Sorry for my late reply as I just returned from my trip to other part of Brazil!
I want to say a big thank you for your assistance that I was able to make an informed decision regarding my choice of lodge in Amazon.
We came a long way from South East Asia so we are very pleased that our stay in Amazon Ecopark really lived up to and at times, exceed our expectations.
All the staff were friendly and helpful, which really made us feel comfortable.
Our guide, Iury, was friendly and knowledgeable. I spoke to some other guests and they found the other guides are also equally good. The excursions we had were exciting and according to schedule.
The food (most important part) was amazing. Different menu at each meal and tasted great, too.
We felt that the Ecopark management did their best to create the “living in the jungle” atmosphere while not sacrificing too much on the comfort. Having said that, maybe some travellers who really craves for authentic jungle life in Amazon might be disappointed by what Ecopark has to offer but for us, who used to live in the city comfort, the Ecopark experience is just perfect. Another advantage is that there are less mosquitoes due to its location at Rio Negro, although it is also its disadvantage as probably less creatures can be spotted in this area compared to Rio Solimoes.
I have suggestion to Ecopark management, though. There are a number of optional tours provided but the price depends on how many people are interested on any given day. Since there can be up to 80 people staying in the lodge and most of the time we only interact with those in the same group, it would be good if the lodge can disclose the number of people interested in each specific tour on any given day (for example, through a notice board at the lobby where guests can write their names personally). We were interested in the tour to the natives (seeing giant water lilies and mother tree) but in our case, we had to pay R$600/pax because our group had it on our last day (those who stayed 3N got to go…..but we only stayed 2N), and they had to rent a special speedboat to transfer us back to airport earlier than the rest of the group. In the end we decided not to go. If we had understood this situation during our check-in, we would have requested to join another group on our 2nd day at cheaper cost. That is my only regret.
I do not have time to tour around Manaus city so I cannot give any comment.
Again, thank you very much to you for making our trip possible.
Regards,
Bayu