Go deep into the Tambopata Nature Reserve, it is a place where you can get lost in nature whilst having a remote luxurious getaway. Located deep into the Amazon this pristine rainforest is home to monkeys, macaws, jaguars, snakes, caiman and lots more.
On this five day adventure you will learn a lot about the peruvian rainforest see a macaw clay lick featured in National Geographic. You will stay at a research centre which accomodates scientists trying to understand this amazing ecosistem. This in depth exploration in to the Amazon is shore to amaze any adventourous traveler.
Did you know: We plant two trees per person, per day that you travel with us- making us the sustainable choice.
Upon arrival, we will welcome you at Puerto Maldonado airport and drive you ten minutes to our Puerto Maldonado headquarters. While enjoying your first taste of the forest in our gardens we will ask you to pack only the necessary gear for your next few days and leave the rest at our safe deposit. This helps us keep the boats and cargo light.
Our guides are biologists, tourism professionals, or community members. Unless noted otherwise, our guides speak English and are assigned at a 6:1 ratio. This means groups smaller than 6 people will be merged with other groups under one guide. If you would like a private guide or a guide in a language other than English please let us know.
An hour’s drive takes us to Port Filadelphia. Here you board our motor-boat for the 2.5 hour boat-ride into the pristine heart of the Tambopata reserve. Ninety minutes into our boat journey, we cross the confluence with the Malinowski River and leave the final traces of human habitation behind. Within the 700,000 hectare uninhabited nucleus of the reserve, sightings of capybara, caiman, geese, macaws and other large species will become more frequent. En route we will enjoy a boxed lunch.
Upon arrival, the lodge manager will welcome you and brief you with important navigation, meal times, electricity times and security tips.
In the afternoon, we explore the River Overlook Trail. A three to five kilometre hike will lead us to a commanding view of the magnificent Tambopata River winding its way into the lowlands. The forest on this trail, regenerated from old bamboo forest, you may come across a huge variety of species, from tiny frogs that live in the bamboo to Capuchin Monkeys to brightly-colored Trogons.
Night Walk: After dinner we can enjoy a night walk. You will have the option of hiking out at night, when most of the mammals are active but rarely seen. Much easier to find are frogs with shapes and sounds as bizarre as their natural histories.
Colorado Macaw Clay Lick: On most clear mornings of the year, dozens of large macaws and hundreds of parrots congregate on this large river bank in a raucous and colourful spectacle which inspired a National Geographic cover story. Discreetly located fifty meters from the cliff, we will observe green-winged, scarlet and blue-and-gold macaws and several species of smaller parrots that descend to ingest clay. Outings are at dawn when the lick is most active. We return to the lodge for breakfast.
In the morning we can enjoy the Floodplain Trail: this five kilometre trail covers the prototypical rain forest with immense trees criss-crossed by creeks and ponds. Amongst the figs, ceibas and shihuahuacos we will look for squirrel, brown capuchin, and spider monkeys, as well as peccaries.
We return for lunch and in the afternoon we can head to the Pond Platform – ten minutes upriver from the lodge is a tiny pond with a platform in the middle. It is a great place to spot waterfowl such as Muscovy duck, sunbittern and hoatzin along with the woodpeckers, oropendolas, flycatchers and parakeets that call this pond their home.
After dinner, scientists will provide the Macaw Project Lecture. This gives an in depth look at the biology of macaws, their feeding habits, the theories for clay lick use, their breeding and feeding ecology, population fluctuations and the threats to their conservation.
Weather permitting we can return to the Macaw Clay lick for another fascinating view.
After breakfast we head to the Terra Firme Trail, an entirely different habitat characterized by smaller, thinner trees atop hills and slopes is covered by this five kilometer trail. Saddleback tamarins are frequently found here. As we walk near the limits of the swamp we will also keep our eyes open for rare tapir tracks.
After lunch we visit the Palm Swamp Trail. Growing on the remains of an oxbow lake and providing both arboreal as well as terrestrial mammals with fruits throughout the year, the aguaje palms are one of the most important food sources in the rainforest. Demand for these fruits and great conditions for planting rice, makes the palm swamp also one of the most threatened habitats.
Tonight we can enjoy an optional trip to spot caiman, which entails travelling to the river’s edge at night and scanning the shores with headlamps and flashlights to catch the red gleams of reflection from caiman eyes.
Creek Trail: A different kind of Terra Firme forest on a half-day activity is available daily. Crossed by several creeks that will eventually reach the Tambopata River, walk in the opposite direction of the river, where you will focus on forest and ecology on this creek trail.
Sunset Cruise: Twilight descends early in the jungle. Under the thick tree cover of the rainforest, darkness falls quickly, when the light cannot slip through the foliage any longer. Now, as afternoon slips into evening, you’re about to see one of the world’s most spectacular sunsets.
The Sunset Cruise floats down the wide river, countless oranges and pinks reflecting off the water in lovely patterns.
Breakfast
Boat transfer back down the Tambopata River to Puerto Maldonado
Return to Headquarters to pick up personal items
Transfer to the airport for onward travels.
Rainforest Kitlist
Rainforest Kitlist
