Luciana,
I will try to answer all your questions…
We had a wonderful trip – despite the condition of the Ariau. The Ariaú Amazon Towers was in really bad shape .. the high waters had most of the hotel flooded. We really didn’t get to experience a lot of the stuff at the hotel that they had advertised. We could not walk around the walkways and all the common areas and pools were flooded. We had to walk around the hotel on wooded planks (although most of the hotel was still not accessible). Our Tarzan House was flooded, so they gave us two big rooms – the Real and the Emperial — but still, they were in need of repairs. We had no hot water and the windows and doors didn’t seal .. so bugs just walked right in! The outlets worked in one of the rooms, but not the other. We felt like we should have gotten some of our money back since the hotel was not as advertised, but we didn’t say anything. The staff was so incredibly nice.
Luckily, we went for the adventure, not the luxury!!
Having said that .. ALL of the staff that we met were wonderful. The excursions were excellent! Our guide (and boat driver) were incredibly knowledgeable and nice – they got to know us and they would tailor their demonstrations or talks according to what we found interesting. Everything felt very authentic. There was enough variety and everything was interesting. It was also nice to be in a group with other English speaking tourists.
So – to sum it up — the hotel was in bad shape, but the tours were excellent.
Manaus — we really didn’t do much in Manaus. The first night, we got in late, so we just went to bed and then we were picked up early the next morning. We did have our final afternoon in Manaus, but we didn’t do much.
Viverde — it’s comforting to have a travel agent service that speaks English. I found the language barrier to be intimidating. So — all was good with Viverde!
I have lots of pictures that I could share. Do you want them of the excursions?
-Arlene