A Tour in the Brazilian Amazon

If you are thinking about going to the Brazilian Amazon or heading to Manaus to begin your Amazon excursion, consider Gero Tour as your tour operator! I found Gero in my Rough Guide to Brazil while planning my trip to Brazil. As flying to the Amazon is expensive, I wanted to make sure to select the best tour operator in the region to ensure 100% happiness!

A Gero guide came to pick me up at the airport when I arrived in Manaus. He was patient enough to wait for me while I booked my internal flights at the Gol counter. After a short car ride to the city center from the airport, I met Geraldo, the owner of Gero Tour- a very friendly and nice man. He dropped me off at my hostel and invited me for dinner with his family that evening. Unable to refuse an offer where I can spend my first evening in Brazil with locals, I accepted. After traveling 20 hours to Brazil, I then spent the whole evening eating, drinking and talking with locals. It was awesome!

The next morning, rise & shine, it was time to wake up and begin my 6- day tour in the Amazon. December is low season in the Amazon as the tide is low and they consider it to be winter. Winter at 20ºC is pretty good for me! As I was the only person beginning the tour on that day, I traveled to the jungle lodge with a respectable couple in Manaus who happened to own the jungle lodge I was going to. Gero’s lodge is unreachable by boat when the water is low so I’ was staying in a fishing lodge instead.

Once I got to the lodge almost 3 hours later, I met Claire and Ben, an English couple who had already begun their tour. Being only 3 on the tour wasn’t a bad thing because we had more flexibility to do a variety of activities and we took advantage of our guide, Matias, an extremely knowledgeable person of the region. Throughout the 3 days I was at the fishing lodge, we went piranha fishing, watched the dolphin’s, trekked in the jungle, visited a village in the jungle and of course, learned so much about the Amazon and its culture through Matheus. After 3 wonderful days, it was time to say goodbye. As Claire and Ben were off to Natal, I was continuing my Amazon experience in another jungle lodge.

Gero came to pick me up that morning and brought me over to the other jungle lodge by boat. It started pouring on the way so we stopped at a family’s house- a floating house on the river. There, I met the kids and spent an hour learning Portuguese with them as well as teaching them English. It was quality time with a local family from the Amazon. You just come to realize that these are the small moments that mean so much in the end. Once it stopped raining, we continued our ride to the jungle lodge. I then met up with Max, the owner of Maia Tours, a friend of Gero.

When I arrived at the second lodge, it was empty because the group was out on an excursion. So Max and I went canoeing along the river. Upon our return to the lodge, I met my new friends. Sally, Jeff and Nick from England, Emma from Australia, Blair from Canada and Jackie from the US but both live in Switzerland. I then spent the following 3 days with these great people! Let’s not forget to mention our guide, a Gero guide, Kenrick. Throughout the 3 days, I went on another trek in the jungle, caught another cayman and piranha and spent Christmas Eve sleeping in a hammock in the rainforest. It was one of the most memorable Christmas ever I ever experienced. Surrounded by good people, in the Brazilian Amazon. What more can someone wish for?!

All in all, Gero Tour took great care of me throughout the 6 days. He made sure I’d have a memorable experience in the jungle. He didn’t have to go out of his way to send me to another lodge. However, I am very grateful that he did because I got to experience a different scenery and met new people. Also, a special mention to Max (Maia Tour) for the great food and excursions at his lodge.