Tefe

Introduction

Tefe is a city in the Amazones state in the northwest of Brazil. It's an isolated city with around 70,000 inhabitants and gateway to the magnificent Mamirauá Sustainable Development Reserve.

Sights and Activities

Nearby is the Mamirauá Sustainable Development Reserve, with an abundace of flora and fauna and a fantastic ecolodge to stay.

Weather

Hot and humid with rain in most months, but concentrating from October till early May.

Getting There

By Plane

TRIP has flights to Manaus. Some flights might make additional stops at the towns of Carauari and Coari.

By Boat

Slow boat
From Manaus, departing from Porto de Manaus - Estação Hidroviária do Amazonas (rua Taqueirinha nr. 25). Cost about 150 R$.

• Fênix. About 1 day and 18 hours. Departs Tuesdays at 5:00 PM. With stops in Codajás, Coari e Tefé. Tel: (92) 99996-0004, (92) 99984-0044.
• A Nunes II. About 1 day and 19 hours. Departs Tuesdays at 5:00 PM. With stops in Codajás, Coari e Tefé. Tel: (92) 99228-1616, (97) 99156-0668. Email: [email protected]
• Leão de Judá. About 1 day and 19 hours. Departs Wednesdays at 5:00 PM. This boat is headed for Uarini (with stops in Codajás, Coari, Tefé, and Alvarães). Tel: (92) 99977-4021, (92) 99906-0022.
• Comt. Severino Ferreira. About 1 day and 19 hours. Departs Thursdays at 11:00 PM. With stops in Codajás, Coari e Tefé. Tel: (92) 9320-9969, (92) 8217-6303.
• Elyon Fernandes. About 3 days. Departs Thursdays at 11:00 AM. This boat is headed for Uarini (with stops in Codajás, Coari, Tefé, and Alvarães). Tel: (92) 8115-0000, (92) 8138-7777.
• Monte Sinai. About 1 day and 19 hours. Departs Fridays at 10:00 AM. With stops in Codajás, Coari e Tefé. Tel: (97) 8104-5719, (92) 9252-1989.
• Estrela de Davi. About 1 day and 19 hours. Departs Fridays at 5:00 PM. With stops in Codajás, Coari e Tefé. Tel: (92) 99401-3461, (92) 99268-6206.
• Irmãos Miranda. About 1 day and 19 hours. Departs Sundays at 7:00 AM. With stops in Codajás, Coari e Tefé. Tel: (92) 99151-2942, (92) 99142-8608. Email: [email protected]

Fast boats
From Manaus, departing from Manaus Moderna - Terminal Ajato - Balsa Laranja (Av. Beira Rio).

• Lancha Crystal I. About 14 hours. Departs Manaus Tuesdays at 6 AM and arrives in Tefé at 7:30 PM. Departs Tefé (returns to Manaus) Fridays at 5:00 AM. This boat is headed for Tabatinga (with stops). Costs about 260 R$.
• Ajato 2000. About 8 hours. Departs Manaus Tuesday, Wednesday, and Saturdays at 6 AM and arrives in Tefé at 2:00 PM. Departs Tefé (returns to Manaus) Wednesdays, Tuesday, Thursdays, and Sundays. This boat is headed for Tabatinga (with stops in Codajás and Coari). Costs about 230 R$.
• Madame Crys. About 15 hours. Departs Manaus Thursdays at 6:00am and arrives in Tefé at 9:00pm. Departs Tefé (returns to Manaus) Sundays at 3:30 AM. This boat is headed for Tabatinga (with stops in Codajás, Coari, Tefé, Fonte Boa, Jutaí, Tonantins, Santo Antônio do Içá, Amaturá, São Paulo de Olivença, and Benjamin Constant). Costs about 230 R$.
• Glória de Deus III. About 15 hours. Departs Manaus Fridays at 6 AM and arrives in Tefé at 9:00 PM. Departs Tefé (returns to Manaus) Mondays at 4:00 AM. This boat is headed for Tabatinga (with stops in Codajás, Coari, Tefé, Alvarães, Fonte Boa, Jutaí, Tonantins, Santo Antonio do Içá, Amaturá, São Paulo de Olivença, and Benjamin Constant). Costs about 280 R$.
• Cidade do Manaquiri. About 12 hours. Departs Manaus Sundays at 6 AM and arrives in Tefé at 7:30 PM. Departs Tefé (returns to Manaus) Wednesdays at 5:30 AM. This boat is headed for Tabatinga (with stops in Codajás, Coari, Tefé, Alvarães, Fonte Boa, Jutaí, Tonantins, Santo Antônio do Içá, Amaturá, São Paulo de Olivença and Benjamin Constant). Costs about 260 R$.

Sleep

• Aedra Praia Hotel, R. Duque de Caxias, 201, ☎ +55 97 3343-2306.
• Anilce's Hotel, Praça Sta Tereza, 302, ☎ +55 97 3343-2366.
• Anilses Hotéis, Rua Quintino Bocaiúva, 294, ☎ +55 97 3343-2416.
• Pousada Multicultura, Rua 15 de Junho 136, ☎ +55 97 3343-6632. Overlooks Lake Tefé.

Keep Connected

Internet

Internet cafes (Lan houses) are increasingly common, and even small towns often have at least one spot with more or less decent connections.
An increasing number of hotels, airports and shopping malls also offer hotspots for Wi-Fi with your laptop computer or of course smartphone. Sometimes it is free, sometimes you need to register and there is a time limite and sometimes you need to pay a small amount for (day) use.

Phone

See also International Telephone Calls

The country calling code to Brazil is: 55. To make an international call from , the code is: 0014. All cities use the following emergency numbers: 190 (police), 192 (medical) and 193 (fire department). However, if you dial 911 or 112 while in Brazil, you will be redirected to the police.
Brazil uses two-digit area codes, and phone numbers are eight digits long. Numbers beginning with digits 2 to 5 are land lines, while eight-digit numbers beginning with digits 6 to 9 are mobile phones.

Public payphones use disposable prepaid cards, which come with 20, 40, 60 or 75 credits. The discount for buying cards with larger denominations is marginal. Phone booths are nearly everywhere, and all cards can be used in all booths, regardless of the owner phone company. Cards can be bought from many small shops, and almost all news agents sell them.

Brazil has 4 national mobile operators: Vivo (Telefónica Group), Claro (Telmex/América Móvil Group), OI and TIM (Telecom Italia Group), all of them running GSM and HSDPA/HSPA+ networks. Pay-as-you-go (pré-pago) SIM cards for GSM phones are widely available in places like newsstands, drugstores, supermarkets, retail shops, etc.

Post

Correios is the national postal service of Brazil. It is a government run postal service and overseen by the Brazilian Ministry of Communications. Post offices are generally open from Monday to Friday from 09:00am to 5:00pm, although post offices located in shopping malls have their own opening hours, usually from 10:00am to 10:00pm. There are no set opening hours at weekends and as post office owners can choose when to open and close. More and more post offices are open until 1:00pm on Saturdays though. You can check things at the nearest post office.

Sending postcards, letters and parcels is a rather straightforward process and services are reliable, though not overly fast when sending post internationally, mostly taking about a week to the USA and Europe, and there is a track-and-trace service for this as well. Domestically, there are both next day as well as more expensive same day delivery options. Stamps are available at post offices, as well as some kiosks or other places where they sell postcards.

For sending packages internationally, you can also used competitively priced private companies like TNT, UPS or DHL. They are generally much quicker and not much more expensive.

External Links