The Brazilian Amazon is a tropical wilderness of almost unimagineable scale occupying around 60% of the Brazil's land area. The complete Amazon River Basin covers an area of 6.7 million square kilometres, of which about two thirds of this is in Brazil. Within this, around 80,000 out of the World’s 250,000 known species of plant are found. Add to that 1,294 species of bird, 427 species of mammal and around 2.5 million species of insect. To see just a small percentage of this provides a natural history overload.
The Amazon River begins as a small spring in Peru and empty’s into the sea 6,000 km length away in northeastern Brazil. Here some 15 billion tonnes of water empties into the Atlantic Ocean passing through a river delta some 325 km wide. That’s half of all of South America’s freshwater and 20% of the world’s total.
Culturally, the Brazilian Amazon is also very special – home to around 850,000 indigenous people. A few of these people remain uncontacted; but most are influenced by the encroaching outside world. Nowadays, they play a vital role in preserving the Amazon rainforest long into the future – a subject covered in our online article: Indigenous Land Rights & Amazon Rainforest Protection.
A great way to gain a sense of the scale of the Brazilian Amazon and explore its diversity in detail, is to join one of our Deep Amazon Wildlife River Cruises into UNESCO World Heritage Central Amazon Conservation Complex. These voyages take you along one of the largest arteries feeding the Amazon (the Rio Negro), but then explores a myriad of river islands called the Anavilhahanas; as well as some very small tributaries where only wildlife resides.
Another option is to stay at a truly remote rainforest lodge, of which our favourite is in Matto Grosso.
Manaus - Brazil's Amazon Capital
Manaus is the unofficial capital of the Brazilian Amazon, made rich primarily through unsustainable exploitation of this great forest. A flambouyant opera house marks the city’s cultural centre, worth a visit both for its architectural beauty and to reflect on those most dangerous sources of wealth which built it: tropical timber, gold, slavery a d debt bondage during the rubber boom of the early 20th Century.
Deforestation and destructive gold mining continue to enrichen Manaus, but the city is also a manufacturing and trading hub where ocean-going ships travel over 1,200 km inland to load and unload. Hundreds of smaller riverboats also call into the city, transporting goods and people.
It's no use hoping to see wildlife near to Manaus, but we can give you a fascinating account of 500 years Amazon history and introduce to the city’s most interesting areas.
For a taste of real Brazilian Amazon wilderness, we recommend that you join a Deep Amazon Wildlife Cruise, which begins and end in Manaus, but heads far north along the Amazon's black river tributary, the Rio Negro.
From 6th – 11th June 2026, Aqua-Firma director & photographer, Ralph Pannell, will host a Deep Amazon Wildlife Cruise, adding insights drawn from 30 years of exploring the Amazon & working in its conservation with our partner charity, Rainforest Concern.
