Mamiraua Reserve

Mamiraua covers over eleven thousand square kilometres of varzea - whitewater flooded forest - in the triangle between the Solimoes and the Japura, and it matters for two reasons. Ecologically, varzea is the seasonally inundated forest that carries the Amazon's nutrient load, and its fauna is distinct: the white uakari, a red-faced bald monkey found only in this kind of habitat, along with black caiman, jaguar and both river dolphins. Institutionally, it was Brazil's first sustainable development reserve, created in 1996 on a model that kept the ribeirinho communities inside as managers rather than evicting them, with fishing quotas they set and enforce, and a lodge whose revenue goes back to the villages. That model has since been copied widely across Amazonia.

What you actually see

• White uakari - the bald red-faced monkey found only in this flooded forest.
• Varzea, not igapo - whitewater flooded forest, richer and muddier than the Negro's.
• Community management - fishing quotas set and policed by the villages themselves.
• Canopy-height paddling - between treetops when the water is at its highest.

When to go

May to July for the flood; September to November when animals concentrate. Four days.

Honest expectations

Getting there means a flight or a multi-day boat to Tefe and then hours more - budget travel days at both ends. The lodge is the only practical accommodation and books out. Mosquitoes in varzea are severe.

Nearby

Tefe is the gateway; the Solimoes runs east to Manaus.