Tambopata Research Center

AM: Arrive in Puerto Maldonado, capital of Madre de Dios, and join a 2 hours journey by bus and boat to the lodge. Your first taste of the Amazon culinary will be in the river while you let the city behind to enjoy the amazing jungle landscapes

Posada Amazonas Lodge awaits - a spacious ecolodge, with a bar, a massage center, and buffet service in the heart of a private concession own by the Native Community of Infierno, the guardians of the rainforest.

PM: This afternoon join a first group hiking leads to the 40-meter scaffolding Canopy Tower. A banister staircase running through the middle provides safe access to the platforms above. From atop you obtain spectacular views of the vast expanses of standing forest cut by the Tambopata River winding through the middle. Now and then toucans, parrots, or macaws are seen flying against the horizon, or mixed species canopy flocks land in the treetop next to you.

AM - PM: Wildlife in the Amazon takes advantage of the first lights of the day as it is cooler, so we do. Even you are on vacation there will be some activities that our guides encourage you to make it very early in the morning and it’s worth it.

Tres Chimbadas oxbow lake is thirty minutes by boat and forty-five minutes hiking from Posada Amazonas. Once there paddle around the lake in a catamaran, searching for the resident family of nine giant river otters (seen by 60% of our lake visitors) and other lakeside wildlife such as caiman, hoatzin and horned screamers. Otters are most active from dawn to eight or nine AM.

The Centro Ñape is a communal organization that produces medicines out of forest plants and administers them to patients who choose their little clinic. They have produced a trail that explains the different medicinal (and other) uses of selected plants.

You will have the option of a night walk when most of the mammals are active but rarely seen. Is much easier to find are frogs with shapes and sounds as bizarre as their natural histories.

AM: It is time to say goodbye, as the expedition comes to an end. Your visit will make a direct contribution to Wired Amazon and the National Reserve of Tambopata. You will journey back to the city to the airport for your national flight onwards.

AM: Arrive in Puerto Maldonado, capital of Madre de Dios, and join a 1-hour bus and a 2.5 boat journey to the lodge. Your first taste of the Amazon culinary 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 uninhabited nucleus of the reserve, sightings of capybara, caiman, geese, macaws and other large species will become more frequent.

The Tambopata Research Center awaits – a spacious boutique eco-lodge, with bar, a massage center, and buffet service in the heart of National Reserve of Tambopata, being the only lodge inside the reserve surrounded by dozens of macaw nests belonging to the Macaw Project.

PM: This afternoon join the Overlook. A three to five-kilometer hike will lead us to overlooks commanding magnificent views of the Tambopata winding its way into the lowlands. The forest on this trail, regenerating on the old bamboo forest, is good for Howler Monkey and Dusky Titi Monkey. You will have the option of hiking out at night when most of the mammals are active but difficult to see. Easier to find are frogs with shapes and sounds as bizarre as their natural histories.

AM - PM: 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 that inspired a National Geographic cover story. Discretely 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.

This five-kilometer trail covers the prototypical rain forest with immense trees crisscrossed by creeks and ponds. Amongst the figs, ceibas, and shihuahuacos we will go for a monkey search Squirrel, Brown Capuchin, and Spider Monkeys as well as peccaries. The Tambopata Research Centre is located within this habitat.

Ten minutes upriver from the lodge explore the island where is a tiny pond with a platform in 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.

After dinner scientists will provide a night lecture, 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.

AM - PM: A different kind of Terra Firme forest on a half-day activity is available daily. Crossed by several creeks that will eventually reach the Tambopata River, walk in the opposite direction of the river, where you will focus on forest and ecology on this creek trail.

Twilight descends early in the jungle. Under the thick tree cover of the rainforest, darkness falls quickly, when the light cannot slip through the foliage any longer. 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.

AM: It is time to say goodbye, as the expedition comes to an end. Your visit will make a direct contribution to Wired Amazon and the National Reserve of Tambopata. You will journey back to the city to the airport for your national flight onwards.

AM: Arrive in Puerto Maldonado, capital of Madre de Dios, and join a 1-hour bus and a 2.5 boat journey to the lodge. Your first taste of the Amazon culinary 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 uninhabited nucleus of the reserve, sightings of capybara, caiman, geese, macaws and other large species will become more frequent.

The Tambopata Research Center awaits – a spacious boutique eco-lodge, with bar, a massage center, and buffet service in the heart of National Reserve of Tambopata, being the only lodge inside the reserve surrounded by dozens of macaw nests belonging to the Macaw Project.

PM: This afternoon join the Overlook. A three to five-kilometer hike will lead us to overlooks commanding magnificent views of the Tambopata winding its way into the lowlands. The forest on this trail, regenerating on the old bamboo forest, is good for Howler Monkey and Dusky Titi Monkey. You will have the option of hiking out at night when most of the mammals are active but difficult to see. Easier to find are frogs with shapes and sounds as bizarre as their natural histories.

AM - PM: 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 that inspired a National Geographic cover story. Discretely 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.

This five-kilometer trail covers the prototypical rain forest with immense trees crisscrossed by creeks and ponds. Amongst the figs, ceibas, and shihuahuacos we will go for a monkey search Squirrel, Brown Capuchin, and Spider Monkeys as well as peccaries. The Tambopata Research Centre is located within this habitat.

Ten minutes upriver from the lodge explore the island where is a tiny pond with a platform in 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.

After dinner scientists will provide a night lecture, 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.

AM - PM: Every morning is different at the clay lick, because of that you have another chance to join the morning excursion. An entirely different habitat characterized by smaller, thinner trees atop hills and slopes is covered by this five-kilometer trail of terra firme forest. 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.

Growing on the remains of an oxbow lake and providing both arboreals as well as terrestrial mammals with fruits throughout the year, the aguaje palms are one of the most important food sources in the rainforest. Demand for these fruits and great conditions for planting rice makes the palm swamp also one of the most threatened habitats. 

AM - PM: A different kind of Terra Firme forest on a half-day activity is available daily. Crossed by several creeks that will eventually reach the Tambopata River, walk in the opposite direction of the river, where you will focus on forest and ecology on this creek trail.

Twilight descends early in the jungle. Under the thick tree cover of the rainforest, darkness falls quickly, when the light cannot slip through the foliage any longer. 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.

AM: It is time to say goodbye, as the expedition comes to an end. Your visit will make a direct contribution to Wired Amazon and the National Reserve of Tambopata. You will journey back to the city to the airport for your national flight onwards.