Sugar Loaf cable car above Guanabara Bay in Rio de Janeiro

Tailor-made trip · Itinerary proposal for Mr and Mrs Wolfangel

Brazil, wild and wonderful

Eighteen days across Brazil: the peaks and beaches of Rio, the wildlife of the Pantanal, a jungle lodge on the Rio Negro and the Atlantic coast of Recife.

  • 25 September to 12 October 2027
  • 18 days · 17 nights
  • 2 adults
  • City hotels, two Pantanal lodges and an Amazon lodge
  • 3 domestic flights included

The route

From the peaks of Rio to the rivers of the Pantanal and the Amazon

We start in Rio de Janeiro, fly to Cuiabá and drive down the Transpantaneira into the northern Pantanal, first to Pousada Araras and then to Porto Jofre, in jaguar country. From there we fly to Manaus and head into the forest on the Rio Negro, before ending on the Atlantic coast in Recife.

Map of Brazil with the itinerary: Rio de Janeiro, Cuiabá, Pousada Araras, Santa Rosa Pantanal, Manaus, Manati Lodge, RecifeRio de JaneiroManaus &the AmazonRecife1567Northern Pantanal by roadCuiabá2Pousada Araras3Porto Jofre4
FlightBy roadRoad and boat
  1. 1Rio de Janeiro3 nights25–28 Septhen flight · via São Paulo
  2. 2Cuiabá1 night28–29 Septhen about 2h30 by road
  3. 3Pousada Araras2 nights29 Sep–1 Octthen about 3h by road
  4. 4Santa Rosa Pantanal3 nights1–4 Octthen road to Cuiabá, then flight · via Brasília
  5. 5Manaus1 night4–5 Octthen road + speedboat
  6. 6Manati Lodge4 nights5–9 Octthen flight · via Brasília
  7. 7Recife3 nights9–12 Octdeparture

Arrival in Rio de Janeiro (GIG), departure from Recife (REC). International flights are not included.

Included services

What the price covers

Three domestic flights, accommodation for 2 people in a double room, all transfers, and the tours, guides and entrance fees listed below. Transfers are private unless marked as shared.

Rio de Janeiro

25 to 28 September · 3 nights

  • Transfers airport ↔ hotel with a private English-speaking driver-guide.
  • 3 nights at the Windsor California, on Copacabana beach. Superior Executive room, breakfast and taxes included.
  • 1 full day (about 8 hours) with a private English-speaking driver-guide: Christ the Redeemer and Sugar Loaf.
  • Sugar Loaf cable car tickets with fast access, and Corcovado train tickets.
  • 1 half day (about 4 to 5 hours) up Morro Dois Irmãos through the Vidigal community, with an official English-speaking guide and transport from the hotel.

Cuiabá

28 to 29 September · 1 night

  • Private transfer airport → hotel.
  • 1 night at the Deville Prime Cuiabá, double room.

Pantanal · Pousada Araras

29 September to 1 October · 2 nights

  • Private 4x4 transfer Cuiabá → Pousada Araras.
  • 2 nights at the Pousada Araras Ecolodge, Standard room, full board (breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea and dinner), including lunch on the day of arrival.
  • Lodge activities in small shared groups, always accompanied by an English-speaking naturalist guide: trails and observation towers, photo safari, canoeing, horseback riding and night spotlighting.
  • Environmental conservation fee of the private reserve.

Pantanal · Porto Jofre

1 to 4 October · 3 nights

  • Private 4x4 transfers Pousada Araras → Santa Rosa → Cuiabá airport.
  • 3 nights at the Santa Rosa Pantanal Hotel, in Porto Jofre, River Chalet, full board (breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea and dinner).
  • 2 full days by private boat in search of jaguars.
  • A private English-speaking guide with you from 1 to 4 October.

Manaus & the Amazon

4 to 9 October · 5 nights

  • Private transfer airport → hotel in Manaus.
  • 1 night at the Novotel Manaus, Superior room, breakfast included.
  • 4 nights at the Manati Lodge, Standard room with views of the lake and the forest, air conditioning and a private veranda with a hammock, full board (breakfast, lunch and dinner).
  • Anaconda programme (5 days / 4 nights): lodge activities with bilingual guides (Portuguese and English) and shared transfers by road and speedboat, from Manaus to the lodge and back to Manaus airport.

Recife

9 to 12 October · 3 nights

  • Private transfers airport ↔ hotel.
  • 3 nights at the Hotel Luzeiros Recife, in Boa Viagem, Superior room, breakfast included.

Domestic flights

3 flights · 28 September to 9 October

  • Rio de Janeiro → Cuiabá, Cuiabá → Manaus and Manaus → Recife.
  • Economy class, airport taxes included, with one 23 kg checked bag per person.
  • Flight details in the Flights section.

Day by day

The full itinerary

Flight and transfer times are indicative and will be confirmed when the tickets and bookings are issued.

Sugar Loaf and Guanabara Bay seen from above the city

Day01

Sat 25 Sep · Rio de Janeiro

Arrival in Rio de Janeiro

  • Transfer: Reception at the airport by your English-speaking driver-guide and private transfer to the Windsor California, on Copacabana beach.

  • Free time: Rest of the day free. Suggestion: walk the wave-patterned promenade designed by Burle Marx to the Copacabana Fort, and watch the sunset from Arpoador rock, between Copacabana and Ipanema.

  • Meals: Meals at your leisure.

  • Overnight: Night at the Windsor California.

Christ the Redeemer seen from belowSugar Loaf cable car over Guanabara Bay

Day02

Sun 26 Sep · Rio de Janeiro

Christ the Redeemer and Sugar Loaf

  • Meals: Breakfast at the hotel.

  • Tour: Full day (about 8 hours) with your private English-speaking driver-guide at the two icons of the city.

  • Corcovado. The cog train, running since 1884, climbs through the Tijuca Forest, one of the largest urban forests in the world, replanted in the 19th century. At the top, 710 metres above the sea, Christ the Redeemer (1931) opens his arms over the lagoon, the Maracanã stadium and Guanabara Bay.

  • Sugar Loaf. The cable car goes up in two stages, with a stop on Urca Hill, and your tickets give you fast access. From the summit, at 396 metres, the view runs from Copacabana to downtown, across the Rio–Niterói bridge and the mountains around the bay.

  • Overnight: Night at the Windsor California.

Ipanema beach with the Two Brothers peak behind

Day03

Mon 27 Sep · Rio de Janeiro

Vidigal and the Two Brothers

  • Meals: Breakfast at the hotel.

  • Tour: Half day (about 4 to 5 hours) with an official English-speaking guide: up Morro Dois Irmãos through the Vidigal community.

  • Pick-up at the hotel. The way up starts in Vidigal, reached by moto-taxi or van, with the participation of the local residents’ association, then continues on foot to the top of the Two Brothers, the twin peak at the end of Leblon beach, with a view over Ipanema, the lagoon and Christ the Redeemer.

  • Free time: Afternoon free.

  • Overnight: Night at the Windsor California.

Day04

Tue 28 Sep · Cuiabá

Rio de Janeiro → Cuiabá

  • Meals: Breakfast at the hotel.

  • Transfer: 08h00 · Private transfer to the airport with your driver-guide.

  • Flight: 10h35 · Flight Rio de Janeiro → Cuiabá with GOL, connecting in São Paulo (2h05 connection). Arrival at 15h10.

  • Transfer: Reception and private transfer to the Deville Prime Cuiabá.

  • Note: Cuiabá is one hour behind Rio de Janeiro.

  • Overnight: Night at the Deville Prime Cuiabá.

Aerial view of Pousada Araras Ecolodge among the Pantanal wetlands

Day05

Wed 29 Sep · Pantanal

Into the Pantanal: Pousada Araras

  • Transfer: 09h00 · Private 4x4 transfer to the Pousada Araras Ecolodge, about 2h30 south of Cuiabá. The last stretch follows the Transpantaneira, the dirt road that crosses the northern Pantanal, with the first stops for birds and caimans.

  • Meals: Lunch on arrival.

  • Tour: Introduction walk with your English-speaking naturalist guide around the lodge: the caiman creek, the 12-metre Heron Tower and the nest of a pair of hyacinth macaws, the symbol of the lodge.

  • Tour: Evening activity planned by the lodge, such as night spotlighting in an open vehicle.

  • Meals: Full board at the lodge.

  • Overnight: Night at the Pousada Araras Ecolodge.

Open safari vehicle on a Pantanal track

Day06

Thu 30 Sep · Pantanal

A full day at Pousada Araras

  • Tour: Up to three activities a day, always with an English-speaking naturalist guide, in small groups, set by the lodge each evening according to the weather: sunrise outing, walks on the trails and suspended walkways to the observation towers (up to 25 metres high), photo safari in an open vehicle along the Transpantaneira, canoeing, horseback riding on Pantaneiro horses, and night spotlighting.

  • At the end of the dry season, the animals gather along the rivers and the remaining water: caimans, capybaras, curassows and a great variety of birds.

  • Meals: Full board at the lodge.

  • Overnight: Night at the Pousada Araras Ecolodge.

The pool and chalets of the Santa Rosa Pantanal Hotel

Day07

Fri 1 Oct · Pantanal

Down the Transpantaneira to Porto Jofre

  • Meals: Breakfast at the lodge.

  • Transfer: Private 4x4 transfer to Porto Jofre, at the end of the Transpantaneira, about 3 hours away. From today until 4 October, a private English-speaking guide is with you.

  • Overnight: Check-in at the Santa Rosa Pantanal Hotel, in a River Chalet facing the river and the Pantanal sunset.

  • Meals: Full board at the hotel.

  • Overnight: Night at the Santa Rosa Pantanal Hotel.

Boat with travellers watching wildlife on a Pantanal river

Day08

Sat 2 Oct · Pantanal

In search of the jaguar

  • Boat: Full day by private boat with your English-speaking guide along the banks of the Cuiabá river and its channels, around the Encontro das Águas State Park. This is the jaguar season (May to October): the aim is to find jaguars resting or hunting on the riverbanks.

  • Along the way, giant otters, caimans, capybaras and many waterbirds.

  • Meals: Full board at the hotel.

  • Overnight: Night at the Santa Rosa Pantanal Hotel.

Jaguar swimming across the river in front of a boat

Day09

Sun 3 Oct · Pantanal

A second day on the rivers

  • Boat: Second full day by private boat with your guide, exploring other channels and riverbanks for a new chance to see jaguars and giant otters.

  • Meals: Full board at the hotel.

  • Overnight: Night at the Santa Rosa Pantanal Hotel.

Day10

Mon 4 Oct · Manaus

Porto Jofre → Manaus

  • Meals: Breakfast at the hotel.

  • Transfer: 09h00 · Private 4x4 transfer back up the Transpantaneira to Cuiabá airport, about 5 hours, with your guide.

  • Flight: 16h20 · Flight Cuiabá → Manaus with LATAM, connecting in Brasília (2h15 connection). Arrival at 23h15.

  • Transfer: Reception and private transfer to the Novotel Manaus.

  • Overnight: Night at the Novotel Manaus.

Aerial view of a boat arriving at the Manati Lodge pier

Day11

Tue 5 Oct · Amazon

Manaus → Manati Lodge

  • Meals: Breakfast at the hotel.

  • Boat: 09h00 · Pick-up for the shared transfer to the Manati Lodge: about 1h30 by air-conditioned vehicle, then about 45 minutes by speedboat on the Rio Negro.

  • Tour: First outing: paddling a wooden canoe through the creeks, as the riverside people do, with good chances of seeing monkeys, sloths and kingfishers.

  • Tour: After dark, night spotlighting by canoe to find caimans, frogs and owls by torchlight.

  • Meals: Full board at the lodge.

  • Note: Luggage is limited to 10 kg per person because of the speedboat. Larger bags can be stored in Manaus at no cost.

  • Overnight: Night at the Manati Lodge.

Sunrise over the river from a Manati Amazon canoe

Day12

Wed 6 Oct · Amazon

Dolphins and piranhas

  • Tour: Sunrise on the Rio Negro by motor canoe (optional, early start at 5h30).

  • Tour: Pink river dolphins watched in their natural habitat, without interaction.

  • Tour: Piranha fishing on the lakes, with your guide.

  • Note: Outings are on open wooden boats, for a 360° view of the forest. The lodge sets the order of the activities each day, according to the weather and the river.

  • Meals: Full board at the lodge.

  • Overnight: Night at the Manati Lodge.

Making manioc flour by hand in a riverside flour house

Day13

Thu 7 Oct · Amazon

Forest and riverside life

  • Tour: Guided walk in the igapó, the forest that floods in the high-water season, looking for birds, monkeys and sloths.

  • Tour: Visit to a manioc flour house, where cassava is turned into flour, tapioca and tucupi, staples of every Amazonian home.

  • Tour: Visit to the small riverside community of Acajatuba.

  • Meals: Full board at the lodge.

  • Overnight: Night at the Manati Lodge.

Sunset reflected in the dark waters of the Rio Negro

Day14

Fri 8 Oct · Amazon

Into the terra firme forest

  • Tour: Walk in the terra firme forest, the higher ground that never floods, among tall trees, giant leaves and lianas climbing to the canopy, where the guides spot animals camouflaged in the branches.

  • Tour: Sunset on the Rio Negro.

  • Meals: Full board at the lodge.

  • Overnight: Night at the Manati Lodge.

Day15

Sat 9 Oct · Recife

Manati Lodge → Recife

  • Meals: Breakfast at the lodge.

  • Boat: 09h40 · Shared transfer by speedboat and road to Manaus airport, arriving by 12h00.

  • Flight: 15h35 · Flight Manaus → Recife with GOL, connecting in Brasília (1h20 connection). Arrival at 23h20.

  • Transfer: Reception and private transfer to the Hotel Luzeiros Recife, in Boa Viagem.

  • Overnight: Night at the Hotel Luzeiros Recife.

Jangada sailboat off Boa Viagem beach, Recife

Day16

Sun 10 Oct · Recife

A free day by the Atlantic

  • Meals: Breakfast at the hotel.

  • Free time: Day at your leisure on Boa Viagem beach. Ideas: the colonial hillside town of Olinda, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the old quarter of Recife around Marco Zero. We are happy to arrange a guide or a restaurant for you.

  • Overnight: Night at the Hotel Luzeiros Recife.

Divers exploring a wreck covered in coral

Day17

Mon 11 Oct · Recife

Another free day in Recife

  • Meals: Breakfast at the hotel.

  • Free time: Day at your leisure. Optional, not included: a diving or snorkelling trip off the Pernambuco coast, which we can quote for you.

  • Overnight: Night at the Hotel Luzeiros Recife.

Day18

Tue 12 Oct · Recife

Departure

  • Meals: Breakfast at the hotel.

  • Transfer: Private transfer to Recife airport for your international flight.

  • End of our services. Boa viagem!

Domestic flights included

Three flights

DateFromToDepartureArrivalAirlineStops
28 SepRio de Janeiro (GIG)Cuiabá (CGB)10h3515h10GOL1 stop · São Paulo (GRU) (2h05 connection)
4 OctCuiabá (CGB)Manaus (MAO)16h2023h15LATAM1 stop · Brasília (2h15 connection)
9 OctManaus (MAO)Recife (REC)15h3523h20GOL1 stop · Brasília (1h20 connection)

Economy class, non-refundable fares, with one 23 kg (50 lb) checked bag per person.

Your investment

Quote

Trip to Brazil · 2 adults
18 days
Price per adult
€ 7,550.00 × 2
Total
€ 15,100.00

50% at confirmation

€ 7,550.00

Balance by 26 August 2027

€ 7,550.00

Not included

  • International flights.
  • Meals and drinks not mentioned in the programme.
  • Tips and personal expenses.
  • Travel and cancellation insurance.

How to secure these rates

To secure the flights and accommodation at these rates, please send us a copy of your passports as soon as possible. As this itinerary is fully tailor-made, rates and availability may change until final confirmation.

Our price-match commitment: if you receive a competing proposal, we’ll be happy to compare it with ours, provided the services and conditions are equivalent.

Cancellation policy

Our cancellation conditions, together with payment, insurance and liability, are set out in our Terms and Conditions.

Good to know

Before you travel

Payment

All payments are securely processed through WeTravel. For your convenience, you can pay in your local currency via credit card or bank transfer with no hidden transaction fees.

Confirmation

To confirm your trip, send us a copy of your passports. We then place all the bookings and send you the payment link for the deposit. Once the deposit is received, your bookings are confirmed and we send you the domestic flight tickets.

Baggage

  • Carry-on10 kg / 22 lb

    One cabin bag of up to 10 kg, within the airline’s size limits, usually around 55 × 35 × 25 cm (22 × 14 × 10 in).

  • Personal item

    One small item as well, such as a backpack, laptop bag or purse, that fits under the seat in front of you.

  • Checked bag23 kg / 50 lb

    We always book fares that include one 23 kg checked bag per person. If you would rather travel with carry-on bags only, just let us know.

Tip: The Manati Lodge allows 10 kg per person on the speedboat, and soft bags are much easier to handle on the Transpantaneira and on the boats. Larger bags can wait for you in Manaus.

Domestic flight fares

We book non-refundable economy fares. There is no business class on domestic routes in Brazil, although some airlines offer priority boarding and roomier seats at the front of the cabin. If you would prefer refundable tickets, more flexibility or extra services, let us know and we will quote them for you.

Seats on domestic flights

Choosing seats on domestic flights in Brazil usually costs extra, about US$10 to US$15 per passenger per flight. Travelers on the same booking are usually seated together at check-in at no extra cost. If you would like specific seats guaranteed in advance, just ask and we will reserve them.

Flight schedule changes

Airlines may occasionally change flight schedules after tickets have been issued. If a change affects your itinerary, our team will assist you in finding the best possible solution and coordinate any necessary adjustments. We will also support you in dealing with the airline if the change results in additional costs or significant disruption to your trip.

Health and insurance

Check whether your credit card includes travel insurance; cancellation insurance usually has to be taken out within 48 hours of payment. For the Amazon, ask your doctor about the yellow fever vaccine.

During the trip

Before departure you receive access to the trip app, with transfer and tour times, booking references and hotel contacts.