The 5-day / 4-night Deep Rainforest Experience

Arrival & Reception by your Guide or Transfer. 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.

Puerto Maldonado to Community River Port. Skirting Puerto Maldonado, we drive one hour to the Community River Port on the Tambopata River. The port is a local communal venture.

Community River Port to the Tambopata Research Center. The Tambopata Research Center is about 2.5 hours by boat. Your first taste of the Amazon cuisine will be in the river while you leave the city to enjoy the amazing jungle landscapes. As we cross the confluence with the Malinowski River, we will leave the final traces of human habitation behind. Within the 700,000 hectares of an uninhabited nucleus of the Tambopata National Reserve, sightings of capybara, caiman, geese, macaws, and other large species will become more frequent.

The Tambopata Research Center is a small, comfortable 24-room boutique eco-lodge situated near a large macaw clay lick (locally called a colpa) on the uninhabited frontier of the Tambopata National Reserve and the Bahuaja-Sonene National Park. All rooms offer private bathrooms with hot water showers. Prices given are for our Standard rooms with a number of more luxurious room upgrades available including Deluxe Suites.

Accommodation includes rooms from 21 square metres to 83 square metres suites with a private bathroom and one open veranda-style wall facing the forest.

Your stay includes three meals daily, tea, coffee, guided excursions and activities, refreshments upon arriving, and transfers to and from the airport. 

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

Rainforest by Night: Walking through the rainforest at night challenges all your senses. In deep darkness, surrounded by an array of jungle sounds and with the aid of your guide’s powerful spotlight, you enter a world inhabited by the most unique, diverse and shy night creatures. If fortunate, you will be able to find poison dart & other frogs, night monkeys, tarantulas and insects with the most unique adaptations to life under the cover of darkness.

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 after our boat-ride, 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

Monkey Search: This 2.5-hour trail meanders through floodplain forest, the prototypical rain forest with immense trees criss-crossed by creeks and ponds. Amongst the figs, ceibas and shihuahuacos we will look for howler monkeys, squirrel monkeys, brown capuchin, and spider monkeys. In fact, the trail gives you perhaps the best chance to see a wide variety of monkey species. But on this vibrant trail, you’ll find much more than just monkeys. You’ll be amazed at the trail’s diversity — you might even come across the tracks of a Puma, Ocelot, or Jaguar. This is untouched, truly wild Amazonia at its very best. The Tambopata Research Center itself is located within this habitat.

Lunch

Island Exploration & Pond: 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. You will also have an opportunity to learn about the varieties of fish that live in the Amazon & may even get to see a caiman or two.

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: Every morning is different at a clay lick, and because of that you have another chance to join the morning excursion, this time to a different clay lick.

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.

Palm Swamp: A thirty-minute hike from TRC brings us to the palm swamp. Dead aguaje palms serve as nests to Red-bellied and Blue-and-gold macaws. An elevated boardwalk and scaffolding tower allow for eye level observation of the macaws as they fly in and out of their nests.

Dinner

Discovering New Species: You’ll meet our research team at the lodge, where they’ll explain what types of insects we’re looking for, and how to identify them. Then, you’ll get collecting tools and head to our “light trap,” a brightly lit sheet that attracts an amazing variety of insects. You will look for and collect certain types of insects in the trap. Finally, if you’re lucky, you may even discover and name a new species!

Overnight at Tambopata Research Center.

Please read these important guidelines

Wild Creek Trail: As you and your guide start out along the Wild Creek Trail, the soft sound of flowing water surrounds you. During the wet season, this little jungle brook overflows with rain. During the dry season, however, parts of the creek dry up. But all year long, its watery ecosystem brings life to dozens of unique creatures. One of the best places to experience the biodiversity of the rainforest, the hike follows an Amazon creek deep into the forest, passing through beautiful, untouched Terra Firme forest (high, solid ground).The trail is undeniably beautiful, with pristine, crystal-clear creeks where you might catch sight of fish, frogs, and shy rainforest animals that few jungle visitors get a chance to see. As you hike the Wild Creek Trail, your guide will teach you all about rainforest creek ecology and help you spot wildlife. As a result, you’ll leave with a deep, newfound knowledge of this uniquely appealing jungle ecosystem.

Sunset Cruise: Twilight descends early in the jungle. Under the thick tree cover of the rainforest, darkness falls quickly, but freed from the jungle canopy on the river it is a different scene . 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. There’s no better place to experience a sunset than a tranquil boat in the Amazon jungle. When you’re not busy admiring the sunset itself, you have great chances to spot shy wildlife venturing out before dark. You’ll see a variety of riverside animals, from chunky Capybaras to elegant Macaws soaring overhead. Finally, as you drink in the breathtaking views and refreshing breeze, you’ll learn about the fascinating natural and human history of this Amazonian river. It’s a relaxing experience you’ll never forget.

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Breakfast

Goodbye and Thank You! Your visit has come to an end and will make a direct contribution to Amazonian research projects, local people and the Tambopata National Reserve.

Early transfer by boat from the Tambopata Research Center to the Tambopata River Community 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.

* IMPORTANT: Transfer times. Due to our programmed start and end times, we will send you suggested flights for your rainforest experience. Other flights incur extra fees for private boat transfers which would need to be added at your cost.

Transfer-in (From Puerto Maldonado to Lodge): daily at 13:00 and your flights need to link up with these so we recommend an arrival time in Puerto Maldonado not later than 12:30pm.

Transfer-out (Lodge to Puerto Maldonado): Early transfer out at about 6:30 AM in order to be on time for your flight. Please book a flight no earlier than 11:30am and if possible avoid the last late-afternoon flight out to have a cushion for possible flight delays.

Private transport by bus and boat can be arranged at extra cost for families or groups.

Please read these important guidelines

Cost per person sharing from US$1617 + US$75 park entry fee

Single (if you are visiting solo) from US$2157 + US$75 park entry fee

More luxurious room upgrades also available.
Extra nights available, please enquire.

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.

Boat Transportation: Our boats are 20-foot long, roofed canoes. Outboard boat engines are 75hp 4 stroke, eco-friendly, low emission motors.

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

Please read these important guidelines

Exploring deep within pristine Amazonian rainforest, far from human habitation and staying near the world’s largest macaw clay lick, this unique itinerary represents the ultimate rainforest experience for the discerning eco-traveller. Your itinerary is done on an ‘’a-la-carte’’ basis & you can decide on your activities with the help of your guide from a number of options. Enjoy customising your itinerary with the following activities:

Please read these important guidelines