DAY 1: Arrival, Orientation, & Your Choice of A La Carte Activities

Arrival & Reception by Guide: Our guides are biologists, tourism professionals, or community members. Unless noted otherwise, our guides speak English. We assign guides at 10:1 ratio in Refugio Amazonas. This means groups smaller than 10 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 Airport to Puerto Maldonado Headquarters: Upon arrival from Lima or Cusco, you will be welcomed at the airport and driven 10 minutes to the Puerto Maldonado headquarters. While enjoying your first sights and smells of the forest in the headquarters’ gardens, you will pack only the necessary gear for your next few days, and leave the rest in safe deposit. This helps keep the boats and cargo light.

Transfer Puerto Maldonado Headquarters to Tambopata River Port: Skirting Puerto Maldonado, you will take a drive 20 kilometers to the Tambopata River Port, where you enter the native community of Infierno. The port is a communal business.

Transfer Boat – Tambopata River Port to Refugio Amazonas: The two-and-a-half-hour boat ride from the Tambopata Port to Refugio Amazonas will take you past the Community of Infierno and the Tambopata National Reserve´s checkpoint and into the buffer zone of this 1.3-million-hectare conservation unit.

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

Night A La Carte Activities: 

Discover a New Species: We’ll help researchers to find new species. A short hike from the lodge will take us to a light trap where we’ll help collect and identify insects.

Night Walk: Most of the 100 mammal species, thousands of insect species, and over 100 species of reptiles and amphibians only come out at night in the Peruvian rainforest. Night hikes through the jungle with one of our experienced guides often result in amazing looks at bizarre insects that look as if they come from another planet, Night Monkeys that leap through the canopy of the forest, and beautiful, brilliant frogs with shapes and sounds as bizarre as their natural histories.

Circle of Fire: Sit around a fire and listen to a story of the Amazon.

Tambopata Lectures: Nightly lectures prepared by the staff of Refugio Amazonas cover conservation threats, opportunities and projects in the Tambopata National Reserve.

Overnight at Refugio Amazonas Lodge: Superior, Comfort, or Suite Room
Meals Included: Lunch, Dinner

DAY 2: Your Choice of A La Carte Activities

Half Day A La Carte Activity (mornings only): 

Macaw Clay Lick: Chuncho Clay Lick is the second largest macaw clay lick in the area (the largest can only be accessed on the Tambopata Research Center trip). Waking up early in the morning is worth it to observe this amazing, colorful spectacle.

Parakeet Clay Lick: A 15-minute boat ride and 60-minute walk from Refugio Amazonas is a clay lick used by both parrots and parakeets. On most clear days from a blind you will see parrots and parakeets descend to ingest the clay on a bank. Species such as the Dusky-headed and Cobalt-winged parakeet descend at this clay lick. With luck you will also see Mealy and Yellow-crowned Amazons, Blue-headed Pionus, Severe macaw and Orange-cheeled (Barraband`s) parrot.

Early Morning A La Carte Activities: 

Canopy Tower: A 30-minute walk from Refugio Amazonas leads to the 25-meter scaffolding canopy tower. A bannister staircase provides safe access to the platforms above. The tower has been built upon high ground, therefore extending your view of the continuous primary forest in the Tambopata National Reserve. From here, you get splendid views of species of birds that flock in the canopy as well as toucans, macaws and raptors.

Morning A La Carte Activities: 

Farm & Ethnobotanical Trail: Five minutes downriver from the lodge lies a farm owned and managed by charismatic Don Manuel from the neighboring community of Condenado. He grows a variety of popular and unknown Amazon crops — just about every plant and tree you see serves a purpose. Along the Ethnobotanical Trail you find a variety of plants and trees that are used by the local population for a variety of purposes. You will learn about the medicinal (and other) uses of Ajo-Sacha, Yuca de Venado, Uña de Gato, Charcot-Sacha, Para-Para, among several others.

Mountain Biking: If you like action, this is a great way to explore and experience the beauty and excitement of the rainforest along 10km of trails. You can go for as long or as short of a ride as you want. You’ll be stopping to observe the wildlife along the way.

Birdwatching: Your guide will determine the best places to observe birds of all sorts. You might go for a hike, you might go up to the canopy tower.

Mammal Clay Lick: A 20-minute walk from Refugio Amazonas is a peccary clay lick. These wild rainforest pigs show up in the late morning to eat clay in herds of five to 20 individuals. Chances of spotting them are around 15 percent but well-worth the short hike. Other wildlife also shows up including deer, guan and parakeets.

Oxbow Lake: You will paddle around the lake on a canoe or a catamaran, looking for lakeside wildlife such as hoatzin, caiman and horned screamers, hoping to see the Giant otters which are infrequently seen here. You will also be rewarded with overhead sightings of macaws.

Children’s Trail: An exciting journey designed for children, we go through a walk where we follow maps, solve riddles, and find clues.

Rainforest Tattoo: We will prepare a paste rom the “huito” fruit, achiote, or other natural dies to draw traditional tattoos on ourselves.

Brazil Nut Trail & Camp: A few minutes hike from the lodge is a beautiful old-growth patch of Brazil Nut forest that has been harvested for decades (if not centuries) where the precarious remains of a camp used two months a year by Brazil Nut gatherers can still be experienced. The whole process of the rainforest’s only sustainably harvested product will be demonstrated for you, from collection and transportation to drying.

Stand Up Paddle Boarding: Paddle boarding is easy, fun, and a great way to explore the river as quietly as possible. We will have great opportunities to find wildlife along the river banks.

Kayaking: This adventure will offer you a quiet experience as you paddle near the rier bank, the perfect combination of adventure and wildlife.

Afternoon A La Carte Activities: 

Oxbow Lake: You will paddle around the lake on a canoe or a catamaran, looking for lakeside wildlife such as hoatzin, caiman and horned screamers, hoping to see the Giant otters which are infrequently seen here. You will also be rewarded with overhead sightings of macaws.

Amazon Cam: Camera traps will give us the opportunity of “watching” what is happening out there. We will help collecting data and installing new cameras.

Tambopata Aerobotany: We will get to the top of the trees and learn about the research we are doing in the forest canopy with drones, great pictures, and videos from above.

Harpy Cam: Canopy camera traps will give us the opportunity of “watching” what is happening out there. We will help collecting data and installing new cameras. If you’re lucky, you’ll spot a Harpy Eagle!

Brazil Nut Trail & Camp: A few minutes hike from the lodge is a beautiful old-growth patch of Brazil Nut forest that has been harvested for decades (if not centuries) where the precarious remains of a camp used two months a year by Brazil Nut gatherers can still be experienced. The whole process of the rainforest’s only sustainably harvested product will be demonstrated for you, from collection and transportation to drying.

Farm & Ethnobotanical Trail: Five minutes downriver from the lodge lies a farm owned and managed by charismatic Don Manuel from the neighboring community of Condenado. He grows a variety of popular and unknown Amazon crops — just about every plant and tree you see serves a purpose. Along the Ethnobotanical Trail you find a variety of plants and trees that are used by the local population for a variety of purposes. You will learn about the medicinal (and other) uses of Ajo-Sacha, Yuca de Venado, Uña de Gato, Charcot-Sacha, Para-Para, among several others.

Mammal Clay Lick: A 20-minute walk from Refugio Amazonas is a peccary clay lick. These wild rainforest pigs show up in the late morning to eat clay in herds of five to 20 individuals. Chances of spotting them are around 15 percent but well-worth the short hike. Other wildlife also shows up including deer, guan and parakeets.

Overlook Trail: This 2km trail will take us along the Tambopata River for great views of the rainforest. A great place to see the different types of forests.

Stand Up Paddle Boarding: Paddle boarding is easy, fun, and a great way to explore the river as quietly as possible. We will have great opportunities to find wildlife along the river banks.

Kayaking: This adventure will offer you a quiet experience as you paddle near the rier bank, the perfect combination of adventure and wildlife.

Mountain Biking: If you like action, this is a great way to explore and experience the beauty and excitement of the rainforest along 10km of trails. You can go for as long or as short of a ride as you want. You’ll be stopping to observe the wildlife along the way.

Sunset Cruise: Sunsets in the jungle are beautiful spectacles from nature and one of the best places to enjoy it is from a boat on the Tambopata River.

Night A La Carte Activities: 

Discover a New Species: We’ll help researchers to find new species. A short hike from the lodge will take us to a light trap where we’ll help collect and identify insects.

Night Walk: Most of the 100 mammal species, thousands of insect species, and over 100 species of reptiles and amphibians only come out at night in the Peruvian rainforest. Night hikes through the jungle with one of our experienced guides often result in amazing looks at bizarre insects that look as if they come from another planet, Night Monkeys that leap through the canopy of the forest, and beautiful, brilliant frogs with shapes and sounds as bizarre as their natural histories.

Circle of Fire: Sit around a fire and listen to a story of the Amazon.

Tambopata Lectures: Nightly lectures prepared by the staff of Refugio Amazonas cover conservation threats, opportunities and projects in the Tambopata National Reserve.

Overnight at Refugio Amazonas Lodge: Superior, Comfort, or Suite Room
Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

DAY 3: Transfer from Lodge to Puerto Maldonado & Departure

Transfer Boat – Refugio Amazonas to Tambopata River Port

Transfer Tambopata River Port to Puerto Maldonado Headquarters

Transfer Puerto Maldonado Headquarters to Airport

You retrace the river and road journey back to Puerto Maldonado, to the headquarters and then to the airport. Depending on airline schedules, this may require dawn departures.

Meals Included: Breakfast

DAY 1: Arrival, Orientation, & Your Choice of A La Carte Activities

Arrival & Reception by Guide: Our guides are biologists, tourism professionals, or community members. Unless noted otherwise, our guides speak English. We assign guides at 10:1 ratio in Refugio Amazonas. This means groups smaller than 10 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 Airport to Puerto Maldonado Headquarters: Upon arrival from Lima or Cusco, you will be welcomed at the airport and driven 10 minutes to the Puerto Maldonado headquarters. While enjoying your first sights and smells of the forest in the headquarters’ gardens, you will pack only the necessary gear for your next few days, and leave the rest in safe deposit. This helps keep the boats and cargo light.

Transfer Puerto Maldonado Headquarters to Tambopata River Port: Skirting Puerto Maldonado, you will take a drive 20 kilometers to the Tambopata River Port, where you enter the native community of Infierno. The port is a communal business.

Transfer Boat – Tambopata River Port to Refugio Amazonas: The two-and-a-half-hour boat ride from the Tambopata Port to Refugio Amazonas will take you past the Community of Infierno and the Tambopata National Reserve´s checkpoint and into the buffer zone of this 1.3-million-hectare conservation unit.

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

Night A La Carte Activities: 

Discover a New Species: We’ll help researchers to find new species. A short hike from the lodge will take us to a light trap where we’ll help collect and identify insects.

Night Walk: Most of the 100 mammal species, thousands of insect species, and over 100 species of reptiles and amphibians only come out at night in the Peruvian rainforest. Night hikes through the jungle with one of our experienced guides often result in amazing looks at bizarre insects that look as if they come from another planet, Night Monkeys that leap through the canopy of the forest, and beautiful, brilliant frogs with shapes and sounds as bizarre as their natural histories.

Circle of Fire: Sit around a fire and listen to a story of the Amazon.

Tambopata Lectures: Nightly lectures prepared by the staff of Refugio Amazonas cover conservation threats, opportunities and projects in the Tambopata National Reserve.

Overnight at Refugio Amazonas Lodge: Superior, Comfort, or Suite Room
Meals Included: Lunch, Dinner

DAYS 2 & 3: Your Choice of A La Carte Activities

Half Day A La Carte Activity (mornings only): 

Macaw Clay Lick: Chuncho Clay Lick is the second largest macaw clay lick in the area (the largest can only be accessed on the Tambopata Research Center trip). Waking up early in the morning is worth it to observe this amazing, colorful spectacle.

Parakeet Clay Lick: A 15-minute boat ride and 60-minute walk from Refugio Amazonas is a clay lick used by both parrots and parakeets. On most clear days from a blind you will see parrots and parakeets descend to ingest the clay on a bank. Species such as the Dusky-headed and Cobalt-winged parakeet descend at this clay lick. With luck you will also see Mealy and Yellow-crowned Amazons, Blue-headed Pionus, Severe macaw and Orange-cheeled (Barraband`s) parrot.

Early Morning A La Carte Activities: 

Canopy Tower: A 30-minute walk from Refugio Amazonas leads to the 25-meter scaffolding canopy tower. A bannister staircase provides safe access to the platforms above. The tower has been built upon high ground, therefore extending your view of the continuous primary forest in the Tambopata National Reserve. From here, you get splendid views of species of birds that flock in the canopy as well as toucans, macaws and raptors.

Morning A La Carte Activities: 

Farm & Ethnobotanical Trail: Five minutes downriver from the lodge lies a farm owned and managed by charismatic Don Manuel from the neighboring community of Condenado. He grows a variety of popular and unknown Amazon crops — just about every plant and tree you see serves a purpose. Along the Ethnobotanical Trail you find a variety of plants and trees that are used by the local population for a variety of purposes. You will learn about the medicinal (and other) uses of Ajo-Sacha, Yuca de Venado, Uña de Gato, Charcot-Sacha, Para-Para, among several others.

Mountain Biking: If you like action, this is a great way to explore and experience the beauty and excitement of the rainforest along 10km of trails. You can go for as long or as short of a ride as you want. You’ll be stopping to observe the wildlife along the way.

Birdwatching: Your guide will determine the best places to observe birds of all sorts. You might go for a hike, you might go up to the canopy tower.

Mammal Clay Lick: A 20-minute walk from Refugio Amazonas is a peccary clay lick. These wild rainforest pigs show up in the late morning to eat clay in herds of five to 20 individuals. Chances of spotting them are around 15 percent but well-worth the short hike. Other wildlife also shows up including deer, guan and parakeets.

Oxbow Lake: You will paddle around the lake on a canoe or a catamaran, looking for lakeside wildlife such as hoatzin, caiman and horned screamers, hoping to see the Giant otters which are infrequently seen here. You will also be rewarded with overhead sightings of macaws.

Children’s Trail: An exciting journey designed for children, we go through a walk where we follow maps, solve riddles, and find clues.

Rainforest Tattoo: We will prepare a paste rom the “huito” fruit, achiote, or other natural dies to draw traditional tattoos on ourselves.

Brazil Nut Trail & Camp: A few minutes hike from the lodge is a beautiful old-growth patch of Brazil Nut forest that has been harvested for decades (if not centuries) where the precarious remains of a camp used two months a year by Brazil Nut gatherers can still be experienced. The whole process of the rainforest’s only sustainably harvested product will be demonstrated for you, from collection and transportation to drying.

Stand Up Paddle Boarding: Paddle boarding is easy, fun, and a great way to explore the river as quietly as possible. We will have great opportunities to find wildlife along the river banks.

Kayaking: This adventure will offer you a quiet experience as you paddle near the rier bank, the perfect combination of adventure and wildlife.

Afternoon A La Carte Activities: 

Oxbow Lake: You will paddle around the lake on a canoe or a catamaran, looking for lakeside wildlife such as hoatzin, caiman and horned screamers, hoping to see the Giant otters which are infrequently seen here. You will also be rewarded with overhead sightings of macaws.

Amazon Cam: Camera traps will give us the opportunity of “watching” what is happening out there. We will help collecting data and installing new cameras.

Tambopata Aerobotany: We will get to the top of the trees and learn about the research we are doing in the forest canopy with drones, great pictures, and videos from above.

Harpy Cam: Canopy camera traps will give us the opportunity of “watching” what is happening out there. We will help collecting data and installing new cameras. If you’re lucky, you’ll spot a Harpy Eagle!

Brazil Nut Trail & Camp: A few minutes hike from the lodge is a beautiful old-growth patch of Brazil Nut forest that has been harvested for decades (if not centuries) where the precarious remains of a camp used two months a year by Brazil Nut gatherers can still be experienced. The whole process of the rainforest’s only sustainably harvested product will be demonstrated for you, from collection and transportation to drying.

Farm & Ethnobotanical Trail: Five minutes downriver from the lodge lies a farm owned and managed by charismatic Don Manuel from the neighboring community of Condenado. He grows a variety of popular and unknown Amazon crops — just about every plant and tree you see serves a purpose. Along the Ethnobotanical Trail you find a variety of plants and trees that are used by the local population for a variety of purposes. You will learn about the medicinal (and other) uses of Ajo-Sacha, Yuca de Venado, Uña de Gato, Charcot-Sacha, Para-Para, among several others.

Mammal Clay Lick: A 20-minute walk from Refugio Amazonas is a peccary clay lick. These wild rainforest pigs show up in the late morning to eat clay in herds of five to 20 individuals. Chances of spotting them are around 15 percent but well-worth the short hike. Other wildlife also shows up including deer, guan and parakeets.

Overlook Trail: This 2km trail will take us along the Tambopata River for great views of the rainforest. A great place to see the different types of forests.

Stand Up Paddle Boarding: Paddle boarding is easy, fun, and a great way to explore the river as quietly as possible. We will have great opportunities to find wildlife along the river banks.

Kayaking: This adventure will offer you a quiet experience as you paddle near the rier bank, the perfect combination of adventure and wildlife.

Mountain Biking: If you like action, this is a great way to explore and experience the beauty and excitement of the rainforest along 10km of trails. You can go for as long or as short of a ride as you want. You’ll be stopping to observe the wildlife along the way.

Sunset Cruise: Sunsets in the jungle are beautiful spectacles from nature and one of the best places to enjoy it is from a boat on the Tambopata River.

Night A La Carte Activities: 

Discover a New Species: We’ll help researchers to find new species. A short hike from the lodge will take us to a light trap where we’ll help collect and identify insects.

Night Walk: Most of the 100 mammal species, thousands of insect species, and over 100 species of reptiles and amphibians only come out at night in the Peruvian rainforest. Night hikes through the jungle with one of our experienced guides often result in amazing looks at bizarre insects that look as if they come from another planet, Night Monkeys that leap through the canopy of the forest, and beautiful, brilliant frogs with shapes and sounds as bizarre as their natural histories.

Circle of Fire: Sit around a fire and listen to a story of the Amazon.

Tambopata Lectures: Nightly lectures prepared by the staff of Refugio Amazonas cover conservation threats, opportunities and projects in the Tambopata National Reserve.

Overnight at Refugio Amazonas Lodge: Superior, Comfort, or Suite Room
Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

DAY 4: Transfer from Lodge to Puerto Maldonado & Departure

Transfer Boat – Refugio Amazonas to Tambopata River Port

Transfer Tambopata River Port to Puerto Maldonado Headquarters

Transfer Puerto Maldonado Headquarters to Airport

You retrace the river and road journey back to Puerto Maldonado, to the headquarters and then to the airport. Depending on airline schedules, this may require dawn departures.

Meals Included: Breakfast