Amazon river cruises expected to double during Rio Olympics

Cruises on the Amazon are set to get a shot in the arm in the run up to and during the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro next August.

The River Negro, the biggest tributary of the Amazon, will be a popular destination for sports fans going to the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro Image by Dan from Indiana / CC BY 2.0

Cruise specialists Rainforest Cruises have launched a new programme to tie in with the sporting spectacular and say it expects next year’s Games to have a similar impact to the World Cup in Brazil. The Daily Express reported that during the FIFA-organised competition, tourist numbers more than doubled on the river.

The Amazon River. Image by CIAT / CC BY-SA 2.0

Even though Rio is a four hour flight from Manaus, the river cruise capital of the Amazon, Jeremy Clubb, the Rainforest Cruises director, believes than the once in a lifetime opportunity to see the jungle will prove an irresistible attraction to large numbers of visitors for the Olympics. He said that Rio would prove fascinating for legions of fans, but that there were many fascinating landscapes in Brazil and the Amazon had a special draw of its own.

The programme of cruises organised around the Olympics includes five-day trips on the Negro River which is the largest Amazon tributary. The organisers also have special canoe expeditions on offer to see river dolphins and exotic birds on the Jacare-Acu, which will be operating with the blessing of authorities in some of the remotest parts of the Amazon.

Other excursions will include a search for the largest scaled fish in the world – the pirarucu – while the adventurous will be able to climb up giant trees as part of a frontier experience which will see them sleeping under the stars in a hammock.