Anavilhanas Jungle Lodge Review

Visit Manaus reviews - our honest opinion, based on our own experience.

Anavilhanas Jungle Lodge - April 2011
Aerial View of Anavilhanas Lodge

1. Introduction

My first experience of a jungle lodge was in Peru in 1988. En route to the lodge the boat lost a propeller and we spent most of the first night traipsing across mudbanks in the pitch black with our luggage in a tropical storm, finally arriving at a large hut which might generously have been described as a pile of planks with a few planks missing. We passed 5 nights in hammocks with hardly a candle between us, being variously eaten alive by mosquitoes and/or half choked by the smoke from mosquito coils. Things have moved on. Our journey to the Anavilhanas Jungle Lodge was made in a comfortable, air-conditioned minibus. We were met promptly at the airport by a bilingual guide, and after being given time and assistance to buy some snacks for the trip, we were picked up just outside the terminal. The lodge is situated approximately 100km northwest of Manaus, on the Rio Negro near the town of Novo Airão, and although the journey time from airport to lodge was a longer-than-expected 5 hours, this was due mainly to the chaos of the ferry port where we embarked to cross the Rio Negro, and the snail’s pace of the ferry itself – but once the new bridge across the river is completed (scheduled for June 2011), this should cut the journey time by a good two hours. The journey itself was fairly unremarkable, on reasonable roads, and we were given the option of two ‘comfort’ stops on the way (we stopped at the first but elected to miss out the second). Our driver was pleasant and efficient, although he did not speak English. This caused no problems and we arrived safe and sound (although somewhat weary) just after 5:00pm. The last mile or so of the journey is on a narrow dirt track, which was nice after so long on asphalt, and gave a pleasant sense of remoteness lacking up to that point.

Reception and Accommodation

Arriving at the Lodge

We were greeted by an English-speaking member of staff and ushered to the reception area where we were offered a complementary fresh-fruit drink and given some orientation with respect to where things were and how to get to our rooms etc. It was interesting to note that the juice was served without sugar – for anyone who knows Brazil, this is a significant and unusual deferral to foreign tastes (sugar was available for those who wanted it). While we relaxed for a few minutes our luggage was whipped away to the rooms to be there ready for us, and shortly afterwards we were escorted to our billets.

The lodge has 20 individual chalet-style mini-apartments, all with air-con and hot water, although in time-honoured fashion there are “standard” and “luxury” chalets, with a significant price differential. I was allocated a luxury chalet, but was also able to inspect a standard one as well. All the chalets are built of wood and brick, and are nicely designed. They are simple, functional, discreet and reasonably private except that the standard ones are semi-detached, which inevitably means you are divided from the people next door by a partition wall.

The Luxury Chalets (click to enlarge)

The luxury chalets are built and furnished to a remarkably high standard, especially when one considers their location. There is, happily, no gimmickry like hand-carved parrots or tacky touristy pictures – just a tasteful, well-appointed bedroom; a bright, clean, modern tiled bathroom with shower; and a good-sized verandah with chairs and hammocks. All the chalets have modern “split” air-conditioning units which are quiet and efficient, and hot and cold running water – in the case of the luxury chalets, from the solar-powered heating system perched atop the corrugated sheeting-and-thatch roof. There are plenty of (127v) sockets around, a small writing table, and (in the luxury chalets) HDTV and a Sky satellite system, and a small fridge-bar. Our bed was somewhat mushy, with a hollow in it noticeable after a few hours, however the linen and soft furnishings are of good quality. The main room is glass-walled on three sides, which gives a light, airy

Bathroom in luxury chalets

feeling, and there are floor-length curtains which can be drawn to provide more privacy – certainly necessary at night. The units are well-sealed against insects, and how they keep the vast expanse of glass sparklingly clean is a mystery – but they do.

Outside, the forested area towards the back of the units remains quite untouched, so no grand vistas here, as the trees firmly obscure the wood – but this is quite right, in our opinion, and wholly in keeping with the ecological bent of the lodge. You will feel that you are in the middle of the rainforest, because in fact you are.

The only niggles we would have would be the absence of any literature in the rooms (safety information, instructions for operating the air-con, the shower, the TV, hotel information etc) – not a disaster, but a little surprising – and perhaps the absence of a telephone in the room or an internet connection (only available in the reception area). To be fair, we think this is asking a lot of a jungle lodge, but demanding customers may find the lack of a room-service facility a little inconvenient.

1 - Reception & Accommodation 2 - Facilities and Food 3 - Activities & Excursions 4 - Overall Impressions 5 - Bottom Line