Rio Urubú Expedition

Your own first aid kit which should consist of

• A quick dry disinfectant agent (no ointment)
• Binding plasters + band-aids
• Sun block (the tropical sun is strong)
• Insect repellent with DEET
• Aspirin or other pain killers
• Antifungal powder
• Diarrhea-stoppers (Lopramide)
• Tweezers for removing thorns and splinters
• Anti bacterial soap to clean your hands
• A needle and thread for closing skin wounds
• Water purification tablets

The support team will bring a major first aid kit and an Iridium satellite phone!

Climate

There is no true dry season in the Amazon basin, but the rainfalls vary substantially. Temperatures are tropical and in an agreeable range: 28° C/80° F -31° C/90° F.

There are no excessively high temperatures. Temperatures above 37° C/100° F are truly rare. Only humidity can be unpleasant to unaccustomed people. Besides the fact that we are relatively close to Manaus (at the very heart of the Amazon), it is a very good representative of the climate patterns of the Amazon.

Wildlife that we have encountered during this expedition

Spiders and insects

• Avicularia spider (poison) - Avicularia avicularia
• Guliath bird eating spider (considered the biggest bird eating spider in the world) - Theraphosa blondi
• Brazilian wandering spider (considered the most poisonous spider of the new world) - Phoneutria fera
• Army ants

Birds

• Black vulture (vultures can smell dead meat from a distance of 5 kilometres) - Coragyps atratus
• Turkey vulture (most common one) - Cathartus aura
• King vulture (most spectacular one and considered as the main vulture) - Sarcoramphus papa
• White throated toucan - Ramphastos tucanus
• Screaming piha (Cricio) - Lipaugus vociferans
• Great egret (biggest egret species) - Casmerodius albus
• Snowy egret - Egretta thula
• Cattle egret - Bubulcus ibis
• Caped heron - Pilherodius Pilates
• Harpy eagle (most beautiful and spectacular worldwide bird of prey) - Harpia harpyja
• Scarlet macaw - Ara chlopterus
• Red and green macaw - Ara macao
• Black curassow (big rare forest bird) - Crax alector
• Spix guan - Penelope spix

Mammals

• Red howler monkey - Alouatta seniculus
• Black spider monkey - Ateles paniscus
• Red rumped agouti - Dasyprocta agouti
• Capibara (only tracks spotted) - Hydrochaeris hydrochaeris
• Cullared peccary (only tracks spotted) - Tayassu tajacu
• Nine banded long nosed armadillo (one of the loudest forest travellers) - Dasypus novemcinctus
• Jaguar (only tracks spotted) – Panthera onca
• Grey river dulphin - Sotalia fluviatilis
• Pink river dulphin (could reach a length of three meters) - Inia geoffrensis

Fish

• White piranha (most common and easiest to catch species) - Seresalmus rhombeus
• Catfish - scientific name unknown
• Cara (common name for Brazilian culoured fishes without specific details) - scientific name unknown
• Tucanare (the sport fish of the Amazon - Peacockbass)

Reptiles/amphibians

• Spectacled caiman - Jacare
• Giant monkey frog (huge green tree frog, easy to catch) - Phyllomedusa biculour
• Cane toad (one of the biggest toads in the world, females can reach a length of up to 25 centimeters) - Bufo marinus
• Rainbow boa - Epicrates cenchria cenchria
• Small culored coral snake - Cobra - coral
• Jararaca Lancehead (one of the most dangerous species of the region) - Bothrops jararaca

Packing list materials

• Medium sized backpack with a capacity of 55/60 litter. Make sure that the backpack has only one compartment, this reduces the zippers and strings and it makes the backpack so much stronger. Make sure to bring a rain cover for you backpack as well, this so that the inside of your bag stays dry. As well you should bring a plastic bag where you could put your clothes + equipment in. Dry clothes + equipment are very important in a place where it is always damp  
• Sheet sleeping bag (nights can be coul, around 15 degrees)
• Decent rain poncho (at night it is also usable against mosquito bites)
• Sturdy shoes + old sport shoes. Make sure you put your pants in your socks and bring some old sport shoes. Try to keep them dry, they are usable in the morning and evening when we are at camp
• Two short sleeve t-shirts
• Three lightweight pants, quick-drying and loose-fitting (preferably the zipper off into shorts)
• Tropical head, cap or bandana
• Swiss army type of knife
• Swimming trunks
• Sun glasses
• Quick drying towel
• Headlight (with extra batteries)
• Batteries for your electronics
• Water bottle, preferable 2 litter
• Toilet paper
• Plastic bag for your dirty laundry
• Power bars and powder mix which you can mix with water
• Cup
• World plug
• Whistle