Rio Cuiuni

An expedition to paddle 500km down a remote, un-inhabited river in the Brazilian Amazon

In July 2024, after completing an Atlantic crossing, the Ocean Roamer team undertook a three-week expedition in the Brazilian Amazon to traverse the Rio Cuiuni, a remote and little-documented tributary of the Rio Negro.

The expedition focused on documenting and navigating one of the region’s least-traveled river systems, and involved the construction of a dug-out canoe to trace a continuous route through an area of uninterrupted, primary rainforest with limited prior documentation.

Mission Snapshot

  • Location: Rio Cuiuni, Brazilian Amazon

  • Duration: 3 weeks

  • Method: Self-built dugout canoe

  • Focus: Biodiversity monitoring, exploration & storytelling

  • Output: Data-collection, podcast episodes & magazine articles

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Winner of the “Retour d’aventure” contest.

Objective

The team set out to establish a continuous, human-powered route linking two major Amazonian basins, combining overland travel, canoe construction, and river descent. Beginning near the town of Maraã, they navigated small igarapés, trekked through flooded forest and marshland, built a traditional dugout canoe from local materials, and then descended the full length of the Rio Cuiuni by paddle. Along the way, they documented ecological observations, signs of human activity, and wildlife presence.

The Route

The expedition unfolded in four main phases. First, the team traveled from Maraã toward the upper reaches of the Anupé stream, navigating upstream as far as possible by canoe. When the waterway disappeared into marshland, they continued on foot for roughly 60 km through flooded forest to reach a small tributary of the Cuiuni. There, they constructed a traditional wooden canoe using local techniques. From this point, they descended the river system: first a small unnamed stream, then the upper Cuiuni (locally called the Rio Alegria), and finally the lower Cuiuni all the way to its confluence with the Rio Negro near Barcelos. In total, the descent covered approximately 520 km over ten days of paddling

Explore the Expedition

Tune into the season two of our in-house podcast Voyage to the Wild, where we take you behind the scene of this expedition.

Available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and all other major platforms.