Beyond the Branches Blog

Real or Staged? Rethinking Authenticity in Indigenous Tourism

What makes an Indigenous tourism experience authentic? The answer may have less to do with what travelers expect to see and more to do with who decides what is shared. I have heard this question many times during my years working with tourism in the Amazon: “But is it authentic?”...

Forest landscape near Private Rainforest Refuge in Brazil

Vanessa Marino

Best Time to Visit the Amazon Rainforest in Brazil

There is no single best time to visit the Amazon Rainforest in Brazil. There is, however, a best time for the kind of Amazon experience you are looking for. After more than two decades living, traveling and working in the Brazilian Amazon, I have experienced the rainforest through very different...

Vanessa Marino

Amazon vs Pantanal: Which Is Better for Wildlife Watching?

Two extraordinary ecosystems. Two completely different ways of encountering wildlife. If you are planning a wildlife trip to Brazil, one question inevitably comes up: should you visit the Amazon Rainforest or the Pantanal? For years, I have heard people in the travel industry say that the Pantanal is better for...

Vanessa Marino

Pico da Neblina Trek: What to Know Before You Go

Deep in Yanomami territory, Brazil’s highest mountain is much more than a summit. Trekking Yaripo is a demanding journey through rainforest, culture and one of the most remote landscapes in the Brazilian Amazon. My love story with the Amazon began in 1998. I had been given the opportunity to accompany...

Vanessa Marino

How Ecotourism Can Help Protect the Amazon Rainforest

Tourism will not save the Amazon on its own. But when forests, wildlife and local knowledge become part of an economy built around keeping them alive, travel can become part of conservation. The first time most people visit the Amazon, they come because they want to see it. The rivers....

Beyond the Branches Blog

Stories, insights and expert perspectives from the Brazilian Amazon.