Due to our new boat schedules, you can now visit one of the most remote lodges in South America with a quick 4-day, 3-night trip. If you are looking for a more in-depth Amazon experience, then the Tambopata Research Center (TRC) suits you best. Although known for its ongoing research of macaws for more than 25 years, there is much more to see
at the Tambopata Research Center, including the largest Macaw Clay Lick in the world. A rule in the Amazon states that the further away from the cities you'd go and the longer you stay in the forest, the better chances you will have to observe wildlife.
Just go for it, if you want to become sort of Indiana Jones, you can really adventure with our company, without any doubt, you can enjoy your wilderness trip to the Amazonian jungles for these long four days, discovering something new about nature, that can be so friendly or so wild with you, it all depends on how much luck you do have...
TOUR ITINERARY:
DAY 1: Arrival & Reception.
Our guides are biologists, professionals in tourism or community members. Unless noted otherwise, our guides speak English. We assign guides at a 6:1 ratio in the TRC. 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 airport to Puerto Maldonado headquarters
Upon arrival from Lima or Cusco, we will welcome you at the airport and drive you for 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.
Transfer from Pto. Maldonado headquarters to Tambopata river
We board our jungle motortruck bypassing the Puerto Maldonado river port, and we ride down for 20 kilometers to the Tambopata river port, entering the Native Community of Infierno (Hell). The little port here is a communal business enterprise managed by the Ese'eja natives.
Transfer Boat - From the Tambopata river port to the Amazonas Lodge.
The two-and-a-half hour boat ride from the Tambopata port to the Amazonas Lodge will take us past the Native Community of Infierno and the Tambopata National Reserve's checkpoint and into the buffer zone of this 1,3 million hectare conservation unit. Box Lunch.
Orientation upon arrival: the lodge manager will welcome you and brief you with important navigation and security tips. Dinner.
Alligator Search: We will be out at the river's edge at night, scanning the shores with headlamps and flashlights to catch the red gleams of reflection from crocodile eyes. Overnight at the Amazonas Lodge.
DAY 2: Breakfast.
Canopy Tower: A thirty-minute walk from the Amazonas Lodge leads to the 25-meter scaffolding canopy tower. A banistered staircase running through the middle provides safe access to the platforms above. The tower has been built upon high ground, therefore increasing your horizon of the continuous primary forest extending out towards the Tambopata National Reserve (TNR). From here, the views of flocks of mixed species as well as toucans, macaws and crocodiles are likely to be seen.
Transfer Boat - from the Amazonas Lodge to the TRC.
Four-and-half hours by boat from the Amazonas Lodge, in the pristine heart of the reserve, lies the TRC. 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 capibara, crocodile, wild geese, macaws and other large species will become more frequent for you, the visitor.
Chuncho Clay Lick: Three hours from the Amazonas Lodge, deep in the TNR we will stop at the Chuncho Clay Lick. After a brief walk (5 minutes) we will have the chance to see dozens of large macaws feeding on the special sodium-rich clays of the riverbank. The Chuncho Clay Lick probably attracts more large macaws than any other clay lick in the world and the sight of dozens of macaws taking flight is truly unforgettable. The details of our stopover will depend on the weather and the amount of macaw activity, as the birds don't visit the clay lick when it is raining. Box Lunch.
Orientation upon arrival: the lodge manager will welcome you and give you a briefing with important navigation and security tips.
Overlook Trail: A three-to-five kilometer hike will lead us to an overlook obtaining magnificent views of the Tambopata river, winding its way into the deep lowlands. The forest on this trail, regenerating on old bamboo forest, is good for Howler Monkey and Dusky Titi Monkey. Dinner.
Macaw Project Lectures: After dinner, scientists will provide an in-depth look at the biology of macaws, their feeding habits, the theories for their clay lick use, their breeding and feeding ecology, population fluctuations and the threats to their conservation. Overnight at the TRC.
DAY 3: 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 colorful spectacle which inspired a National Geographic cover story. Discreetely located fifty meters from the cliff, we will observe Green-winged, Scarlet and Blue-and-Gold macaws and several species of smaller parrots descend to ingest clay. Outings are at dawn, when the lick is most active. Breakfast.
Floodplain Trail: This five-kilometer trail covers the prototypical rain forest with immense trees, criss-crossed by creeks & ponds. Amongst the figs, ceibas and Shihuahuacos (Ironwood), we will look for Squirrel, Brown Capuchin and Spider Monkeys, as well as peccaries. The TRC is located within this habitat. Lunch.
Pond Platform: Ten minutes upriver from the lodge is a tiny pond with a platform at 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. Dinner.
Night walk: You will have the option of hiking out at night, when most of the mammals are active, easily heard but rarely seen. Much easier to find are the colorful frogs/toads with shapes and sounds as bizarre as their natural histories. Overnight at the TRC.
DAY 4: Breakfast.
Transfer Boat - From the TRC to the Tambopata river port.
Transfer from Tambopata river port to Pto. Maldonado headquarters
Transfer from Puerto Maldonado headquarters to the airport
We retrace our river and road journey back to Puerto Maldonado, to our office and back to the airport. Depending on airline schedules, this may require dawn departures.
NOTES: Included programs based on double occupancy.
Includes: all meals, accommodations and services, all river transportation, and all transfers from and to the local airport.
Not included: International or domestic airfares, airport departure taxes or visa fees, excess of 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 web messages, reconfirmation of flights and items of personal nature.
Boat Transportation: The Qeros Tours Peru boats are 7-meter long, roofed canoes. The outboard engine is a 60hp 4-cycle, eco-friendly, low emission motor.
• Transfers-in (from Puerto Maldonado to the Lodge): We have two departures daily at 13:00 and at 14:30.
• Transfers-out (from the TRC to Puerto Maldonado): Early transfer out about 5:00am in order to be on time for your flight out that should depart after 13:00 hrs, please be sure not to buy early fly outs.
We reserve the right to change the order of activities.
Includes: all meals, accommodations and services, all river transportation & transfers from and to Puerto Maldonado's local airport.
Not included: International or domestic airfares, airport departure taxes or visa fees, excess of baggage charges, additional nights during the trip due to flight delays/cancellations, alcoholic beverages/sodas or bottled water, snacks, insurance of any kind, laundry, phone calls or web messages, reconfirmation of flights and items of personal nature.
Notes:
Programs to the Amazonas Lodge: There is an additional $ 13 per person charge for entrance into the National Park. This applies for tours from the Amazonas Lodge.
Programs to the TRC: There is an additional US $ 75 per person charge for entrance into the NP. This applies for tours to the TRC Lodge.
Transfers:
Transfers-in (from Puerto Maldonado to the Lodge): We have two departures daily at 13:00 and at 14:30.
Transfers-out (from the Lodge to Puerto Maldonado): Two daily departures at 07:00 and at 08:00. For other schedule possibilities, please consult with us.