Jau National Park

Jau covers around twenty-three thousand square kilometres of the Rio Jau basin north-west of Manaus, and the design principle behind it is unusual: rather than drawing a boundary through the forest, the park takes in an entire blackwater catchment from headwaters to confluence with the Negro, so the whole hydrological unit is protected together. It anchors the Central Amazon Conservation Complex inscribed by UNESCO, which combines it with Anavilhanas and the Amana and Mamiraua reserves into one of the largest protected tropical forest blocks in the world. Access is genuinely hard - a permit, then a day or more by boat from Novo Airao with everything carried - and there is no lodge inside, so visits are expedition-style with camping or hammocks aboard.

What you actually see

• A whole river basin protected - headwaters to mouth rather than a boundary through forest.
• The Central Amazon complex - joined with Anavilhanas, Amana and Mamiraua under UNESCO.
• Blackwater channels - tannin-dark water with correspondingly few mosquitoes.
• Expedition conditions - no lodge, no infrastructure, hammocks and camping.

When to go

May to September. A week, given the river time.

Honest expectations

You need an ICMBio permit arranged in advance and a chartered boat - this is not a place you turn up at. There is no accommodation inside. Wildlife is present but the forest is dense and sightings take patience.

Nearby

Anavilhanas is downstream; Novo Airao is the departure point.