Tampopata Rainforest 4 days & 3 nights

Keep a lookout for exotic wildlife, interact with local communities, all while enjoying one of the most beautiful natural setting on earth, the Peruvian rainforest. Come with us on this 4 day/3night excursion to get a taste of the rainforest.

Day 1

Arrival & Reception by Guide
Our guides are English speaking; biologists, tourism professionals, or community members. To provide the best quality service we assign no more than 10 people per guide and combine smaller groups. If you would like a private guide or a guide in a language other than English please let us know.

Transfer Airport to Puerto Maldonado Headquarters
Upon arrival from Lima or Cusco, we will welcome you at the 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 in our secured storage area as this helps us keep the boats and cargo light.

Transfer Puerto Maldonado Headquarters to Tambopata River Port
Skirting Puerto Maldonado, we drive 20 kilometers to the Tambopata River Port, entering the Native Community of Infierno.

Transfer Boat - Tambopata River Port to Refugio Amazonas
The two and a half hour boat ride from the Tambopata Port to Refugio Amazonas will take us past the Community of Infierno and the Tambopata National Reserve´s checkpoint and into the buffer zone of this 1.3 million hectare conservation area.

Boxed Lunch

Orientation
Upon arrival, the lodge manager will welcome you and brief you with important safety and security tips.

Dinner

Caiman Search
After dinner, we will venture out to the river’s edge scanning the shores with headlamps and flashlights to catch the red gleams of reflection from the caiman’s eyes.

Overnight at Refugio Amazonas

Day 2

Breakfast

Oxbow Lake Visit
We will paddle around the lake on a canoe or a catamaran, looking for lakeside wildlife such as hoatzin, caiman and horned screamers, as well as trying to catch a glimpse of the otters, which is more difficult. Throughout the visit to the lake you will be surrounded with a variety of birdlife including the colorful macaws.

Lunch

Farm Visit
After a refreshing lunch we make our way downriver from until we reach a farm owned and managed by the charismatic Don Manuel - from the neighboring community of Condenado. He grows a variety of popular and unknown Amazon crops - just about every plant and tree you see serves a purpose.

Ethnobotanical Tour
Our tour continues along a trail as we discover a variety of plants and trees that are used by the local population in a variety different ways. We will learn about the medicinal (and other) uses of Ajo-Sacha, Yuca de Venado, Uña de Gato, Charcot-Sacha, Para-Para, among others.
Dinner

Tambopata National Reserve Lectures
Back at the lodge there will be a lecture prepared by the staff of Refugio Amazonas that covers conservation threats, opportunities and projects in the Tambopata National Reserve.

Overnight at Refugio Amazonas

Day 3

Parrot Clay Lick
A fifteen minute boat ride and sixty minute walk from Refugio Amazonas is a clay lick used both by parrots and parakeets. From a blind you will see parrots and parakeets descend to the clay bank. Species such as the Dusky headed and Cobalt winged Parakeet descend on this clay lick. With luck we will also see some or all of the following species in the early morning: Mealy and Yellow-crowned Amazons, Blue-headed Pionus, Severe macaw and Orange-cheeled (Barraband`s) Parrot. We visit the lick at dawn when parrots are most active or try to find other times such as midmorning or early afternoon when they are known to frequent the lick.

Breakfast

Mammal Clay Lick
Twenty minutes walking from Refugio Amazonas is a peccary clay lick. These wild rain forest pigs show up in herds of five to twenty individuals to eat clay in the late morning. Chances of spotting them are around 15%, but well worth the short hike. Other wildlife also shows up including deer, guan and parakeets.

Lunch

Brazil Nut Trail and Camp
A few minutes hike from the lodge is a beautiful old growth patch of Brazil Nut forest that has been harvested for decades (if not centuries) where the precarious remains of a camp used two months a year by Brazil Nut gatherers can still be experienced. We will be demonstrating the whole process of the rain forest's only sustainably harvested product from collection through transportation to drying.

Canopy Tower
A thirty minute walk from Refugio Amazonas leads to the 25 meter scaffolding canopy tower. A banister staircase running through the middle provides safe access to the platforms above. The tower has been built upon high ground, therefore increasing your views of the continuous primary forest extending out towards the Tambopata National Reserve. From here views of a variety of species including toucans, macaws and raptors are likely to be spotted.

Dinner

Night walk
You will have the option of hiking out at night, when most of the mammals are active but difficult to see. Easier to find are frogs with shapes and sounds as bizarre as their natural histories.

Overnight at Refugio Amazonas

Day 4

Breakfast

Transfer Boat - Refugio Amazonas to Tambopata River Port
Transfer Tambopata River Port to Puerto Maldonado Headquarters
Transfer Puerto Maldonado Headquarters to Airport

We retrace our river and road journey back to Puerto Maldonado, our office and the airport. Depending on airline schedules, this may require pre-dawn departures.

Prices are per person and in US Dollar. Prices are subject to change around holidays such as Easter, Christmas, New Year and other local festivities.

Price Includes:
• Lodging for 3 nights in double accomodation with breakfast
• Lunch day 1-3
• Dinner day 1-3
• Pick-up and drop-off from/to the airport Puerto Maldonado
• All excursions in shared services with English speaking guide
• Permanent assistance from our local offices

Price Does Not Include:
• International and domestic airfares
• Meals not specifies
• Drinks
• Travel insurance
• Extras, tips and personal expenses

Note: We reserve the right to change the order of activities depending on weather, schedules, and other unforeseen events.