My son and I are thinking of taking a tour in June to Brazil. We would be flying into Manaus and taking a boat to a jungle lodge where we would stay for a few days before flying to Rio. Has anyone done a similar trip? This trip also includes hikes into the jungle. Are snakes a problem? What kind of clothing and shoes should we take?

Laura, snakes are usually very shy, they prefer to run away when they hear noises/vibrations. For most snakes, you must trample it to provoke an agressive response. Those hikes into the jungle happen along a beaten path. I suppose an experienced guide will be watching over you. Scratchs or mosquito bites are the worse things you could possibly expect. Use a shirt with long sleeves, trousers, and insect repellent spray. Use sneakers. You may find mud along the trail, your sneakers will be very muddy. If the hike lasts more than one hour, bring in a small bottle of mineral water. A handkerchief will be handy to wipe the sweat away, the jungle is very humid. Maybe one leg of the trip will be over water, so you will be exposed to the sun on the boat. Use a cap and suncream. In Manaus, you must make a short boat trip to see the rendezvous of two might rivers: Negro, its clear and dark waters, and Amazonas, with its turbid waters, the color of earth. Their waters don't mix instantly, they flow togheter, forming colored eddies. Have a nice trip in my country !

Laura,<BR><BR>Everything the previous poster said is accurate. I wore pants the entire time, but, I did mostly wear short sleeve shirts with no problems so long as my arms were well protected with insect repellant. The CDC recommends a 30% or higher DEET repellant (my travel medicine doctor recommended Ultrathon because it provides 12 hour protection.) I did bring along a light linen shirt to put on when the mosquitoes/sun were at their worst. As for shoes, I would not have been happy with just sneakers. The jungle got very muddy and wet at times, and I was happy to have my waterproof trail shoes. Snakes were no problem. We camped in the jungle and didn't see one the entire time. One final recommendation would be to use Permethrin on your clothing. I noticed that the mosquitoes were able to bite through cloth, and were not bothered by the fact that I had DEET on underneath. All of the bites I got were either on my hands (forgot to reapply repellant after washing) and on my legs where they were able to bite through my trekking pants. You will have an absolutely amazing experience. Have a blast!

Since we were kids in Brazil, before going on vacation to our favorite beaches, that seem to be the mosquitoes favorite too, we take vitamin B-Complex 2 weeks prior to leaving home. It has a &quot;noticeable&quot; smell which the mosquitoes don't appreciate and we get full of energy!

On my previous message I should have clarified that the vitamine's smell comes through your skin, but it is not too bad...

We did this trip in Novemebr going from Manaus to the Ariau Amazon Tower. It was the dry seasson so we did not encounter the mud such as others have. We did not take closed toe shoes on our vacation. This was not a problem on the hike. The paths were not well worn but our toes were fine. Do take mosquito repelent though. We did encounter a snake - something in the viper family (it was under a log that several women in our group had already walked over. My husband pointed it out before he crosed and you should have heard the screams!) If you go to the Ariau be carefull of the monkeys. They seems so cute and docile but we saw a girl get attacked and bitten by one. Made me very wary the rest of my stay. As Dilermando pointed out do not miss the meeting of the waters. Also go to the Opera house and the church across the street from it plus the market. We were there on a Sunday and the Oper house was closed plus we had a plan to catch back to Rio and really didn't do Manaus justice. You will have a fabulous time!