ITINERARY
- DAY BY DAY
Day 1: Arrive Puerto Maldonado
and journey to the lodge
Following your early morning flight to Puerto Maldonado from Lima
(1:20hours) or Cusco (25 minutes), you will be met at the airport
by your naturalist guide and transferred to a motorized dugout
canoe for the trip up the Tambopata River to the lodge. On the
journey the vegetation changes from colonized deforested areas
to virgin rain forest. A box-lunch is provided on board. On arrival
you'll have a welcome drink and meet the rest of the staff. In
the late afternoon you set off for an introductory walk into the
"terra firme" forest behind the lodge (Trail 2), dominated
by giant Brazil-nut and Dipteryx trees. Frequently seen mammals
on this trail are Saddleback Tamarins, Brown Capuchins, Agoutis,
Pacas, Blue-Morpho butterflies, Trogons, Toucans and many other
species of birds. Night in Tambopata Jungle Lodge.
Day 2: Trip to the Macaw Clay-lick
(Collpa)
After breakfast you return to the canoe to continue the journey
upstream, a further 4 hrs, to an area deep within the Reserve
Zone where the isolated Collpa is situated. The Collpa is actually
one of the large clay cliffs lining the Tambopata River in this
area. After lunch you and your guide have the afternoon to explore
the trail system in the area. Camping on the beach near the Collpa.
Day 3: Full day at Collpa and exploring
forest trails
A pre-dawn start is needed to get to the clay-lick before the
birds. They arrive in search of minerals and salts and the digestive
properties of the clay particles themselves. On average several
hundred Macaws and smaller parrots visit the clay-lick daily,
including Scarlet, Blue and Yellow, Red and Green, Chestnut-fronted
and Blue-headed parrots, among others.
This clay-lick is considered one of the largest in the world
After lunch we will return to the trail system in search of some
of the nine species of monkeys present in the area, including
Spider monkeys, Squirrel monkeys and Dusky titi monkeys as well
as the elusive large mammals like Tapir, White-lipped peccaries
and Jaguar. Camping on the beach near the Collpa.
Day 4: Visit the Collpa and return
to Tambopata Jungle Lodge
A second opportunity to witness the wonders at the lick. You will
return to the Tambopata Jungle Lodge in the early afternoon in
time for lunch. After dark you will go searching for Caiman (alligators)
and other nocturnal animals by canoe along the Tambopata River.
Night in Tambopata Jungle Lodge |
