• Boat trips along the Amazon
  

  
  The best way to explore the vast Amazon is by taking a multi-day houseboat trip along its network of rivers. Houseboats range from rustic (sleep in a hammock) to 5-star, and activities during these multi-day trips include canoeing up small creeks, fishing for piranha, interacting with indigenous communities and swimming in safer parts of the rivers. Reputable agents include Amazon Clipper Cruises and Maia Expeditions
  
  

• Animal-spotting
  

  
  The biodiversity of the Amazon rainforest is staggering and if you're lucky, you'll encounter some of its elusive animals during treks and trips along the rivers. Wildlife-spotting highlights include the jaguar and puma, pink river dolphins, two-toed cloths, emperor tamarin monkeys and pygmy marmosets. Nighttime caimans-spotting trips can also be arranged.
  
  

• Birdwatching
  

  
  The Amazon rainforest is one of the world's most diverse areas for birds. These include harpy eagles, hoatzins, toucans, hummingbirds, parrots and many more. The best option for dedicated birders are multi-day excursions into the rainforest with stays in secluded jungle lodges. Recommended birdwatching tour operators include Tropical Birding and Amazon Adventures
  
  

• Jungle lodges
  

  
  Jungle lodges in the Amazon rainforest range from remote and rustic to luxurious retreats. Juma Amazon Lodge consists of bungalows on stilts, three hours by boat from Manaus, in a great setting for wildlife-watching. The dorms and chalets of Cristalino Jungle Lodge are surrounded by its own private reserve, rich in jungle mammals and birds, while Floating Uakari Lodge sits in the middle of Mamirauá Reserve - the world's largest protected flooded forest.
  
  

• Jaú National Park
  

  
  Located in the lower reaches of Rio Negro, Jaú National Park is South America's largest forest reserve. It's a strictly protected mass of rivers, lakes, islands and jungle, home to jaguars, river dolphins, caimans, the Amazonian manatee, tapir, armadillos and a huge collection of electric fish. Access to the park is by boat with permit only; trips are organized by reputable operators in Manaus.
  
  

• Sport fishing
  

  
  The Amazon Basin offers great sport fishing opportunities. Multi-day line-fishing trips are easily organized from Manaus with operators such as Amazon Clipper Cruises and Amazon Sport Fishing Fishing trips to up Rio Negro, Rio Madeira and Rio Branco in search of giant peacock bass, red-tailed catfish, aparaima - one of the largest freshwater fish in the world and more.
  
  

• The Meeting of Waters
  

  
  A short boat trip from Manaus, the natural phenomenon caused by the confluence of the muddy brown Rio Solimões and Rio Negro meeting is a popular day trip from "the capital of the Amazon". The two mighty rivers flow side by side without mixing for 6km due to the differences between their respective water temperatures and current speeds.
  
  

• Indigenous tribes
  

  
  The Amazon rainforest is the only place on earth where numerous indigenous tribes still lead hunter-gather lives with no contact with the outside world. While many indigenous tribes now live in Amazon's cities and no longer wear traditional costume, with operators such as Amazon Backpackers it's still possible to visit small indigenous communities in the jungle, learn to shoot a bow and arrow and watch traditional dance.
  
  

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