Heart of the Amazon Itinerary
Family Departures - in their own words

The Amazon is a fascinating place for young people as well as adults. All of our trips are family friendly, but in order to make it easier for families with young children to travel on our trips, we offer specific fixed departures every year that included some activities that help children enjoy the experience.

Family Departures have the same theme as our regular departures, that of understanding the Amazon environment and observing the plants and animals.

Family Departures are on specific dates:
2011: Jul 9-16, Aug 6-13

Young Scientist Project
Young scientists on board the M/Y Tucano get together briefly every morning and afternoon to conduct research and record results in our Field Notebooks. We provide each researcher with a kit of materials for the project. On our morning sessions we take measurements of river water using the same equipment and methods of the Amazons research scientists. With the help of our group leader, each student samples the river in a number of ways. In addition to weather conditions, we record water temperature, salinity, acidity, dissolved oxygen, and turbidity. On the last day of the trip we make a graph showing how these changed over the trip and how this can affect the wildlife.

In the afternoons we gather in the main salon of the Motor Yacht Tucano to complete our field notebooks. We review the plants and animals that we saw in the last 24 hours and share the interesting things that we have observed in the rainforest. At the end of the trip each young scientist will have a detailed journal of the trip to share with others.

Rainforest Workshops
Growing up in the Amazon: A caboclo is a person that has grown up living in the rainforest. Caboclos are very skilled woodsman and they are highly regarded for their deep knowledge of the rainforest. This morning session we will learn what to do to in order to survive in the rainforest: what plants to eat, where to find a drink of water, and how to track wild animals. We will even learn to paddle a dugout canoe. Going to School in the Wilderness: One morning during the trip we will try to visit a school in one of the remote villages. Classes are not always being held, so we cant say for sure if there will be students there, but if so, our young travelers can compare their schools to those students who live deep in the rainforest.

Satellite and Constellation Hunt: On a clear dark night when we are far from any lights, we will scan the night sky for the different constellations of the Southern Hemisphere. We will also keep our eyes open for satellites that are easier to see near the equator than they are elsewhere on Earth.

Just for Fun
Swimming: Weather permitting, we will go swimming every day in some of the warmest and cleanest water in the world.

Insect Zoo: We have a mesh insect zoo on board for insects that we find. Student zookeepers can help feed our creatures and enjoy their strange looks and habits. We release all of the zoo animals every other day.

Fishing: We will go fishing several times during the cruise and everyone will catch a piranha, guaranteed!

Flavors, Favorites and Tropical: In addition to some foods that we all find familiar like pizza and spaghetti, we will also have some interesting ones from the tropics. This includes exotic juices, strange fruits and even some ice cream from the rainforest.