Ultimate Brazil

Day 1: Arrive in Rio de Janeiro, pick up from the airport, transfer to hotel.

Days 2 – 4: Rio de Janeiro/Buzios

Explore Rio de Janeiro, Copacabana, Ipanema Beaches, and the diving/snorkeling hot spot of Buzios.

Day 5: Rio de Janeiro – Salvador de Bahia

Pick up from hotel in Rio for transfer to airport and flight to Salvador de Bahia. Upon arrival in Salvador, pick up from the airport, transfer to hotel.

Days 6 – 8: Salvador de Bahia

The first capital of Brazil is an amazingly charming place with a distinct culture that’s a mix of an African and European vibe which gives birth to a vibrant city with beautiful beaches, a UNESCO World Heritage old town district, and enchanting islands just offshore.

Days 9 – 10: Morro de Sao Paulo (Salvador)

Take the ferry from the port of Salvador to Morro de Sao Paulo Island. Spend days on this gorgeous island with expansive beaches, scenic waterfalls, and no cars, frolicking about its reefs and trails.

Day 11: Salvador de Bahia – Natal

Transfer to Salvador airport for flight to Natal. Upon arrival in Natal, pick-up from the airport, transfer to hotel.

Days 12 – 13: Natal

Your first full day in Brazil’s sand and sun capital is free to roam this beautiful city and pristine beach. It’s the safest capital city in Brazil, and right on the coast, there are many beachfront restaurants to bide your time in preparation for day two’s adventure. Joining a professional dune buggy driver and a suped-up ride, you’ll soar through the famous steep dunes of Natal on a white-knuckle journey that takes you from one secluded white sand lobster shack to another. It’s epic.

Day 14: Praia da Pipa

Today is another fun adventure where you get your beach buggy to drive along the deserted Natal beaches, take it onto a ferry to cross a river, then end up in the incredible Praia da Pipa, considered one of the most beautiful beaches in Brazil.

Day 15: Natal – Manaus

Today we must leave the beautiful coastline and head inland to Manaus and the Amazon Jungle for a rainforest expedition. Pick up from hotel in Natal for transfer to the airport, fly to Manaus. Pick up from the airport and transfer to hotel in Manaus.

Days 16 – 18: Amazon Jungle (Manaus)

Jungle Tour:

Day 1: Leave from the hotel at 8:00 am to the Ceasa Port, where you have the opportunity to see the fish market with all the different types of freshwater fish on sale. Then you will embark in our speed boat to go to Careiro Village. On the way, you will stop at one of the biggest phenomena of the Amazon, the Meeting of the Waters, the junction of the rivers forming the Amazon River, the Rio Negro, and Solimôes. After, you will continue along the Amazon River for a few minutes until you reach Xiborena, where you will have the opportunity to see the biggest Amazon freshwater fish, Pirarucú. Next, you cross the river to reach Careiro Village, where you continue along the Transamazonica road by car or van for about 40 kilometers until you reach Araça Village. Here our speed boat will be waiting to take you downstream to our lodge. When you arrive at the lodge, we will set up your accommodation and then serve lunch. In the afternoon, you go by regional motorized wood canoe to view the fauna and flora, go piranha fishing and spotting dolphins, and then watch the sunset. We return to the lodge for dinner, and when you leave by boat to go caiman spotting and then return for overnight.

Day 2: At 5:30 am, you go out to see the sunrise before breakfast. In the morning, you leave on a jungle trek where you will learn about regional fauna and flora medicinal plants and see jungle survival techniques, like how to get water from vines. Before we return for lunch, you will see the world of Amazon insects, like ants, termites, spiders, tarantulas, and others. In the afternoon, you have the opportunity to go out and spend a night in the jungle so that we will leave for the expedition. Or if you prefer, we will go canoeing in the creeks or the flooded forest (Igapó and Igarapés), depending on the season, where you have the opportunity to see more wildlife, like monkeys, birds, and sloths. Finally, you return for dinner and afterward and go for another nocturnal trip to go spearfishing and then return for overnight.

Day 3: Breakfast, then visit a native Amazonian dwelling, which is an excellent opportunity to see how the tribespeople people deal with the jungle and a chance to visit their plantation of fruit plants, manioc, and others. Finally, we return for lunch and at 2:30 pm start the return to Manaus, arriving at your hotel at around 5:00 pm.

Day 19: Manaus – Campo Grande (Pantanal)

Today we leave the Amazon to head to Brazil’s other great ecological attraction, the Pantanal Wetlands. Pick up from hotel in Manaus, transfer to airport for flight to Campo Grande. Upon arrival in Campo Grande, pick up from the airport, transfer to hotel.

Days 20 – 23: Pantanal Wetlands Safari

The Pantanal is one of the most immense, pristine, and biologically rich environments on the planet. The world’s most extensive freshwater wetland system and ten times the size of the Florida Everglades, it extends through millions of hectares of central-western Brazil, eastern Bolivia, and eastern Paraguay. With its extraordinarily concentrated and diverse flora and fauna, and a landscape spanning a variety of ecological sub-regions, the Pantanal stands as one of the world’s great natural wonders. The four-day safari led by our English-speaking guide includes boat trips along the two rivers, horseback riding searching for wildlife, fishing for Piranha, riding inner-tubes down the river, day and evening treks, sunrise tramps, 4×4 safari, canoe trips, and much more.

This area is an unparalleled wildlife sanctuary of spectacular beauty, an ecological paradise containing hundreds of species of birds, thousands of varieties of butterflies, myriads of brightly colored flowers, and shoals of fish. Capuchin and Howler monkeys, capybaras, toucans, anacondas, caimans, and tapirs help create an aquatic and sylvan theater of sights and sounds. In addition, the endangered jaguar, increasingly rare Hyacinthine macaws, and giant river otters make their home in the Pantanal.

Days 24 – 26: Bonito

At the end of your Pantanal safari, your guide will drop you off in the great town of Bonito, famous for its clear topaz river ecosystems touted as some of the purest on the planet. Owing to the enormous quantity of limestone in the ground, the water of these rivers passes through a natural filter where impurities are deposited at the bottom of the river bed, and the result is absolute transparency. Bonito is also a region rich in caverns and waterfalls and presents countless natural attractions, including the famous Gruta do Lago Azul and its calcareous Lago Azul (Blue Lake) 100 meters below the ground. A freshwater snorkeling trip includes the descent of Rio Olho D’agua to its end, on Rio da Prata, in a great freshwater dive in crystalline waters brimming with fish.

Day 26: Bonito – Foz do Iguacu

In the evening in Bonito, board a 1st class night bus to Foz do Iguacu.

Days 27 – 28: Our final stop on our Brazil adventure is the stupendous Foz do Iguacu, a combination of 275 waterfalls that thunder down 250 feet into the Rio Iguacu shared by Paraguay, Brazil, and Argentina. A magnificent spectacle and a must-see from both the Brazilian and Argentinian sides. An optional day trip is to head into the crazy markets of Cuidad del Este in Paraguay to check out the insane prices and goods on offer.

Day 29: Foz do Iguacu – Rio de Janeiro

Pick up from hotel in Foz do Iguacu for transport to Rio de Janeiro. Upon arrival in Rio, pick up from the airport, transfer to hotel.

Day 30: Rio de Janeiro – Next Destination

What’s Included:

*Round trip airfare from the U.S. to Rio de Janeiro.

*5 Internal Flights: Rio de Janeiro – Salvador, Salvador – Natal, Natal – Manaus, Manaus – Campo Grande – Foz do Iguacu – Rio de Janeiro.

*1st Class overnight transport: Bonito – Foz do Iguacu.

*Meals during the Amazon Jungle expedition and on Pantanal Safari.

*Three or four-star accommodation in all cities and on Amazon Jungle expedition. Pantanal safari is at a lodge within the wetlands. There is no camping or sleeping bag needed for this trip.

*All airport transfers.

*Breakfast included every morning at each hotel.

*Natal dune buggy adventure tour.

*One Way Adventure Exclusive Concierge Service throughout itinerary to handle any needs along the way.