Hi,

I have just started looking into planning a trip to go see the Amazon out of Manaus. I would really like to visit an indigenous tribe. How would I go about doing this? I don't imagine too many tour companies visit indigenous tribes. Also, my sister whom I am going with speaks Portuguese so we could communicate with non-english speakers if that is an issue.

Thank you

Maybe the indigenous tribes don't want to be visited.

Indigenous tribes and their lands in Brazil are protected by the government agency FUNAI. Any contact must be through them and with their specific permission.

You will find tours which will take you to visit indigenous people. They are ones well used to having visitors but you will still find it very interesting. Anything other than that is not possible for visitors.

Most tours visit caboclo settlements.

Hi Jackson!

There will be some sort of 'indigenous experience' at pretty much any lodge you go to out of Manaus but most likely the guy dressed down to look like he's just emerged from the deepest rainforest will, at the end of the day, pull on his jeans and bust off downriver to his home in Manaus. That might be fine for you but it's not something which creates much in the way of meaningful interaction. But then meaningful interactions with remote peoples is probably best left to anthropologists who have good reason to be out there.

That I know of there is one project in the Amazon which provides a mutually beneficial and meaningful interaction with a community. It's the Huaorani Lodge in Ecuador's Amazon. This is a properly structured experience which allows significant and meaningful interaction with the local community. It has been set up in order to help the Huaorani defend themselves against the encroachment of logging and oil exploration so it's very much a political move on their part. From the visitor's point of view it's often a salutary lesson in our values and lifestyles. The Huaroani essentially live on a fault line where our two worlds collide. It's a wonderful experience and one which is often profoundly moving.

I don't know of any equivalent projects in either Peru or Brazil though they may exist.

Thomas

Indigenous or not, we lucked out when a motor launch was substitued for a regular 16-passenger river boat, to take three of us out for five days on the Rio Negro and the Solimoes (Amazon). The craft had in tow an outboard-engine canoe and we were able to follow many of the narrower tributaries to several villages along the way, all seemingly old friends of our guide. Authenticity didn't matter a bit (We are not anthropologists)...but we enjoyed the trip immensely. Here are some pix below..just wade through the Rio shots and you'll come to Amazonia.

https://picasaweb.google.com/stuartt...oBrazilAmazon#

Here are the Amazon pix.