Manatee river trip at Tatuamunha

You glide up the Tatuamunha river on a jangada with no motor, moved along by two rowers, so the only sounds are birds and water. A guide accredited by ICMBio rides along, explains the mangrove and watches for West Indian manatees, a species critically endangered in Brazil. They are wild, so a sighting is never guaranteed, but some come right up to the boat. This estuary between Porto de Pedras and São Miguel dos Milagres is the only place in the Costa dos Corais marine reserve where manatee watching is allowed, and federal rules limit it to ten trips a day.

A community association of river people from the two towns runs the trips, which last about an hour and run every day, holidays included, between 9am and 5pm, last boarding 3pm. Because of the daily cap, book online as far ahead as you can. No pets, no alcohol, and never feed, touch or shout at the animals. The village around the association's base has restaurants, ice cream shops and a craft store run by the association.