Amazon - Brazil
The country most associated with the Amazon Rainforest is, without a doubt, Brazil with half of the river basin being found here. Covering most of the northern part of the country, this is a frontier land where wild places keep humans at bay in a constant struggle between the need to conserve this incredible natural habitat and the desire for human development.
The number of animal species literally number in their thousands from the emblematic jaguars, anacondas, macaws, river dolphins and piranhas all the way to countless birds, frogs, and weird and wonderful insects. This vast area covers a large number of ecosystems, sometimes varying ecosystems can be found within the same square-mile as a different world reveals itself simply by climbing up into the canopy.
The main gateway to the Brazilian Amazon is the city of Manaus which sits half way between the border with Peru and Colombia and the Atlantic Coast. This city of over 1.7million people sprung up from the rubber production of the 19th Century. Leaving the hustle and bustle of this buzzing commercial centre you can see the meeting of the waters where the milk-coffee Solimoes river (which forms part of the Upper Amazon) runs side by side for kilometres with the dark waters of the Rio Negro. From here it is only a short distance to experiencing the true Amazon Rainforest.
Some of the best lodges in the Amazon can be accessed from Alta Floresta in the Southern Amazon and Tefe in the Western Amazon of Brazil.