Tambopata Research Center Tour

Only at 13:00h: Transfer Airport to Puerto Maldonado Headquarters. Upon arrival from Lima or Cusco, we will welcome you at the airport and  drive you 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.

Puerto Maldonado to Tambopata River Port. Skirting Puerto Maldonado, we drive 20 kilometers to the Tambopata River Port, entering the Native Community of Infierno.  The port is a communal business.

Tambopata River Port to Refugio Amazonas. The two and a half hour boat ride from the Tambopata Port to Refugio Amazonas will take us 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. Boxed Lunch.
Orientation: Upon arrival, the lodge manager will welcome you and brief you with important navigation and security tips.

After dinner you can go on Caiman searches. 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 caiman eyes.
Overnight in Refugio Amazonas.

We leave very early towards the Canopy tower: A thirty minute walk from Refugio Amazonas leads to the 25 meter scaffolding canopy tower. A bannistered 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.  From here views of mixed species canopy flocks as well as toucans, macaws and raptors are likely.
After breakfast we will visit a beautiful Oxbow Lake.
We will paddle around the lake on a canoe or a catamaran, looking for lakeside wildlife such as hoatzin, caiman and hornerd screamers, hoping to see the otters which are infrequently seen here. You will also be rewarded with overhead sightings of macaws.

Then we take a scenic four and a half hour boat trip from Refugio Amazonas to the Tambopata Research Center in the pristine heart of the Tambopata Reserve. 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 capybara, caiman, geese, macaws and other large species will become more frequent. On our way we will enjoy a boxed lunch picnic.
Upon arrival, the lodge manager will welcome you and brief you with important navigation and security tips.

Overlook Trail: 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 old bamboo forest, is good for the Howler Monkey’s and Dusky Titi Monkey’s.

After dinner you can join the Macaw Project Lectures. Scientists will provide 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.
Overnight in Tambopata Research Center.

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. 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.

After breakfast we walk the Floodplain Trail. This five kilometer trail covers the prototypical rain forest with immense  trees criss-crossedby creeks and ponds. Amongst the figs, ceibas and shihuahuacos we will look for Squirrel, Brown Capuchin, and Spider Monkeys as well as peccaries. TRC is located within this habitat.

In the afternoon we visit the Pond Platform: Ten minutes upriver from the lodge 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.

In the evening you will have the option to join a night-walk. At dark is when most of the mammals are active but rarely seen. Much easier to find are frogs with shapes and sounds as bizarre as their natural histories.
Overnight in Tambopata Research Center.

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. 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.

After Breakfast we will walk along the Terra Firme Trail.
This trail goes through an entirely different habitat characterized by smaller, thinner trees atop hills and slopes is covered by this five kilometer trail. 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.

A three and a half hour boat ride brings us to Refugio Amazonas. On our way we will enjoy again the beautiful surroundings and a picnic with our boxed lunch.

Upon arriving at Refugio Amazonas a forty minute hike takes you to Condenado Oxbow Lake. You paddle canoes around the lake looking for lakeside wildlife such as hoatzin and caiman, hoping to see the otters which are infrequently seen here.

After dinner there are nightly lectures prepared by the staff of Refugio Amazonas cover conservation threats, opportunities and projects in the Tambopata National Reserve.
Overnight in Refugio Amazonas

Transfer Boat – TRC to Tambopata River Port
Transfer Tambopata River Port to Pto Maldonado Headquarters

Transfer Puerto Maldonado Headquarters to Airport
We retrace our river and road journey back to Puerto Maldonado, our office and the airport.