Arrival & Reception by your Guide. Our guides are biologists, tourism professionals, or community members. Unless noted otherwise, our guides speak English. We assign guides at a 6:1 ratio at the Tambopata Research Center. 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.

Transfer from the Airport to our 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 at our safe deposit. This helps us keep the boats and cargo light.

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 reserve.

Refugio Amazonas is a charming 32 bedroom lodge well placed immediately adjacent to the Tambopata National Reserve.

Boxed Lunch

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

Dinner

Caiman Search: We will be out on the river's edge at night, scanning the shores with headlamps and flashlights to catch the red gleams of reflection from caiman eyes.

Overnight at Refugio Amazonas.

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Canopy Tower: A thirty minute walk from Refugio Amazonas leads to the 25-metre high scaffolding canopy tower. A staircase with banister running through the middle provides safe access to the platforms above. The tower has been built upon high ground, therefore maximizing your view of the continuous primary forest extending out towards the Tambopata National Reserve. From here, sightings of mixed species canopy flocks as well as toucans, macaws and raptors are likely.

Breakfast

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.

Refugio Amazonas to Tambopata Research Center. Four and half hours by boat from Refugio Amazonas, in the pristine heart of the reserve, lies the Tambopata Research Center. One and half hours into our boat journey, as we cross the confluence with the Malinowski River, we will leave the final traces of human habitation behind. Within the 700,000 hectare uninhabited nucleus of the reserve, sightings of capybaras, caiman, geese, macaws and other large species will become more frequent.

The Tambopata Research Center is a simple but comfortable 18 bedroom lodge situated alongside the world's largest macaw clay lick (locally called a colpa) on the uninhabited frontier of the Tambopata National Reserve and the Bahuaja-Sonene National Park. Bathroom facilities here are shared, but are close to the rooms, very well maintained and sufficient to guarantee availability at all times.

Boxed Lunch

Orientation. Upon arrival, the lodge manager will welcome you and brief you with important navigation and security tips.
Overlook Trail: A three to five kilometre hike will lead us to overlooks commanding magnificent views of the Tambopata River winding its way into the lowlands. The forest on this trail, regenerating on old bamboo forest, is good for howler monkey and dusky titi monkey viewing.

Dinner

Macaw Project Lecture: After dinner scientists will provide 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.

Overnight at Tambopata Research Center

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Macaw Clay Lick: On most clear mornings of the year dozens of large macaws and hundreds of parrots of up to 15 species congregate on this large river bank in a raucous and colourful spectacle which inspired a National Geographic cover story. Discretely located fifty meters from the cliff, we will observe green-winged, scarlet and blue-and-gold macaws as well as several species of smaller parrots descend to ingest clay. Outings are at dawn when the lick is most active.

Breakfast

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. The Tambopata Research Center itself is located within this habitat.

Lunch

Pond Platform: Ten minutes upriver from the lodge is a small pond with a platform in the middle. It is a great place to spot waterfowl such as Muscovy duck, sun bittern and hoatzin along with the woodpeckers, oropendolas, flycatchers and parakeets that call this pond home.
Dinner.

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.

Overnight at Tambopata Research Center.

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Breakfast

Tambopata Research Center to Refugio Amazonas. A three and a half hour boat ride brings you to Refugio Amazonas.
Boxed Lunch.

Condenado Oxbow Lake: A forty minute hike takes you to Condenado Lake. You will paddle canoes around the lake looking for lakeside wildlife such as hoatzin and caiman, hoping to see the otters which are infrequently seen here. You will also be rewarded with overhead sightings of macaws.

Dinner

Tambopata National Reserve Lecture: Nightly lectures prepared by the staff of Refugio Amazonas cover conservation threats, opportunities and projects in the Tambopata National Reserve.

Overnight at Refugio Amazonas.

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Breakfast

Transfer by Boat from Refugio Amazonas to the Tambopata River Port.

Transfer from the Tambopata River Port to our Puerto Maldonado Headquarters.

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

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Cost per person sharing double, twin or triple room: US$785 + US$60 park entry fee

Single (if you do not wish to share accommodation): US$995 + US$60 park entry fee

Extra Nights at US$110 per person sharing, US$165 per single

Included: All meals, accommodation, and services as detailed above, all river transportation, as well as transfers from and to the airport in Puerto Maldonado.

Not Included: International or domestic airfares, airport departure taxes or visa fees, excess baggage charges, additional nights during the trip due to flight cancellations, alcoholic beverages or bottled water, snacks, insurance of any kind, laundry, phone calls or messages, reconfirmation of flights and items of a personal nature.

We reserve the right to change the order of activities or trails due to weather or other local conditions.

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A number of add-on activities are available at the different lodges, please contact me for more details and to confirm availability:

At Tambopata Research Center

Sea Kayaking the Tambopata River at Dawn, cost: US$230 per person, max. 10 people.
No previous experience required. After a few practice strokes with our kayaking guide, you will be ready to navigate the Tambopata at a natural pace for a few hours. Wildlife sightings increase in quality – the silent kayaks do not intimidate. Dawn is the best time for wildlife viewing.

Sea Kayaking the River Near the Lodge, cost: US$90 per person, max. 10 people.
No previous experience required. After a few practice strokes with our kayaking guide, you will be ready to navigate the Tambopata at a natural pace for a few hours. Wildlife sightings increase in quality – the silent kayaks do not intimidate.

Canopy Climbing, cost: US$40 per person, maximum 10 people.
Replicating the daily work of macaw researchers, we will climb a 30-meter high tree with a rope, harness and jumar. From this vantage point we will have a macaw's eye view of the forest. This demanding exercise is perfectly safe and requires no previous experience.

Aromatherapy, cost: US$35 per person. A gift for both your body and soul. Aromatherapy is a complementary therapy based on the use of essential oils extracted from herbs, flowers, roots, grasses and trees. You will be able to choose between three aromatherapies: Anti-stress, Romance and Passion. Depending on which you choose you will be enjoying aromas of chamomile, lavender, jasmin, or sandalwood, among others.

Digitopuncture, cost: US$35 per person. The Inca Trail, City Tours, Machu Picchu, the Rainforest - in Peru you walk a lot! Give your feet a rest and allow them some recovery. They have earned that recognition.

Rainforest Massage, cost: US$35 per person. They consist of 30 minutes of massages and aproximately 10min. of relaxation. At the lodge you will find a list of options: Spiritual Peace, Energising, Anti-stress, Cat's Claw, Brazil Nut Oil, and Chuchuhuasi/Matico. There is something for everyone.

At Refugio Amazonas

Kayaking on the Tambopata River, time: 2-3hrs, cost US$65 per person, max. 10 people.
No previous experience is required. A boat will bring us upriver and then we will paddle down a portion of the Tambopata River with some rapids, although most of the progress presents low difficulty. At the shores we will observe fragmented parts of the forest and come across with locals that work at the few farms in the region. To finish our experience, we´ll stop on a sandy beach and take a well deserved bath. No experience required, only swimming knowledge.

Canopy Climbing up a 30m high tree, cost US$40per person, maximum 10 people.
Replicating the daily work of macaw researchers, we will climb a 30-meter high tree with a rope, harness and jumar. From this vantage point we will have a macaws eye view of the forest. This demanding exercise is perfectly safe and requires no previous experience.

Variety of Holistic Treatments ranging from Aromatherapy to Mud baths, massage and herbal baths, cost US$35 per person, please contact us for more details.

Children's Rainforest Trail: Ania & The World's Voice, cost: US$60 per person.
A short trail designed for children with the help of ANIA, an environmental education NGO. Kids aged 4-10 hike with a guide through a challenging (but short) trail where they follow maps, solve riddles and find clues that will lead them to Ania's "gifts". The trail teaches kids how people live in the rainforest and leaves a valuable message from Ania, "a girl born in the depths of the rain forest to fill our hearts with hope". The concept, the story and the trail are trademarked by ANIA, a non profit organisation with the mission of creating 100,000 hectares of "Tierras de los Niños" (Children's Lands) - private protected areas management by children.

Children's Rainforest Trail: Ania & The Forest's Treasure, cost: US$60 per person.
Trail designed by ANIA, somewhat longer, which requires a five minute boat ride. Features include Ant City, the search for the lost Brazil Nut, a shihuahuaco tree to climb and a visit to Ania's home near Lake Condenado.

Jungle Mountain Biking, cost US$35 per person, maximum 10 people.
Our ride begins 10 minutes from the lodge, and then loops 10 kilometres through mature forest and numerous creek beds.

Biking to Puerto Maldonado at the end of your program, cost: US$200 per person, max. 10 people. Change the engine for pedals and ride back to Puerto Maldonado on a mountain-bike. An early boat will take you to the Tambopata River Port in the Native Community of Infierno. From there you will bike back the 20 kilometre road to Puerto Maldonado that has short slopes and presents little technical difficulty, but it will be hot and sweaty. At our Puerto Maldonado Office a shower will await you. Afterwards you will be driven to the airport. This activity is always subject to airline departure times.

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