The Amazon basin contains 6 million km2 of river and jungle and spans 8 countries. Just over half is in Brazil. There are 80,000 km's of navigable rivers, and ocean-going vessels can sail 3,500 km inland up the mainstream to Iquitos, Peru.
Travelers enter the Amazon by bus, boat and air. Within the Amazon, boats are definitely the transport of choice, but flying can save a lot of time, is sometimes quite affordable, and larger Amazon cities have airports.
The State of the Amazons covers an area of over 1.5 million km2 and is Brazil's largest state. Approximately 75% of its inhabitants live in the capital, Manaus. The city lies 3° south of the equator, on the northern bank of the river Rio Negro, 10 km upstream from the confluence of the Solimoes and Negro rivers, which join and form the Amazon river.
There is an interesting phenomenon, the "Encontro das Aguas" (Meeting of waters), the point where the inky-black waters of the Rio Negro meet the clay-yellow waters of the Rio Solimoes.
The climate is hot and humid during the whole year, which is divided in 2 seasons; summer and winter. It is considered to be summer between July and November, when it rains less and it is hotter. During winter it rains more and the water level in rivers and the landscape increase. The flooded land reaches the highest levels between March and April and the lowest between August and October. The temperature varies between 20°C and 30°C in average during the year, and the relative humidity varies between 80% and 90%.
You can travel to the Amazon (the region of Manaus) during the whole year with no problem to experience what the jungle has to provide, but if you can choose the period, you may avoid the period with the most intensive rainfalls, between December and February. September and October can be quite hot and have low water levels, which make difficulties to travel by boat in some areas. The best might be between March and June when it rains less intensive, but the water levels are still high and facilitate tours by boats in the flooded land. During summer it becomes dryer and some areas cannot be reached anymore by boat, but on the other hand the chance to observe the wildlife like alligators and capybaras increase.
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