The largest place offering the widest range of breathtaking beautiful views, along with an unparalleled experience of natural habitat with exciting opportunities for exploration, is none other than the Amazon rainforest. In the Amazon rainforest, a tourist can experience the wilderness and observe the natural habitat of thousands of species, including the world’s largest variety of trees, 250 species of mammals, and  1000+ species of birds.

Every year thousands of people around the globe go to the Amazon rainforest to explore, observe the true reflection of nature, to research different plants found in the forest, and to discover what still lies hidden and unexplored. When it comes to edible plants, 40,000 different plants have been identified. Most of the plants, either in the form of dry spices or the nuts, are the part of our daily lives and these too are obtained from the Amazon. In fact, there are thousands of plants which have been discovered and undergone extensive study and research, which are now making an extraordinary contribution to science in the forms of medicine or food.  Hence, the study and application of plants and herbs is inevitably of great importance.

Consider the vastness of the Amazon rainforest. This amazing living eco-system covers an area of about 5,500,000 square kilometers. The Amazon rainforest is chocked full of the healthiest plants loaded with essential vitamins and minerals. Obviously helpful and healthy plants are only one area of regard for the Amazon rainforest. The area is also quite famous its wood, fruit, fresh water, and mineral deposits.

Whenever the essentials of health are queried, this forest comes up an abundant variety of fruits with great significance. This forest’s fruits are pure and unadulterated, undisturbed by the external man-made changes. Amazon rainforest edibles are a highly reliable and healthy source of energy, nutrients, antioxidants. We know these essentials bolster the human immune, protecting against disease. As an example, many rural families claim that during the nut season, they are not likely to catch flu or cough while the people living in urban areas are easily prone, and at high risk of being affected.

Many of the nutritious fruits and plants of Amazon, can be found in our kitchens. They pass through our eyes daily, and include: avocado, banana, coconut, fig, grapes, tapioca, lemon, mango, Brazil nut, cashew, passion fruit, etc. It’s a little known fact that 80% of the developed world’s diet originated from the Amazon rainforest.

Apart from the common ones mentioned above, there is a great deal to detail regarding the most amazing and incredible fruits and plants from the Amazon rainforest which are also being used in herbal treatments on a mass scale.

Our delightful tour guide Karim had an ambitious agenda laid out for getting to know the region and the Amazon rainforest.  We left our hotel a little after 8 am and drove to the Zero Impact Brazil (ZIB) sawmill on the outskirts of Santarém.  There we met Rick, the owner of ZIB, Big Tree Adventures, the mill and the forest we would visit.  

Karim introduced us to everyone – the fellows who ran the mill and – most importantly – the man who cooked us an incredible breakfast of locally grown food and sawmill-raised eggs.  I think the pineapple we ate that morning was the sweetest one I have ever tasted – and that is saying something.  Breakfast was complete with tapioca crepes, fresh cheese, scrambled egg, fresh fruit juice, fresh rolls, sweet bananas, grapes and locally made jams.  Everything was delicious.  Later, our cook-for-the-day prepared an equally delicious jungle lunch – pink beans, rice, meat from a sustainable local farm and salad.  We did not go hungry.  After breakfast Karim gave us a tour of the sawmill – it is an impressive operation and reflects a great deal of thought on the part of its owner, Rick.

Check out our new video, featuring Santerem, Fordlandia, jungle hikes to view the forest giants and a trip down the Tapajos River, a river with endless white sand beaches.  The are around Santerem is the perfect location for your exotic vacation in northern Brazil. 

Check out our new photo gallery, featuring photos from our Amazon adventures in northern Brazil.  View the photos in the photo gallery...

At the end of August we assisted, in association with the Secretary of Tourism of Santarem, a team from National Geographic, taking the crew to as many places around the Tapajos River as exist linked to the history of Rubber. Starting with the floodplain Maica in the East of Santarem to the great Fordlandia 200 miles away from the town, we did the whole trip by car (taking into consideration that it's possible to take a speedboat). Through the forest, Santarem-Cuiaba highway, Transamazonia, Transfordlandia, we finally got there - to the legendary town that Henry Ford built in the heart of the Amazon. In four days of research, we not only helped the photographer Richard Barnes get the images he wanted, but also got a "byproduct" of the trip - a documentary about the native Fordlandian Valdiro Castro, who now lives in Santarem, but agreed to be our guide in his hometown as well as to tell the stories of his childhood in this most remarkable place of Ford's creation. With Jose Otavio Junges as director, Karim Abu Bakr as producer, and Rodrigo Nunes as cameraman, and with the craziest driver on Earth, we were just awarded the Grand Prix of the Film Festival of FIT in Santarem with the short version of the movie.

It is still in Portuguese, but can give you an idea of what it feels like to make a lifetime trip to such an incredible place. We are now working on the full-length version of the film (bilingual), so we will keep you posted!

P.S. Yes, we went to Fordlandia in a Ford car (through the craziest routes in the world)!

Please watch the short documentary by clicking here..

4-day ADVENTURE

Santarem – Route BR-163 – Belterra – Rainforest – Trans-Amazonian – Fordlandia – Ruropolis Waterfalls – Maica Floodplain

HAVE YOU EVER IMAGINED that it would be possible to see and learn all the aspects of history, flora, fauna, environment, culture and livelihood in the Amazon JUST IN FOUR DAYS? Well, we found out that it could be done while having lots of fun. After a great summer with photographers, filmmakers, journalists, bloggers, backpackers, inventors, politicians, and people of all ages and nationalities, Big Tree Adventure Tours has just created a product that most of the Amazon explorers have been seeking for decades – a complete flash tour that will include all kinds of activities in all kinds of terrains. This will now become our most loved tour. This is what we really like to do – this is the real Amazonian Adventure.

Before we describe the content of this tour, consider the following: this tour is made for people who are looking for a unique experience and has nothing that a typical tour agency would offer. It is far from being low-budget, but it has a competitive cost. We care about your safety and we provide the maximum security as well as working to prevent accidents. What you will see in the tour is what the Amazon really is, which is in many cases different from what you might expect. It is going to be unforgettable.

DAY 1

Wake up at 6 a.m. and come over to Zero Impact Brazil (ZIB) for breakfast. ZIB is our headquarters and sawmill. It is also the gallery of our non-waste philosophy of treating wood and other products of the rainforest. During the breakfast, which will represent the most traditional dishes of the region, we will tell you more about the logging business in the Amazon and why we created Zero Impact Brazil. Leaving from the sawmill, the van takes us to Belterra, the second town that was a site of Ford’s attempt to build an American Dream in the heart of the Amazon. After a glimpse into the story of the place, contemplation of breathtaking landscapes and tasting Cupuaçu (instead of latex) we head to 766. That’s what we call our 766 hectares (2000 acres) prime forest reserve. And that’s how we introduce you to the rainforest. 77 km away from Santarem by route BR-163 (Santarem-Cuiaba highway) lies our “island in the ocean of soy.” This is where you see the contrast between destruction and preservation, traditional lifestyles and cruel multinational business. Meet Raimundo and his huge family, who are our dear neighbors, partners, traditional manioc farmers and just extremely nice people. With them you do not have to worry about traveling through 766 hectares of dense forest with a surprise at every step. And yes, be ready to sleep in the middle of it all in our little wooden cabin. This afternoon will belong to trekking, watching the giant trees, learning about plants, swimming in the crystal-clear freshwater stream, water jumping with a rope, making barbecue , setting a fire, cooking the dinner on the wood-burning stove, singing, playing the guitar, getting to tie a hammock or put up a tent… Well, you will be in the Amazonian rainforest! Good night, fellows, have a good rest, in the morning we will hit the road again!

DAY 2

Wow, are you still there? Good to see that! Now, have your breakfast, jump into the river to wake up, pack your stuff and let’s go! We have 280 km ahead. And that is not as easy as it sounds. Getting to Ruropolis is no trouble – almost all the way there the road is paved, just a couple of kilometers of clay and rock they used to explode with TNT in order to finish the 50-year-old construction of the second of only two roadways that link the Amazon with the South of Brazil. After Ruropolis, we still have 130 km to get to Fordlandia. That is why we first go and get a refreshing swim in the waterfalls. By the way, the steakhouses around that place are great. Well, after an early lunch we start a real journey along the Trans-Amazonian highway. Whatever you have heard of bad roads is about that place, which doesn't make it any less beautiful. A couple of hours of careful driving and we’re finally in Fordlandia – the ghost town. We drop ourselves in a small hostel, sit for a snack and go out for a ride to have an overview of the American village. It’s time to find a badass to climb on the 86-year-old water tower some 40 meters high. It’s worth that! One of the greatest sunsets of a lifetime looks greater from the top. But that’s not the end… Fordlandia at night is astonishing… But we don’t want to tell you too much.

DAY 3

Early in the morning it’s time to break in the old houses, check if Ford’s machinery is still working and tap a couple of rubber trees. We have to investigate something – too many parts of the history of Fordlandia are still hidden and every tour like this adds a piece to the puzzle. Apart from that, we have delicious cocoa juice to taste (it comes from nearby plantations). Well, it’s time to leave the ghosts behind – we’re heading back to Santarem! We will complete those 350 km in about 6 hours, and be back to Santarem for dinner. The closer we are to the city, the stronger the smell of Pirarucu, Tambaqui, Tucunare, Pirarucu and other weird-named fish.  The important thing is that it is delicious. All the flavors and aromas of the Amazon you will find in our friend’s restaurant – Piracema. And then, after the dinner, we need a bed. Or a hammock. The last day is still ahead.

DAY 4

Ah, the last day! Have you heard of Amazonian floodplains? Have you heard of Riker Island in NY? What do they have in common? Well, welcome to Riker’s Farm on the Maica River to the east of Santarem. The history of confederate families, the oldest rubber plantation, water buffaloes, giant water lilies, birds, piranhas, sloths are all in one place. But before that we’re going to our friend’s country house – to the “monkey tower.” This day will be devoted to fishing, spotting the wildlife and chilling with an old and very nice family in the middle of a unique bio system of the Amazon basin. What a culmination for your journey! After over 1000 km travelled, dozens of different locations, all kind of adventures – we’re finally letting you relax and probably go to the beach. You have so many of them to choose from…

And remember: there’s still too much to be explored – consider coming back!

Hello,

For those who don't know me yet (most of you), my name is Rodrigo. I make most of the videos for the BTAT Facebook and YouTube channel, and in this first post, I'm going to tell you a little bit of who I am and how I got to work with this incredible team that is Big Tree Adventure Tours.

For the past 8 years I was a DJ, spinning records at local night clubs and renting lighting and sound equipment for parties in Santarém. But I always had this hidden passion for photography and video making. In high school, I was the go-to guy for school projects that involved any kind of video production, but I never really took this seriously.

One day I met Karim, this Russian guy that looked kind of out of place in the city. Back then I used to post some of my photos on Facebook and Karim was always like, “Hey, your pictures look really good, maybe you should come to Rick's place (some 50 miles away from Santarém) and take some pictures for our website.”  Well, I have to confess that at first I actually thought this guy was KGB and I was kind of scared of him (lol), but after getting to know him better, you see how harmless he is.

So Karim arranged for me to go on a tour with their very first tourist. Back then I had only one camera, one battery and one memory card, and not any other piece of equipment. We spent a whole day travelling through Alter-do-Chão, Belterra and Rick's land.

I never thought this would be any kind of award winning material, but when I saw the end result of the production of the first video, I was kind of surprised at what I actually managed to do with so little and almost no knowledge at all. And apparently so was everyone else because they actually gave me a job.

Since then, I have produced more and more material for BTAT and decided it was time for a career change. I actually enjoyed this new field I was exploring, I was learning so much and was able to improve my English speaking more and more by meeting so many incredible people on tours.

Now I have my own photography and video making business and I have much more than just one camera with one battery. Al of this is just because someone believed in my skills and saw hidden inside of me the talent not even I was able to see. I couldn't be more thankful for that.

This is it for now, but I'm sure you will hear from me again.

Rodrigo Nunes

Our two-day tour is similar to the one-day tour, but the first day of the tour includes a more extensive visit to Belterra and a more relaxing program in the forest. Then you get to face the night in the rainforest! That’s when the rainforest comes to life with all kinds of animals and insects that come out to hunt. The rainforest awakens with an incredible set of sounds made by every animal that calls it their home.

There is nothing better than waking up after sleeping in a hammock, then jumping straight into the fresh waterof the river. After a refreshing bath, we take a long hikethrough the deepest parts of our forest reserve where you will see all kinds of big trees and vines, and if we are lucky, a variety of birds and other animals.

This tour includes a breakfast at the sawmill withtraditional dishes and tropical fruits, as well as lunch and dinner for each day.

PRICING

• 1 person: US $280
  
• 2 persons: US $245 each
  
• 3 persons: US $230 each
  
• 4 persons and above: US $200

We can accommodate 1 - 40 people, including transportation by car, van, micro-bus or bus.

Big Tree Adventure Tours is offering one-day tours as well as overnight stays in our 2-thousand acre rainforest reserve (as featured in The Lonely Planet Brazil).

This tour starts with a visit to our Sawmill in Santarém, after which we take the highway BR-163 from Santarém to Belterra, a city founded by Henry Ford. There you have a chance to see what an American town would look like in the middle of therainforest.

After a quick visit there, we head to the forest.  On the way, you get to see a traditional village comprised of the few manioc farmers who haven’t sold their lands to the soy bean producers: A glimpse into the real life in the Amazon.  You see the complicated process of producing manioc flour and many other things that are the livelihood of these families.

Then we take a hike into the forest with a member of one of the families who knows perfectly well every trail in the area. During the hike you get to see the real rainforest giants: Kapok Trees,Brazil Nut Trees and other Big Trees that are a must-see during the tour. You learn about the many uses of the plants in the rainforest, from artisanal and medical to industrial.

Of course, hiking in the forest isn't always easy, that’s why we take you to a very special place in our reserve: A swimming hole in the middle of a 7-kilometer long stream of cool crystal clear water. Be ready for the best swimming of your life!

The tour includes a breakfast at the sawmill, with traditional dishes and tropical fruits. For lunch we offer barbecue at our cabin. However, if you are vegetarian, you have nothing to worry about: We have prepared a special menu for you.

PRICING

• 1 person: US $160 
  
• 2 persons: US $140 each
  
• 3 persons: US $135 each
  
• 4 persons and above: US $110 each

We can accommodate 1 - 40 people, including transportation by car, van, micro-bus or bus.