One of the best tours I’ve ever done, incredible experience, I can’t recommend this enough. If you had to do only one thing while visiting Manaus I would do this... read more day! Our tour guide Fabio is amazing, he knows so much and is very open to answers all questions you might have. The tour was very private, only 5 of us which meant we got to learn a lot more. It was truly a full day from morning until night. The food was delicious, and everyone we met was extremely friendly and kind. I hope you enjoy it too if you decide to go for it! It was a very unique and special day for us getting to see the Amazon rainforest and spending a lot of the day in the river, so I hope it is for you too!
The two-day tour programme is very tight although not tiring. Everything that Amazon Private Tours promises is fully delivered! A very fun adventure, great people. I learned a lot. If... read more you don't have time for a longer trip, this is the tour for you.
This day was INCREDIBLE!!!! I highly highly highly recommend it. We started with hotel pickup by Milton who is a great guy. He picked us up in a small car... read more that had two other travelers from the group in it. We were squeezed in, but it was comfortable. The ride to where we start the journey was about a one hour ride. Make sure to use the bathroom before you leave. On the way there, Milton stopped to buy the water that we would use on the trip. Everyone got one tall bottle of water the big one, I believe it was a 1.5L bottle. Make sure to bring a backpack with you that is large enough to hold the big bottle, because everyone fends for themself on the hike. You will have to hold your own bottle if it doesn't fit in your bag. The ride was so great because we went over the beautiful Rio Negro bridge and drove through some neighborhoods which allowed for another perspective of Brazil.
We got to a little 'town' where the small motorized boats are and met Fabio our GREAT guide. I cannot speak highly enough about Fabio, he is so great! The call him the 'mini guide' because he is a short man. He is very knowledgeable and speaks English and Portuguese. Fabio took us by boat to the start of our two hour hike. We got lucky because it did not rain. Bring a poncho!!!!
During the hike we saw many things that you can expect of the Amazon including a HUGE and I mean HUUUUUUUUGE tarantula!!!!!! Don't worry you will be fine. I have a huge fear of spiders that I made Fabio aware of, he actually saw the tarantula on the trail and before he mentioned it, he made sure to get it to walk away from the path and close to his hole, once the tarantula was at a good distance, he told us to look. I thought the way he handled that was so great!!!!! We then got to take all types of pics of it. Fabio did whatever he does to get it to crawl around a bit for us (at a distance).
During the hike we also passed the place where we would have lunch, and at that time we were given the option to drop off any bags that we don't want to carry, because we would be returning to that area in about an hour.
Lunch - Fabio carried with him all the items that he needed to make the lunch himself. He had us all gather wood to make a fire to cook the food. We actually watched him make the fire with his bare hands. So cool to watch. Very safe!!!! We had chicken and rice, and THE BEST pineapple I've ever had, for dessert. The coolest thing about lunch is that during the hike Fabio actually got wood from the trees and carved out a spoon for each of us. This is what we used to eat with. He also grabbed some huge leaves and gave us each one. This was for us to eat out of. Fabio actually made bowls out of the large leaf. It was incredible to watch him make these things and to actually use them to eat. I kept my spoon!
If you are a germaphobe, make sure to bring your own sanitizer, spoon and bowl, because nothing was professionally cleaned. This is a very grassroots experience. Any washing of hands or utensils will be done in the nearby stream. Prepare yourself! I absolutely loved the experience!!!!
After lunch, we walked back to the boat and made our way to the pink dolphins. Another great experience. You walk into the water and onto a platform that you cannot see, but it is under the water for sure. You stand on that and the dolphins pretty much swim to you and around you. The platform is not visible AT ALL. It extends out a decent amount for multiple people to be out at the same time, but at a certain point it ends and you will not have anything under you, so you will have to swim. They make you wear a life vest type thing that is not a vest, but more of a safe floatie thing that wraps around your waist.
Nothing under that water is visible AT ALL. Be warned that you might freak out at first because most times you cannot see the dolphins until they are actually on you, and by on you I mean, you will feel their slippery tail or body slide against yours, and it does catch you off guard. Everything is safe, but I only give this as a warning for you to prepare yourself for. You can touch the dolphins, but make sure not to touch them on the top of their head where the blow hole is. The guides will tell you this. The dolphins also have a very strong body so when they do any jumping up (to grab the fish) there body will sometimes push you as they land back in the water and swim away. Be prepared! I hope I'm not making this sound scary. It is such a safe and amazing experience. My other recommendation for germaphobes is to put on water shoes because the platform that you stand on is very slimy feeling, again, you cannot see under the water so I can only imagine what we were standing on. It truly is a Black River (Rio Negro).
After the dolphins, we boated to the area where we did the piranha fishing. This personally was the most boring part of the trip, but only because I find fishing boring. It was however very cool to see the guys actually catching some piranha. One of our guys was able to catch about six. All of the fish were pretty small and all returned safely to the water. Fabio would have kept any large ones for dinner, but we only caught small ones. I fished for a few minutes and then took the rest of the time to just enjoy watching everyone else fish and relax. You should know that you stay in the boat, floating on the water the entire time. Don't expect to be able to walk around and explore. The fishing lasted about 30-45 minutes. Make sure to pee before you leave the dolphin area!!!!!!!! Once you leave that area you will be on the water for over two hours. You might not believe this, but I had to go so bad, that I asked the guys not to look, and I stuck my butt off the boat and peed in the water! Listen!..... I had to go bad!!!!! And that was also an experience I'll never forget either. LOL
We watched the sunset from the boat while fishing, then we continued our journey by boat and started the night alligator search. This was very cool. It is so dark out there and Fabio has a headlight that he turns on so that we can see all of the glowing eyes on the water! The amber/orange eyes are the gators and the green eyes are SPIDERS!!!! This part of the tour was very very cool. We got to a point where Fabio actually pulled a small gator out of the water and we all took turns safely holding it and getting pictures with it. This was the last activity of this tour.
We then boated back to our starting point, where there was a big van with someone ready to drive us all back to our hotels. The journey back to the hotel is at least an hour depending on when you get dropped off. Fabio gets dropped off first because he lives very close to where we were, We luckily were the first to get dropped off at a hotel,
The entire trip with drive to and from was roughly over 12 hours. Milton picked us up at the hotel at 830am and we got back to the hotel at about 930pm.
I highly highly highly recommend you do this tour. Bring snacks and extra water. You can purchase snacks at the dolphin facility. Be prepared to pee in the jungle if needed, because the only bathroom you'll find is at the dolphin facility. Bring a poncho, hat, and some Reais to give Fabio a tip, he deserves it!!!!
Hope this review helps! 🙂
THANK YOU FABIO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
THANK YOU MILTON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
xoxo~ Mariela
Amazing time on a night boat tour fishing piranhas and looking for caimans. Milton was great! - Excellent Tour. It was a few years back and still remember it. Highly recommend. Milton was knowledgeable and informative.
Well organized tour with lots included but when we arrived we decided we wanted to stay for 2 nights. Nothing was too hard and was changed easily which we were... read more grateful for.
Our tour guide FABIO is FANTASTIC!! Very happy guy who’s always smiling and making funny jokes. He welcomed us to his village where we stayed and made us feel welcome and comfortable.
Hope to see you again one day!
THANKYOU!!
If you don’t know which company to use, use Amazon Private Tours! Friendly and helpful business, will recommend to other people!
I work for an airline and I travel a lot for my job. Unfortunately, due to the nature of my schedule, I am unable to book activities in destinations I... read more visit too far in advance. I got lucky with Amazon Private Tours by Milton Fernandez. Milton, the owner and our guide, managed to put together a trip for myself and my crew with very short notice and boy am I glad he did! He was communicative and professional, and customized the tour to our specific requests. Six of us did a tour lasting about 5 hours where he piloted a small boat up the Rio Negro River, the largest tributary flowing into the Amazon. We got a chance to interact with the pink dolphins in their natural environment, and as a vegetarian who is passionate about animal welfare, I have to admit I was leery of this activity at first. There are many animal interactive activities I have passed on around the world because of their exploitative nature, but I didn't feel that at all with this one. We were actually swimming in the river and the dolphins come over of their own free will, of course attracted by fish snacks. It was amazing to see these creatures in their natural habitat, they were so beautiful. We then continued upriver to visit a tribe of indigenous people. I don't know if they put on a show for visitors or not, but I honestly felt that they were happy to see us. The chief was charming and seemed sincere as he welcomed us warmly into his village and his tribe. Everyone in the tribe seemed friendly and as interested in us as we were with them. I learned a lot about their culture, listened to some of their music, and had a chance to participate in a dance with the whole tribe. We all LOVED it! I have had countless memorable travel experiences, and this one ranks right up there in the top five. I think I can speak for my crew members, since I know they were all delighted with our 5 hours on the Rio Negro. One thing to consider, make sure you have some Brazilian cash to be able to buy some of the handicrafts from the tribe. Thank you Milton for an amazing afternoon! Obrigada!
2 day 1 night - I was a solo traveler and highly recommend this company and the tour.
Every experience for the 2 days was enjoyable. Food was good, guides were great. ... read more The explain your itinerary very well so you always understand what is going on.
Listen to Miltons instructions on what to bring, especially rain jacket, lots of mosquito repellent and sunscreen, all protection from the sun.
Also if you chose to stay overnight, you must understand it is a basic lodge not glamping or a hotel. It is comfortable AC, wifi, quiet and private bathrooms. Perfect for a rest.
Also you may not see animals on your jungle walk. We some some tarantulas and birds and the fauna. But nobody has control over the animals!
I enjoyed being in the quiet nature and exploring the Amazon. I would recommend this over a 1 week cruise or any other way for that matter.
Also if you have cell service you will get intermittent connectivity(10% of the time) but dont count on it.
I highly recommend Milton and his team. Exceptional from start to finish. Honest people.
A experiência que milton permite de viver na amazônia é a única que deve ser escolhida, não para ser um turista intrusivo, mas um hóspede educado neste templo da natureza.... read more Na verdade, seu passeio privado permite que você entre na floresta com discrição e visão clara, para aprender sobre animais, plantas e histórias da Amazônia. Além disso, sua empresa e sua conversa são um grande valor agregado.
FANTASTIC AND SUPERB!! - What a wonderful day spent with Denis our guide!!
The day was fully organized and ran extremely smoothly. Swimming with the pink dolphins was a highlight and a most... read more memorable experience! Experiencing the indigenous tribe's village and dancing phenomenable. We appreciated the cultural experience thank you. We loved the remote location for the buffet lunch..The food was excellent.. with big portions of salads.. fruits.. and local foods.. drinks.. a beautiful presentation. Denis was always aware and ready to aid with language differences wherever we went.. we appreciated your attentiveness Denis!! The floating village visit was relaxing and fun with the fishing.. We had plenty of time to soak it all in and enjoy!! The meeting of the waters was a highlight too.. being able to reach out and touch the water. This trip will always be remembered as a favorite! We will treasure the memories. One of our best day trips ever!!
Milton Fernandes
Born and raised in the Amazon jungle with over 15 years of experience guiding visitors from all over the world.
Founded Amazon Private Tours company in 2019 after working for the best tourism companies in our region and picking the best I’ve learned from each place gathering all these years of experience and formulating the best packages of activities visitors can find when the come.
The best way to enjoy a place is with a local guide, and that’s the specialty of Amazon Private Tours.
Enjoy the beauties of Amazonian fauna and flora on day tours or longer excursions, always with local experienced tour guides. Able to show you the history and culture of our region and take you to our breathtaking landscapes to guide you the local experience you will never forget.