If you are looking for a more in depth Amazon experience, then the Tambopata Research Center suits you best. Although known for its ongoing research of macaws for more than 20 years, there is much more to see at the Tambopata Research Center including the largest macaw clay lick in the world. A rule in the Amazon states that the further away from the cities you go and the longer you stay in the forest, the better chances you will have to observe wildlife.
This tour is perfect for tourists eager to explore in depth the Amazonian environment and wildlife. The Tambopata Research Center (TRC) located in a very remote area in the Amazon jungle, makes this possible. After staying the first night at the Refugio Amazonas lodge, reach one of the largest known macaw clay licks on the third day of your trip, and explore the trails of the Tambopata Research Center in the heart of the Tambopata National Reserve.
TRC houses endangered species and offers you a comfortable stay in a safe 18 bedroom lodge for tourists and researchers alike.
At TRC we will be learning from Macaw experts and experiencing much about Macaws conservation along with the fascinating variety of Monkeys, Caimans during your stay. Not to mention the exciting trails you will follow to explore the Amazon Wildlife.
Day 1
Departing Lima at 08:05 and arriving Puerto Maldonado at 10:45. You will be welcomed by your tour guides and transferred to our headquarters, where you will be asked to pack only the necessary gear for the next few days, the rest of your luggage will be kept safe in our storage room.
From Puerto Maldonado you’ll go to Tambopata River Port, 20 kilometers, into the Native Community of Infierno. The River Port is a community business. We’ll get on a boat and travel for 2 1/2hrs to Refugio Amazonas, past, Infierno and the Reserve checkpoint, into the buffer zone of this 1.3 million hectare conservation unit.
We will quietly walk on the edge of the Tambopata River, by the shores, attentive with our headlamps on, to catch the red gleams of reflection from caiman eyes.
Overnight at Refugio Amazonas.
Day 2
We will walk from Refugio Amazonas for 30 minutes, arriving at the Canopy Tower scaffold with a banister staircase running through the middle providing safe access to the platforms above. All set to experience the Amazon Rainforest from the top of its vast trees (30 meters /100 ft.), incredible views of the splendid primary forest extending along the Tambopata National Reserve. Look up! And you’ll see a flock of toucans or macaws flying into the horizon or resting on the top of the trees close to you.
We will be travelling by boat for the next 4 ½ hrs from Refugio Amazonas to Tambopata Research Center into the heart of the Amazon jungle.
After about 3 hours travelling by boat, deep in the Amazon jungle, if the weather is favorable we will stop at the Chuncho Macaw clay lick. After a brief walk (5 min.) we will have the chance to see large macaws feeding on the special sodium rich clays on the riverbank. Watching them so closely is a remarkable experience.
One and half hours later we’ll cross the confluence with the Malinowski River, as we leave the last traces of human habitation behind us. Within the 700,000 hectare uninhabited center of the Reserve, sightings of capybara, caiman, geese, macaws and other large species will be more frequent and magical.
Upon arrival, the lodge manager will welcome you and share with you important navigation and security tips.
A wonderful trail of 3 to 5 km will take us to a lookout with stupendous views of the Amazon jungle into the lowlands. A Regenerated old Bamboo forest good for the Howler Monkey and the Dusky Titi Monkey.
After dinner Macaw experts will have a Macaw Project Lecture providing 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 at Tambopata Research Center.
Day 3
On a clear morning, at dawn, at Macaw Clay Lick (located at the Bahuaja Sonene National Park) we’ll discretely witness, fifty meters from a cliff; the Green-winged, Scarlet and Blue-and-gold Macaws and several species of smaller parrots descending to ingest clay.
Close to the TRC, we will follow a 5 kilometer Floodplain trail into a prototypical Rainforest of immense trees intersected by creeks and ponds. Figs trees, Ceibas and Shihuahuacos, while we are attentive for Brown Capuchin, and Spider Monkeys as well as Peccaries.
Ten minutes upriver from our Amazon lodge is a tiny pond with a platform in the middle. It is a great place to spot waterfowls such as Muscovy duck, a lovely Sunbittern and Hoatzin, some Woodpeckers, Oropendolas, Flycatchers and Parakeets.
After dinner, you can go for a night walk, an exciting option to spot mammals rarely seen during the day, also frogs with bizarre shapes and sounds.
Overnight at Tambopata Research Center.
Day 4
Today we will be exploring an entirely different habitat characterized by smaller, thinner trees on the top of the hills and slopes along this 5 kilometer trail. Saddleback tamarins are frequently found here. As we walk near the limits of the swamp we must keep our eyes wide open for rare tapir tracks.
We will be walking by this Palm swamp which grows and produces an important ecosystem, on the remains of an oxbow lake and provides both arboreal as well as terrestrial mammals with fruits throughout the year. The Aguaje palms are one of the most important food sources in the Amazon Rainforest. The demand for these fruits and great conditions for planting rice, makes the Palm swamp also one of the most threatened habitats.
Overnight at Tambopata Research Center.
Day 5
You will take a boat from TCR, back to Tambopata River Port and then to Puerto Maldonado headquarters. You will be transferred to the airport to take your flight to Lima (departing at 15:40 hrs and arriving at 18:30 hrs).
*** Rainy season is from mid-October to mid-March and the heaviest months of rain are January and February.
