10-Day Amazon Rafting -Tambopata River
Tambopata River Rafting from the Andes to the Amazon
The ultimate rafting and wildlife adventure
If you are looking for a true adventure, our Rio Tambopata River Rafting trip has it all. From the shores of Lake Titicaca, you raft some of the most remote Class 4 white-water rafting in Peru through untouched parts of the Amazon rainforest.
Camping each night on the beach, you spend your days floating through one of the richest ecosystems on the planet – the Tambopata National Reserve. Home to 800 species of birds, 1200 species of butterflies, 200 species of mammals and over 10,000 species of plants. The animals will be oblivious to you, allowing unrivalled viewing opportunities.
Highlights
- Enjoy Class 4 Rio Tambopata white water rafting
- Float past wildlife such as monkeys, caiman, capybaras and even jaguars
- Visit the Colorado Macaw Clay Lick, one of the biggest in the world
- Click here to see more options for Rafting in Cusco and Peru
- Read our guide to White Water Rafting in Cusco and Peru
On arrival at Juliaca airport (please book the early flight), you will be met by the Amazonas Explorer river rafting team to start the journey to the Tambopata River.
You drive overland, high into the Andes, passing llama herds, glaciers and spectacular mountain ranges. You cut through the Andes, then begin to descend through Inca terraces and so to the cloud forest where you either camp overnight on the roadside or stay in a local basic hostel.
Included: English-speaking guide, transport, room/camping
This morning you drive to the launch site on the banks of the Rio Tambopata. The road can be challenging but your driver is very experienced.
You drop deeper into the jungle and finally to Putina Punku. Here we pass the permit office, pay the entrance fee, and depending on water levels/road conditions either start rafting here or continue on the road a little further to a small village called Curva Alegre.
We inflate the rafts and securely pack all your gear and supplies. Following a full safety briefing and instruction in the art of white water rafting, you don your life jackets and helmets and begin your Tambopata River Rafting adventure.
Any excess gear can be sent back with our vehicle to await our arrival in Cusco.
Along your Rio Tambopata rafting journey, you will witness firsthand, glimpses of the destruction that illegal gold mining and illegal logging are causing in this part of the Amazon. Rafting and other forms of tourism, such as the jungle lodge you will stay in are essential to the preservation of this area, as they provide local people with alternative incomes to illegal mining and logging.
Included: Swift-water Rescue qualified, English speaking expert raft guides, all white-water & safety equipment, camping equipment (except sleeping bag), transport, breakfast, lunch, dinner
Leaving all traces of civilization behind, you raft exciting rapids by day and at night camp on pristine sandy beaches. The first days are full of class II-III rapids, starting small and technical, giving plenty of time to practice the necessary skills required to negotiate the harder rapids to come.
Included: Swift-water Rescue qualified, English speaking expert raft guides, all white-water & safety equipment, camping equipment (except sleeping bag), transport, breakfast, lunch, dinner
As tributary after tributary join the Rio Tambopata the river increases in volume creating exciting and challenging Class IV rapids. Plenty of time is allowed for scouting and photographing the harder rapids.
Included: Swift-water Rescue qualified, English speaking expert raft guides, all white-water & safety equipment, camping equipment (except sleeping bag), transport, breakfast, lunch, dinner
Today is the perfect example of why we love this Tambopata River rafting trip. Forty-seven individual rapids were counted by one safety kayaker on today’s stretch of water. In low water, these are fun drops, in big water, these can make for quite exciting rafting.
Included: Swift-water Rescue qualified, English speaking expert raft guides, all white-water & safety equipment, camping equipment (except sleeping bag), transport, breakfast, lunch, dinner
Today seems a million miles away from the Tambopata white water rafting you were experiencing just yesterday, but it is indeed the same river.
As the river relaxes your rafts float silently through the calmer stretches, giving unequaled opportunities to observe and photograph wildlife. You can even get out the stand-up paddleboards.
Included: Swift-water Rescue qualified, English speaking expert raft guides, all white-water & safety equipment, camping equipment (except sleeping bag), transport, breakfast, lunch, dinner
More gentle rafting today. On this stretch, you may see families of capybaras – the world’s largest rodent, and herds of peccaries. Lone tapirs have also been known to walk through the campsite at night and monkeys watch you pass from their treetop hideaways.
Jaguars, jaguarondis, caiman, ant-eaters, and giant river otters have also been spotted as well as countless species of rare birds and butterflies. Time is spent exploring beautiful side creeks and, if you wish, fishing for the delicious but elusive Paiche.
Where the Rio Tambopata meets the Rio Tavara, the river slows down completely making paddling very hard work, as you have no assistance from the river flow. So this is the end of your Tambopata Rafting. But not the end of your Tambopata River journey.
Enjoy one last camp and in the morning you will trade your raft for a motorboat.
Included: Swift-water Rescue qualified, English speaking expert raft guides, all white-water & safety equipment, camping equipment (except sleeping bag), transport, breakfast, lunch, dinner
Today you ride in the motorboat for a few hours downriver to a comfortable jungle lodge situated beside one of the best Macaw clay licks in the world. Here you
Enjoy the comforts of the lodge, a refreshing shower, a comfortable bed, fresh food, and cold beer. Resident expert guides are available for further jungle walks if desired.
Included: breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks
For many today is the wildlife highlight of the whole Tambopata rafting trip.
You rise before dawn to see the truly extraordinary spectacle of hundreds of macaws, parrots, and parakeets feasting on the minerals contained in the cliff wall of the Colorado Macaw Clay Lick. After breakfast, the motorboat takes you further downstream, along the Rio Tambopata to the town of Puerto Maldonado.
Included: Breakfast, lunch, dinner, basic hotel
You will be taken to Puerto Maldonado airport in time for your flight, having enjoyed some of the most diverse whitewater rafting in Peru, if not the world.
Included: Breakfast, transport
In order to fully enjoy your white water rafting in Peru, it is very important that you choose the right trip for you and fully understand what it involves.
There are risks inherent in travelling in Peru, as indeed there are in most of the activities that we provide. Many of the activities we offer also involve a significant level of effort on your part. After all, it is called Adventure Travel for a reason.
It is really important that you read both the trip notes above and the Risk and Safety Section on our website, to enable you to choose the best trip for you. Once you have read them both, please make sure you ask if there is anything you do not understand. We classify the Tambopata white water rafting trip as:
- Paddlesport ‘Advanced’… Remote, committing, arduous (at times), adventurous… Describes all of our ‘Advanced’ trips. Add to this the adrenalin rush of the white water! You need no experience, just some serious water confidence (and reasonable swimming ability given the environment), reasonable mobility (to help us get you back in the boat/move down very rough river banks) and a big slice of spirit! If you need to know more, please get in touch.
