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Cultural experiences abound in the Amazon. Students visit a rubber tapper's home, which has been elevated for the rainy season.
Photo: Fabio Oliveira |
Join NOLS for an expedition into a place with more species of plants and animals, more free-flowing freshwater, and the largest intact areas of rainforest left in the world.
You’ll see trees in all different shapes and sizes, vines that wrap through the forest, colorful orchids and bromeliads, monkeys crashing over the treetops, snakes and lizards on the forest floor, capybara, toucans and macaws, and lots of insects. The jungle is vast, but you’ll get an entire semester to traverse the Amazon Basin from south to north.
Your 80-day adventure explores places such as the tepuis of the Guiana Highlands, the Brazilian Highlands, and one of the Amazon’s remote tributaries that runs into the main basin. You’ll also get a chance to meet the rainforest’s local peoples, including seringueiros (rubber tappers/frontiers people).
If you crave a remote tropical expedition, get ready for the haunting sounds and smells of the jungle.
Wilderness First Aid (WFA)
The first few days of your course will be spent learning first aid at the NOLS Amazon base before leaving to start your expedition.
Amazon River Travel
You may begin your river section by practicing paddling and river safety skills in the Brazilian Highlands for 7 to 10 days before entering the Amazon Basin proper. Then, for the next four-week section of river travel, you’ll navigate canoes down the upper tributaries of the Madeira, Tapajos or Negro rivers and wind past the native ribeirinhos, indigenous tribes, gold miners and fishermen on your way to the main Amazon River.
You’ll plunge into the heart of jungle river travel here as you hone your paddling skills and learn both tropical and river hazard management while negotiating rapids one day and paddling long stretches of still water the next.
Backpacking
There are two hiking sections, one in the Brazilian (or Guiana) Highlands, where you will practice backpacking and land navigation, and one in the rainforest uplands of the Amazon Basin. Here you’ll learn the intricacies of camping in a rainforest, sleeping in hammocks, and finding routes. Cultural interactions with indigenous peoples are possible, as are opportunities for small group travel and a student expedition.
Cultural
The Amazon Basin’s biodiversity is matched only by the cultural diversity of its inhabitants. From locals living off fruits, plants, fish and the land to indigenous tribes with intact cultural practices, the Amazon offers a window into a unique and exotic world.
Throughout your semester you will spend time with caboclos, seringueiros and indigenous people in their communities as you travel on foot and by riverboat. Our options include staying with local families, contributing to community projects, and visiting isolated riverside communities.
At the end of your river section you will visit and live with a ribeirinho community for four to five days before finishing in Santarem.
Semester in Amazon
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| Duration: |
80 days |
| Age: |
18 and Over |
| Tuition: |
$13,250
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| Dates: |
September 1-November 19, 2008
Amazon River Travel (canoe), Backpacking, Cultural Section
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College Credit:
(Optional) |
16 Semester Credit Hours
2 Hours Biology
2 Hours Environmental Ethics
4 Hours Leadership Techniques
4 Hours Skills Practicum
4 Hours Risk Assessment |
| Course start/end: |
Cuiaba, Brazil/Manaus, Brazil |
| Equipment Deposit: |
$700 |
| Fly in/out: |
Cuiaba, Brazil/Manaus, Brazil |
| Downloads: |
Course Description (pdf)
Equipment List (pdf) |
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Next Steps
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Related Courses
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