Peru Refugio Amazonas

2 Night / 3 Day

Day 1   Puerto Maldonado - Tambopata River Port - Refugio Amazonas (L,D)
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.   

You will be transferred to 20km to the Tambopata River Port, entering the Native Community of Infierno.  The port is a communal business.  You will then be transferred by boat from the Tambopata Port to Refugio Amazonas taking 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. 
Upon arrival, the lodge manager will welcome you and brief you with important navigation and security tips.  After dinner you will be out at the river’s edge searching for Caiman, scanning the shores with headlamps and flashlights to catch the red gleams of reflection from caiman eyes.

Day 2   Refugio Amazonas (B,L,D)

Oxbow Lake Visit.  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.

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 Lunch, Farm Visit.  Five minutes downriver from the lodge lays a farm owned and managed by charismatic Don Manuel from the neighbouring community of Condenado. He grows a variety of popular and unknown Amazon crops - just about every plant and tree you see serves a purpose. 
Ethnobotanical Tour.  Along this trail we will find a variety of plants and trees that are used by the local population with at least the same variety of purposes. We will learn about the medicinal (and other) uses of Ajo-Sacha, Yuca de Venado, Uña de Gato, Charcot-Sacha, Para-Para, among several others.
Tambopata National Reserve Lectures
Nightly lectures prepared by the staff of Refugio Amazonas cover conservation threats, opportunities and projects in the Tambopata National Reserve.

Day 3   Refugio Amazonas - Puerto Maldonado (B)

After breakfast you will be transferred by boat to Tambopata River Port where you will meet your next transfer to Puerto Maldonada Headquarters. You retrace the river and road journey back to Puerto Maldonado, our office and the airport. Depending on airline schedules, this may require dawn departures.

Dates & Prices

Departures:  Daily

Prices Per Person NZ$

   2024-5                                Double              Single

 Comfort Room                   $1115                   $1650     

Inclusions:

Accommodation, local services fees and hotel taxes, meals as indicated in the itinerary, excursions and transfers as specified in the itinerary and all river transportation, national park fees

Exclusions:

 International or domestic airfares, airport departure taxes or visa fees, excess baggage charges, tips & gratuities, additional nights during the trip due to flight cancellations, alcoholic beverages or bottled water, snacks, insurance of any kind, laundry, phone calls or messages, items of personal nature.

Boat Transportation:

All our boats are 20 foot long, roofed canoes with 55 hp outboard motors. Daily arrivals and departures from every port are scheduled to meet every airline´s arrival and departure with a maximum two hour wait.