Wild Tambopata - Amazon Tours

Day 1 Arrive Lima

Overnight.

Day 2 Fly Amazon - Refugio Amazonas

Begin your Amazon tour with an early morning flight to the frontier town of Puerto Maldonado. From here travel up the Tambopata River to Refugio Amazonas, located in a 120 hectare private reserve surrounded by the community of Condenado. Refugio Amazonas is a comfortable yet unobtrusive 24-room lodge built using a combination of traditional native materials (wood, palm fronds, wild cane and clay) and modern eco-lodge technology. This afternoon you will hike to a 115-foot canopy observation platform for a birds-eye view of the jungle. Marvel at the stunning river views and observe parrots, toucans, and macaws nesting in the surrounding treetops. You will visit the brand new Canopy Observation Tower recently completed in Mar 2006, and have an overview of the beautiful jungle canopy.

Days 3-5 Tambopata Research Center

You'll awake at dawn for an early morning visit to the Sachavacayoc oxbow lake. Hike 1.5 hours to the lakeshore and then take a tranquil canoe ride in search of resident giant river otters, turtles, hoatzin, and wading birds.

By noon you will travel in a dugout canoe deep into what is considered the largest uninhabited tropical forest on earth - the 1.7 million hectare Tambopata-Candamo Reserve. The jungle here provides habitat for many of the most exciting tropical animals, including 8 species of macaws, 13 species of monkeys, at least 530 species of birds, capybara, tapir, caiman, ocelot, jaguar and many more. You'll overnight at the Tambopata Research Center, located just 30 minutes from the largest known macaw clay lick in the world!

Before dawn breaks on Day 4, you're at the clay lick and as the sun breaches the treetops, a dazzling wildlife spectacle appears along the steep clay bank. More than a thousand parrots perch and flit around the salt lick, painting the area with bright blues, yellows, reds and greens. You're likely to see 6 species of macaws: Red-and-green, Blue-and-gold, Scarlet, Red-bellied, Chestnut-fronted, and Blue-headed; plus several types of parrots and other tropical birds. You'll visit the macaw lick again on Day 5 to soak in the awesome explosion of colors and wildlife.

The rest of your time at the Tambopata Research Center is filled with tours into the jungle to learn more about rainforest ecology and observe the abundant wildlife. Tambopata may be the very best place in the world to encounter such rarely seen tropical animals in their native environment as the tapir, white lipped peccaries, and the seldom seen jaguar.

Day 6 Refugio Amazonas

Say a final farewell to colorful macaws and parrots this morning before returning down river to Refugio Amazonas. In the afternoon, you'll explore the jungle surrounding the lodge to learn how the native community uses Amazon rainforest plants, animals and trees for medicine, food and construction.

Day 7 Fly Lima and Return Home

Return to Puerto Maldonado.  Catch your flight to Lima.  With more time, extend your trip!

Thanks to Mike Baird for Wild Pig Photo