Travelling is experiencing; and now coming to the Amazon is travelling back to the 19th century.
As many of you know Uakari Lodge was created, is owned and is co-managed by Mamirauá Institute for Sustainable Development – MISD, a scientific organisation dedicated to develop strategies for the conservation of the biodiversity in the Amazon.
And MISD has only been created in this region because of one person: Henry Walter Bates.
The story of this amazing British naturalist who navigated the Amazon River in the mid-19th century – has always fascinated every researcher that has been part of MISD team – including (and most importantly) our member #1, Márcio Ayres who has reached Bates’ book “The Naturalist on the River Amazons”. This is the book where the red-faced-white- Uakari monkey is first scientifically mentioned and brought huge curiosity to Ayres, who decided to visit the region and write his PhD thesis on the primate.
All the curiosity and learning Bates has brought to Uakari Lodge team has made us design a full experience for our costumers, who will now travel to the Amazon with a full story as a guide: the adventures of a naturalist who explored the Amazon along 11 years and ended his trip in Mamirauá.
So we have listed 4 reasons “In the Footsteps of Henry Bates” is the brand-new way of visiting the Amazon:
1. The Amazon is not only biodiversity – it is history: We are very happy to be a true pioneer on comunity-based tourism in the Brazilian Amazon, telling stories and showing real life as the trip happens. It is time we answer the travellers’ demands on comprehending destination, and Henry Bates is directly connected to Mamirauá Reserve’s history.
2. See the Amazon as an 19th-century explorer did: Imagine spotting an Uakari monkey in the jungle. Getting all the learning our naturalist and local guides know about them (as we already do). Now add the immersive atmosphere we have created to transport us to the 1850’s: how would Henry Bates have described this primate, fist time seen in nature by a naturalist? This is how you feel along the entire program.
3. Tefé is finally on a Uakari Lodge program (and it is so worth to visit it): Tefé is the arrival and departure site for all of our visitors. Unfortunately for most of travellers, all they see is the airport, and that has annoyed us since the beginning of our operations. Henry Bates’s Amazon journey was the perfect reason to add Tefé to our programs. Henry Bates has spent 5 years in Ega (this is how Tefé was called in the 19th century).
4. Take home a full story to tell: Travelling is more and more about learning and bringing home what you have gained from it – in a fun, relaxed way. What we have created here is a chance to comprehend better how the Amazon was historically occupied and led to what we have today. The full story, from beginning to end.
-> Want to learn more about the “In the Footsteps of Henry Bates” 5-night program? Operations start this October and we are ready for reservations. Check details on our website.
(Image credits: Gui Gomes; Book “The Naturalist on the River Amazons”)
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