Jan to May
High water
The creeks are deep and the boat goes furthest into them. Most of the week happens on the water, and less of it on foot.
Expeditions · Guariba River · Birding
Birding the Guariba
Amazon bird watching on the Guariba River, worked from a boat as much as on foot. Narrow creeks, rapids and closed canopy, on a stretch of river almost nobody visits.
/ Birding from a boat
Here you work from the water.
On the Roosevelt the trails do most of the work. On the Guariba the boat does, and that changes what you get close to, and how close.
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Igarapés
The narrow creeks
A boat with the engine off drifts inside the forest instead of past it. Canopy overhead, both banks within reach, and no footsteps.
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Rapids
Open water, open sky
The one place on this river where the canopy breaks. It is where you see birds crossing, and where you see them from below.
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Closed canopy
On foot, from the bank
Where the boat stops, the walking starts. Shorter than the Roosevelt trail network, and darker.
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Sandbanks
In the dry months
When the level drops the beaches come up, and with them a different set of birds that were not there in April.
/ The species list
We have counted one river. This is the other one.
On the Roosevelt reserve we cut sixteen trails, cataloged them and counted 330 species and rising. That work took years, and it is published.
The Guariba has not been counted like that, and we are not going to move the number across the map to make this page look finished. The same guides work both rivers, the same eyes, the same habit of writing things down. The count here is in progress, and when it is worth publishing it will be published.
/ When to go
There is no closed season. There is a water level.
On a river you work from a boat, the level matters more than it does on a trail. It decides which creeks you can get into at all.
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Jun, Jul, Nov, Dec
Mid water
The river sits at its normal level. Creeks and banks are both workable, which is the widest choice of ground in one week.
Aug to Oct
Low water
The lowest volume of the year. The narrowest creeks close, and the sandbanks open in their place.
Water level as published by the operation for both rivers.
/ A day here
Two windows, and the heat in between.
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First light
Engine off, and drift
The best two hours of the day happen on the water. Which creek depends on the level and on what the guide heard the evening before.
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Morning
Bank work
Where the boat can be tied up, the walking starts. Short stretches, closed canopy, and a lot of standing still.
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Midday
Back, and out of the sun
The forest goes quiet in the heat and so does the schedule. Lunch, shade, and time to write down what the morning gave you.
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Afternoon
Second window
Activity picks up again as the light drops, and the rapids are the place to be for it: open sky, and everything crossing it.
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Evening
One long table
All meals included, open bar, regional cooking. Then the night walk, for anyone still willing.
/ All inclusive
Seven nights, and what they hold.
Included
- Charter flight from Manaus to the private airstrip, both ways
- Seven nights in a private cabin, single or double, on the riverfront
- Air conditioning, private bathroom, hot water
- All meals and open bar
- A birding guide, and a boat with a boatman every day
- Guided trails on request
- Starlink internet
Not included
- International flights to Manaus
- Binoculars, scopes and camera gear
- Travel and medical insurance
- Gratuities for the crew
- Anything bought outside the lodge
Price · reserved space
The rate block sits here, sized for the shortest of the three shapes it can take, so the page does not move when the number arrives. The decision is still open and it belongs to whoever answers for the target.
/ Dates
Small groups. Pick your week.
Tell us the window and we will tell you what the river is doing then, and which creeks will be open.
Prefer to talk first? We answer in one business day.
Booking
Tell us the week
Four questions, about two minutes. We read every one and answer in one business day.
Check dates- What the river is doing that week
- Which species are moving
- Whether the week is still open
/ The other three
Same team, different week.
One river counted. This one is still open.
We are not moving the Roosevelt list across to the Guariba, and no honest operation would. What we can tell you is what the igarapes, the rapids and the sandbanks look like in the month you can travel.