamarin; Red-nosed Bearded Saki; Prince Bernhard's & Chestnut-bellied Titis; Black-faced Spider Monkey; Common Woolly Monkey.

Habitats Covered

varzea forest, Beni savannah, white sand forests, cerrado, small oxbow lakes, seasonally flooded areas, mixed terra firme forest, patches of slender bamboo, wide floodplains, transitional forests, upland terra firme and hilly terra firme forest

Expected Climate

warm to hot and humid, small biting insects

Max Group Size

8 with 1 local birding leader

Tour Pace & Walking

moderate pace, some longer walks

Accommodation

good

Ease of Birding

moderate with numerous challenging species

Number of Species Expected

450+

Photographic Opportunities

average to good

What our clients say about us

Tuomas Seimola
IS - Manaus 2022

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.

Forrest Rowland
CS & CS - Brazil Tailor-made 2022

We had an unbelievably great tour. ALL the guides were extraordinary and fun to be around. They went out of their way to provide us non-birders with very interesting, novel activities. We all enjoyed seeing all the wildlife - it was beyond expectations. The 50th anniversary surprise was an unexpected, delightful treat. We don't know how the tour could have been any better.

Lev Frid
LW - Pantanal 2022

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!!

Dušan Brinkhuizen
PE, Brazil 2023

This was my second trip with Dusan and like the first trip, he made sure everyone was looked after to the best of his abilities and was always attentive to peoples differing needs. He worked extremely well with our local guide, who himself was attentive to everyone, and they both tried hard to get everyone onto the birds. No complaints to them whatsoever. I would be very happy to bird with Dusan again and probably will.

Tuomas Seimola
RB - Manaus Ext 2022

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.

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