Noel Kempff Mercado National Park

Arrive in Santa Cruz and overnight.

This morning, board your charter flight to Flor de Oro, the center of ecotourism in Noel Kempff Mercado National Park. Flor de Oro is located right on the banks of the Itenez River in the extreme north-central section of the park. Therefore, en route to the park, you will fly over hundreds of kilometers (a 2.5 hour flight) of pristine rainforest, as well as the magnificent Caparu Plateau with its red cliffs and two very impressive waterfalls Ahlfed and Arco Iris. The entire plateau along with the majority of surrounding rainforests make Noel Kempff Mercado National Park exactly what it is – a large, well-protected area encompassing more than 3.8 million acres of wilderness. The afternoon will be spent exploring gallery forests found along the Itenez River and the large expanse of periodically savanna located close to Flor de Oro, offering the opportunity to see toco toucan, white woodpecker, and a wide variety of insects and mammal species including South American coati mundi’s and the beautiful silvery marmoset. An optional night hike will be offered.

Your first full day in Noel Kempff will be spent exploring some of the oxbow lakes, gallery forests, and periodically inundated savannas located near Flor de Oro. The exploration of these three distinctly different habitat types should provide you with an excellent idea of the different vegetation types found in Noel Kempff along with some great chances to see the diversity of wildlife that make their home within the boundaries of the park.

During the morning hours you will walk through savannas and some pristine riverine forests en route to one of the bays located close to Flor de Oro where motorized boats will be waiting to take you on an expedition of the black waters of the local system of lakes and rivers.

Following a return to Flor de Oro, lunch, and a siesta, the afternoon will be spent traveling to las Torres, a park protection station that gives access to a rocky outcrop, providing amazing views of the Caparú Plateau and the humid tropical rainforests found in the northern section of the park.

Explore the savannas and tall humid tropical rainforests that lie between Flor de Oro and the Campamento Lago Caiman which is located further to the east. More than 300 bird species have been recorded within walking distance of Flor de Oro. There are two options for this day:

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  Exploring the trails during the early morning hours and then returning to Flor de Oro at lunch time and have the afternoon available for further hikes.


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  Hiking all the way to Lago Caiman (an old scientific research station), which provides access to the Caparú Plateau. It is important to know that this is a long hike (10 hours in total) and should only be attempted by the fittest travelers. An evening return in the dark is possible, however for those that can handle it, the trip if definitely worth the effort!


 

Your final morning in Noel Kempff will take you in search of some of the species that may have eluded you during the previous four days. That means you could be visiting any of the bays or trails located around Flor de Oro before your flight back to Santa Cruz in the late morning. Charter flights between Santa Cruz and Flor de Oro can be delayed and postponed due to unfavorable weather. We recommend travelers schedule extra days in Santa Cruz at the end to accommodate any schedule modifications.