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"On February 27, 1914, shortly after midday, we started down the River of Doubt into the unknown. We were quite uncertain whether after a week we should find ourselves in the Gy-Parana, or after six weeks in the Madeira, or after three months we knew not where." So wrote Theodore Roosevelt to open Chapter VIII of his book, Through the Brazilian Wilderness, a remarkable diary of his experiences and survival traversing an uncharted sector of the vast Amazon basin. More than 100 years later, the Rio Roosevelt remains one of the most pristine rivers in Amazonia, coursing through hundreds of kilometers of undisturbed forest before it meets the Rio Aripuanã in southern Amazonas state. This "meeting of the waters" is the site where the Rio da Dúvida, the River of Doubt, was officially renamed in honor of Theodore Roosevelt by Coronel Cândido Rondon, the Brazilian engineer and leader of the 1914 Rondon-Roosevelt Expedition.

Both the Rio Roosevelt and the Aripuanã are major geographic barriers within the species-rich Madeira-Tapajós interfluvium, which comprises most of central Amazonia south of the Amazon River. As such, it is important to work both banks of both the Roosevelt and the Aripuanã to have a chance of finding all of the many rare birds and mammals known from the region. Fortunately (very fortunately!), there are two relatively new pousadas--Pousada Amazon Roosvelt, right at the mouth of the Rio Roosevelt, and Pousada PiraAçu, a couple of hours farther up the Rio Aripuanã--that provide ideal birding access. Both pousadas are best-known to sport (catch-and-release) fishermen, who come from around the world to angle for the dozen or so species of "river monsters" lurking in these pristine waters--but they are fast gaining fame among adventurous birders as well! There is now a beautiful system of more than a dozen trails that Bret helped design starting in 2019, and three very helpful local guides familiar with all of the wildlife. We will have one of them with us every day, carrying a backpack with cold drinks on all of our birding walks. Considering their locations in the heart of the Brazilian Amazon, these pousadas are top-notch all the way, with quiet, comfortable, air-conditioned cabins with hot-water (if you want it!) showers, and spacious, air-conditioned dining areas and bar with truly delicious meals.

We'll enjoy stays of five nights at each of them as we strive to get our bin's on White-browed Hawk, Nocturnal Curassow (good chance!), Dark-winged Trumpeter, Zigzag Heron, Gould's Toucanet, Scaled Ground-Cuckoo (really?), Long-tailed, White-winged, and Rufous potoos, Spot-throated, Mournful Long-tailed, Hoffmanns's, and Uniform woodcreepers, Tapajos Scythebill, Rondonia Bushbird (yes!), Manicore Warbling-Antbird, Aripuana Antwren, Alta Floresta Antpitta, Tapajos Antpitta, Black-bellied and Black-breasted gnateaters, Buff-cheeked Tody-Flycatcher, Snow-capped Manakin, and Klages's Gnatcatcher. Army ant swarms on the Aripuanã may attract White-breasted Antbirds and Pale-faced Bare-eyes (yee-haww!). Big raptors could show up just about any moment, and these remote forests harbor a diverse set of primates and other beasts.

But that's far from all! The tour starts in Porto Velho, capital of the state of Rondonia, on the east bank of the great Rio Madeira. Thus, we'll jump out of the blocks with three days of birding on the Madeira, longest tributary of the Amazon and a major divider of vertebrate populations in the Amazon basin. We'll take a shot at seeing the difficult Ocellated Crake and a large number of other species that do not occur on the Rio Roosevelt, including the recently described Predicted Antwren and Inambari Gnatcatcher, and also Bar-bellied Woodcreeper, Rondonia Warbling-Antbird, and Humaita Antbird. White-sand campinas along the Transamazon Highway should produce Chico's Tyrannulet as well.

To get yourself primed for this adventure, read Candice Millard's The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey (and Teddy's first-hand account, cited above, if you're really into it), then join Bret and, for our second 2027 offering, also Marcelo Barreiros for a birding journey to the Rios Roosevelt and Aripuanã that's sure to be fantastic: beyond a shadow of a doubt!

Read or download formal descriptions from the "Special Volume" of the Handbook of Birds of the World (July 2013) of 15 new species of Amazonian birds, some of which may be found on this tour. Also available is the introduction to this chapter of the book in which Bret Whitney and Mario Cohn-Haft provide perspectives on new species discoveries across the Amazon basin.

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Client comment
"An excellent tour. One of the best so far. I prefer Field Guides to most other companies because the focus on birds is world-class and unparalleled AND you elevate all the other things I care about -- culture, history, food, environment, experience, people, etc. Bret Whitney and Marcelo Barreiros are wonderful ambassadors for Brazil. That makes an enormous difference." W.M., BRAZIL'S RIO ROOSEVELT tour participant