The Birds of Tambopata

to Puerto Maldonado & Tambopata Reserve

You take an early morning flight e.g. from Lima via Cusco to Puerto Maldonado in lowland Amazonia. You will be met on arrival at the airport by a representative from your jungle lodge and transferred with others to their HQ for a briefing and the opportunity to store any luggage you won't require while in the forest. You will then be transferred along a dirt road for 30mins to reach a small dock in the village of Infierno. Here you board a long, thin motorised, covered boat and will be transferred along the Tambopata River, a tributory of the Amazon which has its source high in the Andes near Lake Titicaca, to Refugio Lodge. The boat journey time varies with river water levels and size of boat and its motor. Typically boat journey time: 3h30mins. On arrival at the lodge's dock it is then a 10 minute walk on a cleared forest trail to reach the main lodge building. When water levels are low you can expect a lot of steps up the riverbank from the pontoon. Your luggage will be carried by the local staff.

to Tambopata Research Centre (near the Blue and Yellow Macaw lick)

You begin the day with some early morning birding near the lodge, perhaps climbing the viewing tower. You then make a 4.5hr trip further upriver to the Tambopata Research Centre. Typically the boats provided have comfortable padded bucket seats and are roofed against sun and rain. River journeys through the forest are often a chance to relax and reflect, but this trip also provides good opportunities to see some of the typical riverside species. You can expect to arrive at the Centre in the late afternoon where you stay 3 nights at its lodge. Note: visitors share 8 bathrooms (no ensuites). There is no electricty but a generator provides power at noon and evenings for charging batteries etc

You have two full days to explore the reserve on trails around the lodge. The highlight of any visit here is the most spectacular of all macaw licks: a 50m high cliff of reddish clay that extends for 500m along the river bank. At close quarters you can see hundreds of the huge Blue and Yellow, Red and Green, and Scarlet Macaws and among the smaller macaws the rare Blue-headed, Red-bellied and Chestnut-fronted Macaws. This is the only lick with Blue and Yellow Macaws. You watch from a beach and are fairly far from the birds - 50 meters. The light is great for photography. Access to the Macaw lick is free.

In theTambopata reserve. The area around the lodge offers many forest types and an extensive trail system has been designed to visit them. Large stands of bamboo hold many local and much sought after species, and coupled with the extensive varzea, terra firme, mature transitional floodplain forest and palm swamp gives us a mind-boggling variety of bird-life to enjoy.

Return to Puerto Maldonado, flight out

Today we rise early and 05.00h return to Puerto Maldonado for AFTERNOON flights to Cusco/Lima (flights must be after 13.30h)