Mamirauá is a sustainable development reserve of flooded forest where the Japurá river meets the Solimões, the upper Amazon, far to the west of Manaus. It was the first reserve of its kind in Brazil, set up so that the riverside communities who live there manage it themselves, and it is one of the most rewarding places in the Amazon to see wildlife.
This is várzea, forest that floods with white-water every year: for several months the water rises by ten metres or more and the whole reserve is navigable only by canoe, among the trunks and the canopy. Its star is the white uakari, a monkey with a shaggy white coat and a bald, bright red face found almost nowhere else. Pink river dolphins, caimans, sloths and huge numbers of birds are routine.
Getting there takes commitment: a flight from Manaus to the town of Tefé, then around an hour and a half by boat. Visits are through the Pousada Uacari, a floating lodge run with the local communities and the research institute that manages the reserve, with guides drawn from the villages.
It is not a casual trip, but it is the real, remote Amazon rather than its suburbs.