"The Amazon" Estado do Amazonas by NedHopkins

With rooms in towers connected by walkways, all above the canopy, AJT offers piranha fishing and caiman spotting, visits to a caboclo (native) village, jungle treks, large rooms (air conditioning extra), a small gift shop, and excellent food. Packages, from two to four days, are all–inclusive. Access is by boat — from near the Tropical Hotel in Manaus — and takes anywhere from 90 minutes to nearly three hours.
Guides are well–informed about the history of the Amazon region and about its flora and fauna.

The Amazon Explorer

I spent four days/three nights on the Amazon Explorer. On the whole it is a better way to experience the river/–jungle world than staying in a lodge:
1. Just about everything you can do at a lodge you can do on a cruise — and you see more and more diverse places.
2. Naturalists accompany each cruise; they are at least as well informed as guides at lodges.
3. The small number of passengers, confined in a rather small space, generates a conviviality lacking in a lodge. (Of course, one bad apple might sour the experience.)
* * *
Cabins on the Amazon Explorer are tiny, but each has its own shower. They are air conditioned, but only at night. The food is varied and surprisingly good.
Excursions include a jungle trek, visits to a large caboclo settlement and to a deserted island for swimming, and caiman spotting and piranha fishing. (The little beasts, not surprisingly, have a rich, meaty taste.)