One visits the Amazon to visit the jungle. But how? The most accessible way for the casual visitor are jungle hotels. This one, the Ariaú Amazon Towers, is a two hour boat ride up Rio Negro from Manaus, visited some years ago. They say it was Jacques Cousteau’s idea, back in 1982, to build a hotel on stilts due to the huge fluctuations in the river’s level during the rainy season. (During a different high-water visit to the Amazon, I got to swim in clear water over tree tops, the childhood dream of flight over large trees come true.) Ariaú Towers has 5 miles of catwalks, which are 10-20 yards up in the air. Howler monkeys share them, graciously, with the tourists, who are many, filling 288 rooms. [please hover over images for captions]
