Manaus is the launch point for this expedition and is a rather large city, situated on the banks of the Rio Negro. It is the supply center and hub for outlying communities in the Amazon Jungle. Most of the eco-tourism and sportfishing operations, as well as scientific expeditions, are based out of Manaus. The city has a wonderful complement of places to visit, including the Amazonas Theater, The Palace "Río Negro", the Floating Port, the Municipal Market Adolpho Lisboa, the Forest of Science, the Museum of Natural Science, as well as the Aboriginal Fair, where you can buy items made by the Indians. You are also strongly encouraged to visit the massive Fish Market, an experience no one regrets.
There are many options to arrive to Manaus, whose international airport receives daily flights from Miami, Panama, Lima, San Paulo and Buenos Aires. Most US guests will reserve flights to Manaus out of either Miami (American Airlines) or Panama City (Copa Airlines). While many of the “convenient” routes from the US go through Miami, we’ve found travel through Panama City to be a great alternative option with good connections and tends to be the preferred route for our travel staff whenever possible.
We recommend working with Alicia Regueiro at Holdy Tours (
1-800-446-1111 or
alicia@holdytours.com) for the schedule that will best suit your trip and to book your flights. Alicia is familiar with the flight logistics and can secure some very competitive fares.
Friday, The day before scheduled arrival at camp:
Arrive at Manaus International Airport. Guests will greeted by our English speaking representative/transfer driver. They will arrange for transfers to the Juma Opera Hotel Manaus. You and another angler will be put up in a Double Occupancy room at the Juma Opera Hotel Manaus for the night (included in the trip package). The transfer staff will let you know when they will pick you up at the hotel the next morning, to take you to the charter airport.
We often recommend arriving in Manaus a day earlier rather than late on Sunday night – this helps buffer you against possible airline delays or lost luggage into Manaus, and will give you a day to enjoy what Manaus has to offer. This is important as there is only one charter flight a week to Xingu. Booking your arrival to Manaus too close to this charter flight time could prove highly problematic – if you arrive too late for it, getting your own private charter flight would be enormously expensive, if not impossible. Quite a few people opt to come in a day early as this virtually eliminates this potential problem. It costs an additional hotel night, but for many it is worth it, for the peace of mind.
Saturday – Early Saturday morning, the Untamed Angling host/driver will pick the group up at the Juma Opera Hotel Manaus and take you to the domestic airport for the private charter flight to the Kayapó village of Pukararãnkre on the right bank of the Xingu River. The flight from Manaus to Xingu is operated by a Cessna Grand Caravan plane, and normally departs around 6:30 am. The flight duration is between 3 to 4 hours, and may stop to refuel depending on weight, wind velocity, etc. Pukararãnkre village is located 590 miles southeast from Manaus and the plane will land on a dirt airstrip right in the Indian Community.
Upon arrival at the Indian Community, you will be met by the guides and staff. There will be a “Meet and Greet” providing anglers time to discover the Kayapó culture, social organization and more. We will present the group to the Indian chiefs and a brief orientation of the fishing week will be made. Afterwards, the group will head upstream to the camp (15-20 minutes) by boat. It’s a great opportunity to see the spectacular river scenery, including the jungle landscape, birds, animals, even some fish in the clear waters of the Xingu. Upon arrival to the camp, the fishing team and staff will serve lunch and anglers will have a brief explanation of the daily fishing plans and the exploratory trip plans.
6 Full Fishing Days:
Each day teams of two anglers will head out for the day, fishing downstream the Xingu river and its countless channels, rapids, lakes, and tributaries. Each two anglers will share a professional, English speaking fly fishing guide, along with a local native guide in an aluminum boat.
Saturday Departure from Xingu:
In the morning, guests will be transferred by boat to the Pukararãnkre Community landing strip to fly back to Manaus. On the return flight we will stop in Itaituba Airstrip to refuel and then continue on to Manaus. You will arrive in Manaus around mid/late afternoon (assuming no flight delays), then transferred to the international airport or to the hotel if you have requested a day room. Please be sure to arrange departing flights for later than 6:00 pm.
Most anglers will be departing on the late night American Airlines flight, departing Manaus for Miami at around midnight that night or Copa Airlines to Panama City at 3:30 am (technically the next day).
If you do not feel like taking the red eye out of Manaus that night, another night’s stay at the Juma Opera Hotel Manaus (or another hotel) can be arranged; this would not be included in the package, and we will need to know as far in advance as possible if you will need this extra hotel night. Should this be the case, the transfer driver will pick you up the following day, according to your flight departure time, and deliver you to the International Airport.
