Tambopata Research Center

Refugio Amazonas and Tambopata Research Center

5 days / 4 nights – Start: daily

Day 1: Arrive in Puerto Maldonado and go by boat on the Tambopata river

• Reception at the airport in Puerto Maldonado and short stop at the city office. In order to only have the most important luggage with you on the journey, the remaining luggage can be safely stored in the office until you return. Transfer to Tambopata port for an approximately 3-hour boat ride to the lodge, which is located in the buffer zone of Tambopata National Reserve. Wild animals, especially birds, can be observed here during the journey.

• After dinner, night trip to look for caimans.

Day 2: Canopy Tower, Brazil Nuts, Tambopata Research Center

• Early in the morning half hour hike to a 25 m high lookout tower (Canopy Tower). Since it was also built on a hill, it offers a great view over the surrounding original jungle in the Tambopata National Reserve.

• Breakfast at the lodge.

• Very close to the lodge we visit a camp of brazil nut collectors. Explanation of the process from collecting the brazil nuts until to drying them.

• 4½ hour boat ride to Tambopata Research Center. After about 1½ hours we reach the mouth of the river Malinowski. This is where the 700,000 hectares of completely uninhabited core area of the Tambopata National Park begins, where more and more animals can be observed such as capybaras, caimans, geese, macaws, birds of prey and many others.

• After an introduction, we walk the Bamboo Trail, known for the abundance of rare birds that only live in this area. Here we can observe how the Tambopata meanders through the jungle.

• After dinner, scientists provide an insight into the world of macaws, their diet, theories on licks, breeding, population fluctuations and conservation efforts.

Day 3: Tambopata Research Center

• At dusk we cross the river to the world's largest clay lick, where hundreds of parrots and macaws gather daily. Up to 15 parrot species can be distinguished. When activity subsides we return to the lodge for breakfast.

• On the 5 km long floodplain path we hike through a typical rain forest criss-crossed by streams with huge trees (figs, ceibas, shihuahuacos) where mainly squirrels, brown capuchin monkeys, spider monkeys and wild boars live.

• Ten minutes upstream we come to a small pond with a platform in the middle. An excellent spot for spotting the waterfowl (musk ducks, sun rails, hoatzins, woodpeckers, orioles, flycatchers and parakeets) that make their home here.

• Opportunity for a night hike. Most mammals are active at this time but rarely seen. It is much easier to recognize the outlines of frogs and to hear their croaking.

Day 4: from Tambopata Research Center to Refugio Amazonas