What can you expect from a Earth Lion Expeditions Trip? We offer active small group adventures that will highlight the amazing natural and cultural  heritage of your host country. Try your hand at making home made meals and engage with the local community. Have a meaningful travel experience and know that your travel makes a difference!

Immerse yourself with an authentic tribe within the Amazon. Navigating on private chartered planes and a small boat into the community, hiking, sleeping in hammocks, and learning about the Kayapo Tribe while experiencing their rituals and traditions. A truly "off the beaten path" experience.

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                                                                                                                         Dates: July 2018

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Description:

 

Come join Earth Lion Expeditions on this once in a lifetime adventure. Travel away from the typical tourist trails into uncharted territory previously only accessible to researchers and National Geographic Media Teams. This trip will make you rediscover the explorer and adventurer in you! We have special permission from the Brazilian government to visit the Kayopo. Through interaction with the tribe we will learn about their beliefs, culture, environmental stewardship and lifestyle. The Kayopo are great environmental stewards and have been fighting to preserve their indigenous lands from the many threats of deforestation from miners and developers. Deforestation stops where their tribal lands start. Through this expedition we are contributing much needed community donations and equipment to support and help the people in these 22 villages in their mission of environmental conservation. Your tourism dollars and community contribution fees of $ 5000 for our group are vital for their success and future. This trip is a prime example of how tourism can be a great vehicle to enhance the wellbeing of local people and the environment.

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The Location: 

 

The Amazon basin is the largest remaining tract of tropical rainforest in the world, and home to many different types of human communities: indigenous groups, river dwelling families, rubber tappers, farmers, ranchers, and miners. Because of the wide- spread development and expansion in the Amazon region, a number of indigenous and local communities now participate in arrangements of “partnering” with outside entities, intended to increase the security of their lands and their well-being. On this trip you will have the rare opportunity to visit with and learn about the many different actors and activities in the Amazon region. The Kayapó territories are located in northeastern Brazil in the State of Pará. The Kayapó, who continue to practice hunting and horticulture, have effectively protected their lands through organization, political prowess, and technological advances. In 1989, they earned worldwide recognition for their precedent-setting victory in halting a large hydro-electric project that would have inundated their lands. 

 

Today, the Kayapó supplement their own on the-ground monitoring of their territory with over-flights and Land-sat imaging made possible through their partnership with environmental NGOs. The Kayapo have protected a vast expanse of rainforest along the "arc of deforestation" in the southeastern Amazon. The Pinkaiti Ecological Research Station has been in Aukre, center of the Kayapó territory since 1999. During this time, researchers have studied the sustainability of local hunting practices and their impact on fauna. 

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Itinerary:

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We will spend six days in Kayapo territories, spending time in both the village and village-managed biological research station. You will receive first-hand experience of the Kayapó’s partnership with environmental NGOs. Explore forest resource management, sustainable development, conservation, environmental policy and a range of other topics depending on your interests. 

 

 After the international flight, we take a quick connector flight to the city of Carajas From there we charter several small planes for equipment and a 9-seater caravan plane to fly into the community of Aukre, one of the 17 Kayopo villages. We will set up camp to live alongside the community members for 3 days.  Our days are filled with learning and living alongside the Kayopo engaging in various daily activities such as ceremonies, arts and crafts, meal preparation, environmental observation and more. We will have the privilege of filming and taking picture with this tribe. We will walk to a close by waterfall and hike to the river for some swimming.  From there we will head down the river to spend 2 nights at a Amazon research station located in virgin primary rainforest of AUkre’s territory. We will have the chance to see a rare undisturbed population of mahogany trees and other rainforest giants such as Brazil nut.

 

The Kayapo accompany us and teach us about medicinal plants and how they hunt in and live with the forest.  Often we will use motorized canoes, canoes, and kayaks to explore the Amazon’s plethora of wildlife or move in the dense area of flora.  Expect to encounter animals including Howler Monkeys, Giant Iguana, Amazonian Caiman, and Piranha.  This tour is intended to give you the best of the areas’ Amazon while learning about the people, ecology, and natural history that makes this place so special.

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Level of Intensity:

 

Moderate physical activity

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Background suggested readings: 

 

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/12/131222-amazon-kayapo-indigenous-tribes-deforestation-environment-climate-rain-forest/

 

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2014/01/kayapo/brown-text

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What is included:  Your trip fee includes all meals, all domestic flights and transfers in country, all activities, all accommodation. Your international flight and visa fees are NOT included. 

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                      $750 deposit