Roosevelt Amazon Expedition
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Rapids running between boulders on the Roosevelt, forest on both banks

Rio da Dúvida · renamed in 1914

You already know the name of this river.

Theodore Roosevelt came down the River of Doubt in 1914. Brazil renamed it after him. A century later it is still one of the least‑fished rivers in the Amazon, and one of the best places on earth to put a name to a bird. Two Amazon fishing and birding lodges in Brazil, eight guests a week.

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Peacock bass ● Payara ● Piraíba ● Redtail catfish ● Bicuda ● Jatuarana ● Aruanã ● Harpy eagle ● Hyacinth macaw ● Blue-and-yellow macaw ● White-throated toucan ● Giant otter ●

330+

bird species recorded on the reserve

14 mi

of trail, on 16 routes cut and cataloged

8

guests a week on the Guariba

2011

two lodges, one family, since

The bow of a boat on flat water at first light, forest on both banks of the Roosevelt
The same river, today
Theodore Roosevelt standing beside the marker reading RIO ROOSEVELT, with officers of the Rondon expedition, 1914
Roosevelt and Rondon, 1914

/ 1914

The river was called Doubt.

In 1914 Theodore Roosevelt and Cândido Rondon descended an unmapped river in the Brazilian Amazon. It was called Rio da Dúvida, the River of Doubt, because no one knew where it went. The expedition nearly killed him. When it was over, Brazil put his name on the map.

That river runs past our dock. We are not a re‑enactment and we do not sell one. We are simply the operation that works this water, and we think the name is worth knowing before you book.

Read the full story

/ Fishing and birding

Two rivers. Two ways to spend a week.

Same operation, same team, two very different rivers, and on each one you can come with a rod or a pair of binoculars. Pick the water first, then the week.

Rapids running between boulders on the Roosevelt

Roosevelt River

Fishing

Giant catfish in high water, peacock bass in the dry. The main river, and the one with the name.

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A blue-and-yellow macaw at close range

Roosevelt River

Birding

330+ recorded species and 14 miles of cataloged trail, three minutes from your cabin.

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Boats lined up on the sand at the start of the day

Guariba River

Fishing

Eight anglers a week on a river with almost no fishing pressure. Multi-species, catch and release.

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A scarlet macaw in the canopy

Guariba River

Birding

Rapids, igarapés and closed canopy, worked from a boat as much as on foot.

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/ The week

Seven days, none alike.

Monday to Sunday, and the river gives you a different one each morning.

A charter aircraft on the sand strip beside the river

Day one

The flight in

An hour and fifty minutes out of Manaus, over unbroken forest, and then a sand strip beside the river. There is no other way in that feels like this.

Riverfront cabins on stilts under thatched roofs

Day one, later

Your cabin, on the bank

Private, air conditioned, hot water, and a door that opens onto the river. Starlink works. Not much else out here does.

The river flat and mirrored at first light

Every morning

First light on flat water

Out before the heat, when the river gives the sky back. This is the hour the guides plan the day around, and the hour the birds are loudest.

White water running between boulders

Mid week

The rapids

Boulders, channels and backwater lagoons. It is where the payara sit, and it is the stretch people talk about when they get home.

A capuchin monkey on a branch in the canopy

Any afternoon

Into the forest

Sixteen trails, fourteen miles, cut and cataloged from the lodge. Go with a guide who knows which tree the macaws come back to.

The dining room, table set for the group

Every evening

One long table

All meals in, open bar, regional cooking. Eight people who did not know each other on Monday, telling the same story by Thursday.

Sandbanks showing in the river in the dry season, from the air

Last morning

One more run

The flight out is in the afternoon. Nobody has ever chosen to sit it out.

Parakeets perched and in flight over a rock in the river

/ Birding

Half of what we do has feathers.

Most Amazon lodges will tell you there are birds. We cut the trails, cataloged them, and counted the species: 330 and rising, on 16 trails totaling 14 miles, all of it walkable from the lodge.

  • Harpy eagle
  • Hyacinth macaw
  • Blue-and-yellow macaw
  • White-throated toucan
  • Black-faced hawk

You will not see all of them in a week, and we will not pretend otherwise. But the list is real, and the guides know where to stand.

Roosevelt birding Guariba birding

/ When to fish

The water level decides what you catch.

There is no season here in the sense you are used to. The rivers fish all year. What changes is the level, and the level changes the fish.

High water

Giant catfish. Redtail, piraíba, jaú, cachara, caparari. Apapá and corvina on the sporting end.

Mid water

Both groups at once. The widest variety of the year.

Low water

Scales. Peacock bass, bicuda, cachorra, matrinchã, jatuarana, aruanã.

Catch and release, with guides who have worked this water for years. We will not tell you how many fish you will land. We will tell you what is in the river and when it moves.

The lodge on the bank of the Roosevelt, seen from the air

/ The lodge

Remote is the point. Rough is not.

You are a long way from a paved road. You are not a long way from a hot shower.

The lodge on the bank, seen from the air
The lodge from aboveRoosevelt River, right bank
The raised walkway running down to the river
The walkwayCabin to boat, ninety seconds
A double room with two beds
Inside a cabinAir conditioned, private bathroom
A rocky stretch at low water, with a boat moored and gear carried over the boulders
The water you will fishAlmost no fishing pressure
The dining room, table set
One long tableAll meals in, open bar
Boats lined up on the sand with the crew ready
The fleetOne guide per boat
The deck at the water
The deckWhere the day ends

/ Film

Shot on the river, not in a studio.

Everything below was filmed at the two lodges by the people who run them. No stock, no drone reel bought off a shelf.

The sand airstrip beside the river, seen from the air

/ Getting there

An hour and fifty minutes from Manaus, by air.

By air

1 h 50

Charter from Manaus to our private airstrip, over unbroken rainforest the whole way. It is the best flight you will take this year.

By land

480 km

From Porto Velho on the Trans‑Amazonian Highway, around eight hours, past rivers and river towns.

Most guests fly. We arrange it either way, and we meet you.

/ Dates

Eight guests a week. Pick yours.

The Guariba operation takes eight anglers at a time and the Roosevelt lodge is not much bigger, so the calendar fills a season ahead. Choose a week and we will tell you what the river is doing then.

Prefer to talk first? We answer in one business day.

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Booking

Tell us the week

Four questions, about two minutes. We read every one and answer in one business day.

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  • What the river is doing that week
  • Which species are moving
  • Whether the week is still open

Check dates

Tell us the window and we will tell you what the river is doing then.

1 Which expedition? Pick one, or more than one
2 When are you thinking?
3 How many of you?
4 And who are you?

We answer in one business day.

What you send here is used to answer you, and for nothing else. No newsletter, no list, and no sharing with anybody outside the operation.
Parakeets over the river, photographed on the 2025 trip
A jatuarana released in the shallows, photographed on the 2025 trip
“I’ve been three times, and every trip has been epic.”

“I’ve traveled and fished all over the world professionally and for fun. If you’re looking for a world class fishing adventure in the Amazon Jungle, this is the place.”

Ian Provo Photographs on this page are his

The river in the dry season, sandbanks showing, from the air

Fifty-two weeks. Pick one.

Tell us when you want to come and what you want to see, and we will tell you what the river is doing that week.

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