1. Port Overview

  1. Huitoto, Peru

  3. Huitoto and Bora are small tribal villages on the Rio Ampiyacu, a tributary of the Amazon. Murui Huitoto is an indigenous American Huitoto language of the Witotoan family spoken by 2,900 of indigenous people in western South America alongside the Ampiyacu, Putumayo, and Napo rivers.

    They are artistically talented tribes, making masks, dolls, rattles, blowguns etc. Many of their crafts are made of bark cloth decorated with vegetable dyes. The bark cloth is made of the inner bark of a palm tree and is beaten until it is paper or cloth like. From the bark cloth they make their clothing which consists of a short skirt for both men and women in the Huitoto.

    Cruise Season – Jan - Dec
    Currency – Nuevo Sol (PEN)
    Language – Spanish
    Population – 334,600 approx
    Electricity – 2 round pins European style and 2 angled pins
    Time – GMT minus five hours
    International Country Telephone Code – + 51

    Port Location – There are ports located at Manaus and Belem in Brazil, and Iquitos in Peru.

    Transport Links – Manaus is about four hours by air from São Paulo or Rio de Janeiro. The Brazilian airline TAM also flies once daily direct Miami - Manaus which takes less than 5 hours in a Boeing 767-300. Copa Airlines also flies to Miami-Manaus by way of Panama in a Embraer 190. Delta Air Lines now has direct service from Atlanta. TAME flies from Quito to Manaus once a week, Azul Airlines plans to start frequent flights to Campinas late April.

    Manaus is a major destination for boats on the Amazon River. From Belém on the Atlantic Coast, it takes about five days. Boats go to Porto Velho two-three times per week. Tabatinga on the border with Colombia can also be reached by boat from Manaus, with connections further on to Iquitos in Peru.

    Due to road conditions, there is very little (if any) long-distance bus service originating from major cities in Brazil. There are daily buses to Boa Vista in the north and to destinations in Venezuela. The bus from Caracas in Venezula takes about 36 hours, but it is air-conditioned, has comfortable reclining seats and a toilet.