Manatee Explorer - Ecuador

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Manatee Amazon Explorer | Ecuador Amazon Rainforest


This is the boat we went on when we did the Ecuadorian Amazon - not super luxurious but the food was good, the cabins nice, the boat very clean and the staff was great. The guides were very knowledgable and the activities were very good. Went pretty far up the Napo River which is a tributary of the Amazon - almost to the Colombia border. Saw lots and lots of parrots, monkeys, macaws, pink river dolphins, visits to Amazon villages where they do turtle conservation. It is also a small boat which is very nice - maximum of 30 passengers. When we did this trip back in 2001, we were the only Americans on the boat - the rest was a group of UK tourists. The boat has been upgraded - when we did the trip it had no air conditioning which is fine with us since we do not use air conditioning but they told us they want to get more Americans so they have to add the stuff that Americans expect.

[travel2fun]

Manatee Amazon Explorer | Ecuador Amazon Rainforest


This is the boat we went on when we did the Ecuadorian Amazon - not super luxurious but the food was good, the cabins nice, the boat very clean and the staff was great. The guides were very knowledgable and the activities were very good. Went pretty far up the Napo River which is a tributary of the Amazon - almost to the Colombia border. Saw lots and lots of parrots, monkeys, macaws, pink river dolphins, visits to Amazon villages where they do turtle conservation. It is also a small boat which is very nice - maximum of 30 passengers. When we did this trip back in 2001, we were the only Americans on the boat - the rest was a group of UK tourists. The boat has been upgraded - when we did the trip it had no air conditioning which is fine with us since we do not use air conditioning but they told us they want to get more Americans so they have to add the stuff that Americans expect.

How did you happen to stumble across this boat?

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We were going to Ecuador - got a great package through sky auction to Quito and Otavalo and wanted to add on Galapagos - discovered super expensive to go to Galapagos so we decided on the Amazon instead - searched around and found this boat - one of the best finds we ever made! Even though it is not a true luxury ship - it was still worth it for the adventure and experience!

[Mountie]

We were going to Ecuador - got a great package through sky auction to Quito and Otavalo and wanted to add on Galapagos - discovered super expensive to go to Galapagos so we decided on the Amazon instead - searched around and found this boat - one of the best finds we ever made! Even though it is not a true luxury ship - it was still worth it for the adventure and experience!

Denise, I have to be honest, this boat looks like three double-wide trailers stacked on a river barge. I think you have been totally honest when you said it is not a true luxury ship. Likely we will never see this trip available here on LL.

That said, it still must have been a great adventure and something I would probably enjoy doing.

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The boat may not look like some of the fancy ones that you see in the Brazilian or Peruvian Amazon but I did like it - it went to a more remote area, food was decent, guides were awesome and since the boat is small, you got lots of personal attention and none of the typical touristy stuff. One of the times the boat stopped so folks could go out on a hike, the crew got off and there was enough space on shore that they got a soccer game going and invited any passengers who wanted to join in the game - flet like you were traveling with a large family

[jmbklj]

Wow, their Amazon photo gallery looks great. If you saw even half of that on your journey, it certainly peeks my interest.

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Saw many, many birds - parrots, macaws, etc. went to the clay lick early in the morning and there were thousand of parrots and macaws - they lick the salt from the clay - amazing! Saw pink river dolphins, all kinds of fish, sloths, monkeys, butterflies, snakes - I love the Amazon - so much to see and do. When we did the Peruvian Amazon - we stayed at a place called Sandoval Lodge which sits on one of the few lakes with a colony of giant rivers otters - that was pretty amazing too!