The Amazon Wildlife Experience, Reimagined
Just a three-hour drive from Alta Floresta Airport lies one of the Amazon’s most remarkable wildlife destinations: a private, unhunted, 26,000-acre (10,300-hectare) rainforest where exceptional wildlife encounters are not the exception, but the norm.
Bordering 12 kilometers (8 miles) of pristine riverfront along the spectacular Juruena River, widely regarded as one of the most beautiful among the Amazon Basin’s more than 3,000 navigable rivers, SouthWild Amazon Lodge offers guests privileged access to one of the richest and most protected ecosystems on Earth.
At the heart of this extraordinary forest stands an intimate lodge featuring eight purpose-built, spacious guest rooms, all equipped with ensuite bathrooms, hot showers, and 24-hour air conditioning, providing exceptional comfort while remaining fully immersed in the rainforest.
Amazon Wildlife Watching the Way It Should Be
SouthWild Amazon Lodge is the first lodge in the history of the Amazon to successfully combine all of the essential elements that serious wildlife travelers, photographers, and birders seek in a single destination.
Easy Year-Round Access
The lodge is easily reached via Alta Floresta Airport, served by regular jet flights six days a week. Alta Floresta also enjoys daily connections with Cuiabá, the “Jaguar Capital” of Brazil, making it an ideal extension to a Pantanal itinerary.
The journey from the airport takes approximately three hours, with nearly 90% of the route on paved roads and only a short section on well-maintained dirt roads, ensuring comfortable access throughout the year.
Modern Comfort in the Heart of the Rainforest
Unlike many remote Amazon lodges, SouthWild Amazon enjoys reliable 24-hour electricity supplied by the national power grid, complemented by a backup generator. Continuous power allows every guest room to remain comfortably air-conditioned day and night.
A Protected Forest Since 1998
The entire 26,000-acre property has been strictly protected from hunting since 1998. This long-term conservation commitment has allowed wildlife populations to flourish, creating one of the richest large-animal habitats anywhere in the Amazon.
The Highest Density of Large Monkeys in the Americas
Nowhere else in the New World are visitors likely to observe so many large primates in a single day.
Gray Woolly Monkeys, White-nosed Bearded Sakis, and Black Spider Monkeys are encountered with remarkable frequency, often totaling dozens of individuals during a single excursion and scores per day.
Unparalleled Canopy Access
Most of the Amazon’s extraordinary biodiversity lives high above the forest floor. SouthWild Amazon features more access points into wildlife-rich rainforest canopy than any other destination in the world, allowing guests to experience this hidden ecosystem safely and comfortably.
Guaranteed Harpy Eagle Viewing
SouthWild Amazon is the only lodge in the world to guarantee sightings of the magnificent Harpy Eagle, the largest and most powerful flying predator on Earth.
Depending on nesting activity, guests may enjoy eye-level photography from specially designed observation towers, offering one of the world’s finest bird photography experiences.
Guaranteed Brazilian Tapir Viewing
The lodge also offers guaranteed viewing opportunities for the Brazilian Tapir, South America’s largest land mammal.
Years of behavioral research have allowed SouthWild to develop exceptionally reliable viewing techniques, making encounters with this elusive species both frequent and remarkably close.
One of the Amazon’s Most Beautiful Landscapes
The broad Juruena River, nearly 900 meters wide, meanders between a labyrinth of countless forested islands that create narrow channels, hidden beaches, and breathtaking scenery.
Both SouthWild CEO Charles Munn and renowned Brazilian ichthyologist Dr. Paulo Petry of The Nature Conservancy consider this to be the most beautiful that either of them have seen anywhere in the Amazon Basin.
Excellent Wildlife Throughout the Year
SouthWild Amazon is a true year-round destination.
Wildlife viewing remains outstanding in every season, mosquito numbers are consistently very low to absent, and the access road remains fully operational throughout the year.
Guests combining the Amazon with SouthWild’s Pantanal expeditions often visit between May and December for peak Jaguar viewing, while December through June offers exceptional opportunities to observe fluffy white Harpy Eagle chicks being cared for by their enormous mothers.
Large monkeys, Brazilian Tapirs, canopy wildlife, macaws, and adult Harpy Eagles can all be enjoyed throughout the year, making every season rewarding for photographers and nature enthusiasts alike.
The Lodge
A Conservation Lodge with a Purpose
SouthWild Amazon is far more than a wildlife lodge. It is a living conservation project where ecotourism, scientific research, environmental education, and one of the Amazon’s most ambitious rainforest restoration initiatives come together in a single destination.
Located at the heart of a private 26,000-acre (10,300-hectare) rainforest property, the property boasts 80 kilometers (50 miles) of well-maintained private forest roads, 20 kilometers (12 miles) of forest trails, and 12 kilometers (8 miles) of pristine riverfront along the magnificent Juruena River. This vast protected landscape offers exceptional access to one of the richest wildlife habitats in the Amazon.
A Vision Shared with the French Forest Service
The story began long before the lodge itself.
In 1998, the French National Forest Service (Office National des Forêts, ONF), with major support from Peugeot car manufacturer, acquired this extraordinary property. At the time, nearly one-fifth of the land had been converted into degraded cattle pasture.
ONF immediately launched the largest and most ambitious rainforest restoration projects ever undertaken in the Amazon, reforesting more than 6,000 acres (nearly 10 square miles) with millions of native trees. Today, the entire property has once again become a continuous, thriving rainforest where wildlife moves freely across all 26,000 protected acres.
Recognizing the potential of nature tourism to generate sustainable conservation revenue, ONF selected SouthWild as its ecotourism partner. In 2018, the French government commissioned the construction of this purpose-built eight-room lodge specifically for SouthWild, creating a pilot project designed to demonstrate how high-quality wildlife tourism can support rainforest conservation throughout the Amazon.
Today, every visit contributes directly to this long-term vision of protecting forests through responsible tourism.
Comfortable, Spacious Accommodations
The lodge offers eight thoughtfully designed guest rooms, including seven spacious 32-square-meter rooms and one comfortable 24-square-meter room.
Every room features:
- Private ensuite bathroom with hot shower
- Individual split air conditioning that can operate 24 hours a day
- Complimentary Wi-Fi
- Large work desk ideal for photographers to edit photos and charge equipment
- Open-format storage designed for camera equipment, luggage, and clothing
The room design was inspired by SouthWild’s acclaimed Jaguar Suites in the Pantanal. Like those suites, the rooms prioritize functionality for wildlife photographers while maintaining comfort for leisure travelers.
Twin beds have been custom designed to join seamlessly, creating a comfortable king-size bed when couples request it.
The generous room size allows guests to comfortably organize cameras, lenses, field guides, and laptops, while still enjoying ample space to relax after a day in the rainforest.
One remarkable feature of SouthWild Amazon is something guests often notice immediately: mosquito nets are unnecessary. Regardless of the season, mosquito numbers remain exceptionally low throughout the property, both in the forest and around the lodge. Furthermore, the few mosquitoes that are present do not transmit tropical diseases, making SouthWild one of the most comfortable rainforest destinations in the Amazon.
Dining at the Crossroads of Conservation
Meals at SouthWild Amazon are unlike those at any other rainforest lodge.
The spacious, screened dining room is served by a modern industrial kitchen that prepares generous Brazilian meals not only for visiting guests, but also for rainforest researchers, restoration specialists, and the teams working on the Amazon’s most ambitious and successful reforestation project.
Guests often find themselves dining alongside scientists, conservationists, and field researchers whose lively discussions offer a fascinating glimpse into the daily challenges and successes of protecting the world’s largest tropical rainforest.
This unique atmosphere reflects SouthWild’s philosophy: conservation succeeds when science, local communities, restoration, and ecotourism work together.
Research and Environmental Education
The lodge also features a large, air-conditioned research and lecture facility that serves multiple purposes.
Throughout the year, it hosts scientific teams conducting rainforest research, and environmental education programs for local children.
Designed Around Wildlife
Everything at SouthWild Amazon has been designed with one objective: maximizing wildlife experiences while minimizing environmental impact.
Rather than adapting nature to tourism, the lodge has been carefully integrated into an already thriving ecosystem, allowing guests to experience the rainforest exactly as it should be: wild, healthy, and alive.
It is this rare combination of world-class wildlife, scientific knowledge, conservation leadership, and modern comfort that makes SouthWild Amazon unlike any other destination in the Amazon Basin.
Experiences
The World’s Most Extraordinary Rainforest Safari
SouthWild Amazon offers a greater diversity of wildlife experiences than any other rainforest lodge in the world. Every excursion has been developed through decades of scientific research and field experience, ensuring exceptional opportunities for wildlife observation and photography while minimizing disturbance to the animals.
Whether exploring by vehicle, boat, on foot, or from the rainforest canopy, every day reveals a different face of the Amazon.
Among the highlights are:
- Harpy Eagle observation and photography at one or more of SouthWild’s 38 monitored Harpy Eagle nests across northern Mato Grosso.
- Guaranteed close encounters with Brazilian Tapirs from specially designed observation areas located only minutes from the lodge.
- Wildlife observation from SouthWild’s network of custom-designed canopy platforms.
- Daily encounters with extraordinary numbers of large monkeys feeding in monitored fruiting trees.
- Bird and wildlife photography at palm swamps frequented by macaws and numerous other rainforest species.
- Boat excursions along the spectacular Juruena River.
- Birdwatching from roofless motorboats in narrow forest streams rich in avian diversity.
- Encounters with Hoatzins, one of the Amazon’s most unusual and photogenic birds.
- Opportunities to observe White-lipped Peccaries, the Amazon’s only herd-living large mammal.
- Birdwatching along more than 20 kilometers of forest trails.
- Evening spotlight drives through the property’s extensive private road network.
Harpy Eagles: A World First
Few wildlife experiences compare with seeing a Harpy Eagle at close range.
As the world’s largest and most powerful aerial predator, the Harpy Eagle ranks among the most sought-after birds on Earth for birdwatchers and wildlife photographers alike.
SouthWild is the only company in the world to guarantee Harpy Eagle viewing.
Since introducing this program in 2015, every single guest has successfully photographed Harpy Eagles from eye level, against beautiful natural green backgrounds, and often from distances of less than 40 meters.
Depending on nesting activity, guests may observe adults delivering prey, attentive mothers caring for their young, or fluffy white chicks high in their massive rainforest nests.
There is simply no other destination in the world that offers such reliable and intimate encounters with this extraordinary raptor.
Guaranteed Brazilian Tapir Encounters
From June through November, SouthWild Amazon offers what is arguably the easiest and most reliable Brazilian Tapir viewing experience anywhere in the world.
Normally one of South America’s most elusive large mammals, the 250-kilogram (550-pound) Brazilian Tapir has become surprisingly predictable thanks to more than three decades of behavioral research conducted by SouthWild throughout the Amazon and Pantanal.
Today, four or five individual tapirs regularly visit a small Mauritia palm grove located just five minutes from the lodge.
Guests simply sit comfortably on viewing benches while the tapirs wander naturally through the understory, often spending 15 to 30 minutes feeding only 8 to 15 meters away.
No hiking is required, making this one of the world’s most accessible large-mammal photography experiences.
Into the Rainforest Canopy
Most Amazon wildlife lives high above the forest floor.
Recognizing this, SouthWild developed a uniquely scientific approach to canopy wildlife observation.
Throughout the year, a dedicated field team continuously monitors the fruiting cycles of tens of thousands of rainforest trees. By understanding exactly when and where trees are producing fruit, guides know where monkeys, macaws, toucans, cotingas, tanagers, and countless other canopy species will concentrate on any given day.
This “follow the fruit” strategy allows guests to experience wildlife activity at its peak and remains unique among rainforest lodges worldwide.
The World’s Most Comfortable Canopy Platforms
SouthWild also offers the greatest number of canopy access points found anywhere in protected tropical rainforest.
Unlike conventional canopy towers, SouthWild’s platforms are reached by specially designed “easy-walk-up” staircases featuring wide steps and a gentle incline, making canopy exploration comfortable for guests of all ages and fitness levels.
The result is effortless access to one of the richest wildlife environments in the Amazon.
Equally important, these platforms overlook a forest that has remained free from hunting for more than two decades. As a result, visitors enjoy exceptional numbers of large monkeys and game birds rarely encountered elsewhere in tropical forests, many of which have become “empty forests” due to uncontrolled hunting.
The Juruena River
Boat excursions on the pristine Juruena River reveal another side of the Amazon.
Nearly 900 meters wide and dotted with countless islands featuring mature rainforest, the river creates a spectacular maze of channels, beaches, and quiet backwaters that support an extraordinary diversity of birds and aquatic wildlife.
Roofless motorboats provide outstanding opportunities for bird photography while navigating narrow side channels where kingfishers, umbrellabirds, herons, parrots, king vultures, macaws, and many other species are regularly encountered.
Guests also enjoy close views of flocks of Hoatzins, the Amazon’s famously prehistoric-looking “punk chickens,” whose unusual appearance and entertaining behavior make them favorites among photographers.
Large Monkeys Like Nowhere Else
One of SouthWild Amazon’s greatest distinctions is the abundance of large primates.
It is common to observe between 50 and 100 large monkeys in a single day, including Gray Woolly Monkeys, Black Spider Monkeys, and the endangered White-nosed Bearded Saki.
These remarkable encounters are possible because decades of strict protection have allowed wildlife populations to recover to natural densities rarely seen anywhere else in the Neotropics.
Wildlife After Dark
As daylight fades, the rainforest transforms.
Evening spotlight drives along SouthWild’s extensive network of private forest roads reveal an entirely different cast of nocturnal wildlife, offering opportunities to encounter owls, nightjars, mammals, reptiles, and countless other species active only after sunset.
Learning from the Scientists
Every expedition is enriched by SouthWild’s exclusive series of informal scientific presentations.
Held after lunch or dinner, these engaging talks explore topics such as Harpy Eagle biology, primate behavior, macaw ecology, Brazilian Tapir research, rainforest restoration, and the future of Amazon conservation.
Rather than simply observing wildlife, guests gain a deeper understanding of the ecological processes that shape one of Earth’s most extraordinary ecosystems.
At SouthWild Amazon, every activity is designed not only to reveal wildlife, but also to foster a lasting appreciation for the rainforest and the ongoing efforts required to protect it for generations to come.
Conservation in Action
Where Tourism Helps Protect the Amazon
SouthWild Amazon is more than a destination. It is proof that thoughtfully designed ecotourism can become one of the most powerful tools for conserving tropical rainforests.
Every guest who visits becomes part of a long-term conservation story that began in 1998, when the French National Forest Service (Office National des Forêts, ONF), with major support from Peugeot, acquired this remarkable 26,000-acre rainforest property.
At that time, nearly twenty percent of the land had already been converted into degraded cattle pasture.
Rather than accepting this loss, ONF embarked on the most ambitious and successful private rainforest restoration project ever undertaken in the Amazon.
Over the following years, more than 6,000 acres were replanted with millions of native trees. Today, what was once open pasture has been fully restored, thriving rainforest, allowing wildlife to move freely across the entire protected landscape.
This extraordinary transformation demonstrates that, with vision and long-term commitment, degraded forests can once again become vibrant ecosystems.
A Living Laboratory
SouthWild Amazon is not simply a lodge located in the rainforest. It is a working center for conservation science.
Throughout the year, biologists, wildlife researchers, restoration specialists, and environmental educators work alongside SouthWild’s naturalists, studying rainforest ecology, monitoring wildlife populations, restoring native forests, and inspiring future generations through environmental education.
Guests share this unique environment with the people actively shaping the future of Amazon conservation.
Whether listening to evening lectures, dining alongside researchers, or observing ongoing restoration efforts, visitors gain a rare perspective on the science behind one of the world’s greatest conservation success stories.
Conservation Through Ecotourism
For decades, tropical forests have often been valued only for the timber that could be extracted or the land that could be cleared.
SouthWild embraces a different vision.
Every successful wildlife expedition demonstrates that a living forest has far greater long-term value than a cleared one.
By creating meaningful economic opportunities through responsible tourism, SouthWild helps provide sustainable incentives to keep forests standing, protect wildlife populations, and support continued scientific research.
Each visit contributes to a conservation model that benefits biodiversity, local employment, environmental education, and rainforest restoration.
An Invitation to Discover the Wild Amazon
Some journeys are measured by the places we visit.
Others are measured by the way they change our understanding of the natural world.
SouthWild Amazon offers rare wildlife, remarkable comfort, world-class photography, exceptional birding, and privileged access to one of the richest rainforests on Earth. Yet its greatest distinction lies in something even more meaningful: the opportunity to experience a forest that is not only protected, but actively recovering and thriving.
Here, every Harpy Eagle flying through the canopy, every troop of monkeys moving through the treetops, every Tapir emerging quietly from the palms, and every sunset over the Juruena River tells the story of what conservation can achieve when science, vision, and responsible tourism work together.
We invite you to experience the Amazon not simply as a visitor, but as a participant in one of the most inspiring conservation stories of our time.
