Peruvian Amazon

MANU WILDLIFE CENTER - Sample 3-night Itinerary:

• Day 1

  Depart from Cusco, Peru this morning and fly to the Boca Manu airstrip (40-minute flight). Upon arrival at Boca Manu, we'll rendezvous with our local guides and transfer up the Madre de Dios River (approximately 90 minutes) to the Manu Wildlife Center via motorized canoes.
  
  About Manu Wildlife Center: Situated on the east bank of the Madre de Dios River and located in the remote and biologically diverse Manu Wilderness, the lodge's complex includes 22 bungalows with a separate bathroom/shower building, dining room, bar and lounge. The lodge is staffed principally by members of local communities and frequently hosts outside researchers and scientists who are always happy to discuss their findings with guests. The Center also supports the preservation of a 50-square-mile private, pristine rainforest reserve. The lodge has no electricity, and lighting in the communal areas and guest cabins is by kerosene lamp and candle. A 110V generator is available to recharge camera/camcorder batteries.
  
  After receiving your cabin assignment and a general orientation, the afternoon will be spent exploring some of the 30 miles of unspoiled forest trails that surround the lodge. On these trails, we have an excellent chance of encountering some of the 12 species of monkeys, including the Monk Saki and Emperor Tamarin, which inhabit the nearby jungle. After dinner, we'll take a short walking excursion to explore the nocturnal rainforest wildlife. Lunch and dinner included.

• Day 2

  Rising before dawn, we travel by boat to the only large parrot and macaw clay lick in the Manu area. From a floating catamaran blind, we are afforded excellent views and photo opportunities of parrots and the spectacular red-and-green macaws that come to eat the clay daily (other wildlife-viewing activities are substituted from May-July when the clay lick is not as active). After lunch, we continue to explore the miles of trails around the lodge and spend the late afternoon on top of a 100 foot-high viewing platform, watching the last frantic canopy activity before night sets in. A leisurely hour-long hike after dinner brings us to the Amazon's largest known Tapir clay lick. Climbing a 17' platform, we wait for the large, lumbering Tapir to arrive and observe and photograph them in action before returning to our bungalows for the evening. All meals included.

• Day 3 

  We board a motor-canoe this morning and visit the Camungo Oxbow Lake. In addition to touring the lake in search of the resident family of giant otters and other lakeside fauna, we visit the nearby 120' canopy platform which, on clear days, offers spectacular views of the rainforest all the way to the eastern slopes of the Andes. We have the afternoon free to relax or hike with our guide in the hope of encountering more amazing wildlife. All meals included.

• Day 4

  After breakfast, our motor-canoes transport us back to the Boca Manu airstrip in preparation for the flight to Cusco this morning. Arrive in Cusco by midday.
  
  Land Cost Includes: Bungalow accommodations with private bath; meals beginning with lunch on arrival day through breakfast on departure day; roundtrip airfare from Cusco to Boca Manu and motor-canoe transfers from Boca Manu to the lodge; local English-speaking naturalist guides; purified drinking water and juices; visits to macaw and tapir clay licks, oxbow lake, canopy platforms and trail hikes.
  
  Not Included: International airfare to Cusco; alcoholic beverages or soft drinks; guide gratuities; excess baggage charges or insurance of any kind.
  
  Please note: Longer itineraries include additional days of wildlife viewing, jungle hiking and opportunities for local cultural interaction.

TAHUAYO LODGE - Sample 3-night Itinerary:

• Day 1

  Arrive in Iquitos, Peru this morning and rendezvous with our local transfer guides at the airport (your exact air itinerary can be worked out with a member of the REI Adventures air department). Our guides will facilitate the transfer of your luggage to our waiting boats and, upon reaching the docks, we'll begin the 4-hour trip to the Tahuayo Lodge. We travel along the mighty Amazon River for 50 miles before turning up the Tahuayo tributary for another 40 miles and reaching the lodge by mid-afternoon.
  
  About the Tahuayo Lodge: The entire 15-cabin lodge is screened and features a dining hall, areas to socialize and relax and a conservation education library. There are showers and flush toilets that use a sanitary septic system. No electricity is available except that produced by a small generator for re-charging camera batteries. Delicious food is prepared by the staff, and special diets can be accommodated with prior notice. A laundry staff provides daily laundry service without charge.
  
  After cabin assignments, a general lodge orientation and staff introductions, you can begin your exploration of the surrounding trail network and begin adjusting to your tropical surroundings. This evening, participate in a boat excursion to a nearby lake to search for nocturnal wildlife and view the southern constellations or just relax in your cabin to the night music of the jungle. Lunch and dinner included. 

• Days 2-3

  A great variety of activities are offered from the lodge in and around the Tamshiyaco-Tahuayo Reserve. Examples include: hiking over forest trails in search of monkeys, sloths, anteaters, marmosets and other indigenous wildlife; flying through the treetops on a canopy zip-line for a unique perspective of the rainforest environment; visiting a native market and speaking with a local shaman; swimming with Pink Dolphins (November-June); birding (over 500 species have been sighted near the lodge); canoeing and even fishing for piranha! Naturalist guides are always on-hand to escort guests on jungle hikes and identify the thousands of plant and animal species that may be encountered. Each morning, a schedule of half-day and daylong excursions will be posted for interested individuals to choose from. Additional opportunities for nocturnal wildlife viewing are available each night. All meals included.

• Day 4

  We spend another morning exploring the incredible rainforest before boarding the lodge boats for the trip back to Iquitos. A late afternoon arrival is scheduled allowing participants to catch evening flights to Lima connecting to overnight flights back to the US. Breakfast and lunch included.
  
  Land Cost Includes: Bungalow accommodations with shared bath; meals beginning with lunch on arrival day through lunch on departure day; roundtrip boat transfers from Iquitos to the lodge; local English-speaking naturalist guides; purified drinking water; laundry services; canopy zip-line and a variety of additional optional activities (specific details sent upon sign-up).
  
  Not included: International airfare to Iquitos; alcoholic beverages or soft drinks; guide gratuities; excess baggage charges or insurance of any kind.
  
  Please note: Longer itineraries include additional days of wildlife viewing, jungle hiking and opportunities for local cultural interaction.

TAMBOPATA RESEARCH CENTER - Sample 4-night Itinerary:

• Day 1

  Your trip begins today in Puerto Maldonado. Upon arrival from Lima or Cusco, you’ll be welcomed at the airport and transported to the Puerto Maldonado headquarters. While enjoying your first taste of the forest in their gardens, you’ll be asked to pack only the necessary gear for your next few days, and leave the rest at the office in a secured area. By doing so, this will help keep the boats and cargo light.  The two and a half hour boat ride from the Tambopata Port to Refugio Amazonas will take you past the Community of Infierno and the Tambopata National Reserve’s checkpoint and into the buffer zone of this conservation unit that is over 3 million acres. During the voyage, you may see bird species typical of the river or forest edge such as: Black Skimmer, Pied Lapwing, Capped Heron, Jabiru Stork, Roadside Hawk and several species of kingfishers, swallows and fly-catchers. Upon arrival at the lodge, you’ll receive a short orientation and a complete briefing on the lodge. After dinner, there will be an opportunity to be out at the river's edge, scanning the shores with headlamps and flashlights to catch the red gleams of reflection from caiman eyes. Overnight in Refugio Amazonas. Boat transfer: 2 ½ hours. Boxed lunch and dinner included.

• Day 2

  A thirty minute walk from Refugio Amazonas leads you to the 25 meter scaffolding canopy tower. A 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 breakfast, a few minutes hike from the lodge is a beautiful old growth patch of Brazil Nut forest that has been harvested for decades (if not centuries) where the precarious remains of a camp used two months a year by Brazil Nut gatherers can still be experienced. There will be a demonstration of the whole process of the rain forest's only sustainable harvested product from collection, through transportation to drying.
  
  Four and half hours by boat from Refugio Amazonas, in the pristine heart of the reserve, lies the Tambopata Research Center. One and half hours into your boat journey, as you cross the confluence with the Malinowski River, you will leave the final traces of human habitation behind. Within the 1.7 million acres uninhabited nucleus of the reserve, sightings of capybara, caiman, geese, macaws and other large species will become more frequent. A boxed lunch will be served during your journey.
  
  Upon arrival at the Tambopata Research Center, the lodge manager will welcome you and brief you with important navigation and security tips. A possible activity today will be the Overlook Trail. The trail is a three to five kilometer hike that will lead you to overlooks commanding magnificent views of the Tambopata winding its way into the lowlands. The forest on this trail, regenerating on old bamboo forest, is good for Howler Monkey and Dusky Titi Monkey.
  
  Macaw Project Lectures: After dinner scientists will provide 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 in Tambopata Research Center. Hiking: Up to 3 miles; Boat transfer: 4 ½ hours. All meals included.

• Day 3

  Macaw Clay Lick: On most clear mornings of the year, dozens of large macaws and hundreds of parrots congregate on this large river bank in a raucous and colorful spectacle which inspired a National Geographic cover story. Discretely located fifty meters from the cliff, you will observe Green-winged, Scarlet and Blue-and-gold Macaws and several species of smaller parrots descend to ingest clay. Outings are at dawn when the lick is most active. Other activities today may include:
  
  Floodplain Trail: This five kilometer trail covers the prototypical rain forest with immense trees crisscrossed by creeks and ponds. Amongst the figs, ceibas and shihuahuacos we will look for Squirrel, Brown Capuchin, and Spider Monkeys as well as peccaries. TRC is located within this habitat.
  
  Pond Platform: Ten minutes upriver from the lodge is a tiny pond with a platform in the middle. It is a great place to spot waterfowl such as Muscovy duck, sunbittern and hoatzin along with the woodpeckers, oropendolas, flycatchers and parakeets that call this pond their home.
  
  Night walk. You will have the option of hiking out at night, when most of the mammals are active but rarely seen. Much easier to find are frogs with shapes and sounds as bizarre as their natural histories.
  
  Overnight in Tambopata Research Center. Hiking: Up to 3 miles. All meals included. 

• Day 4

  After breakfast, a three and a half hour boat ride brings you back to Refugio Amazonas. A forty minute hike takes you Condenado Lake. You’ll paddle canoes around the lake looking for lakeside wildlife such as hoatzin and caiman, hoping to see the otters which are infrequently seen here. You will also be rewarded with overhead sightings of macaws. A boxed lunch will be served during your journey.
  
  After dinner, nightly lectures prepared by the staff of Refugio Amazonas cover conservation threats, opportunities and projects in the Tambopata National Reserve.
  
  Overnight in Refugio Amazonas. Boat transfer: 3 ½ hours. Hiking: 1 mile. Canoeing: Up to 3 hours. All meals included.

• Day 5

  Breakfast first before your transport back to the Tambopata River Port.  You’ll head back to the office in Puerto Maldonado to retrieve any personal belongings before heading out to the airport. Breakfast included.
  
  Boat Transportation - All the 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.

Although we do our best to adhere to the schedule listed above, this itinerary is subject to change for numerous reasons beyond our control.

Rates for single travelers vary based on lodge.

Bungalow accommodations with private or shared bath; meals as noted in the daily itinerary; motor-canoe transfers to the lodge; local English-speaking naturalist guides; daily excursions.

International airfare to Peru; alcoholic beverages or soft drinks; guide gratuities; excess baggage charges or insurance of any kind.

This trip is rated Easy Active [2] and contains a variety of activities ranging from easy day walks to moderate hikes in a warm, tropical climate, canoeing (Tahuayo Lodge only) and swimming. Participants should be in good physical condition and consider beginning a regular exercise regimen 1-2 months prior to departure consisting of walking/hiking, running and/or swimming to prepare for this adventure. The better shape you're in, the more you'll be able to take advantage of the lodges' nature trails and optional activities.

The average temperature in the Amazon Basin is 82°F, with daily highs reaching the low 90s and nightly lows in the upper 60s. During the dry season (May-October), cold fronts from the South Atlantic (freajes) occur once every month or so, causing daily temperatures to drop into the mid to high 50s. As we are in the tropics, rainfall in the lowlands can occur during any month of the year, however, most of the prolonged rainy weather patterns arise during the wet season from November-April.

This trip is subject to the booking information set forth in the current REI Adventures Reservation Information. Please read this information carefully and call us if you have any questions. A full gear list and pre-departure information is sent upon sign-up. We highly recommend the purchase of travel insurance through REI Adventures. If coverage is purchased within 21 days of your initial trip deposit, the 'Pre-existing Conditions Exclusion' is waived (certain exclusions apply).

We look forward to having you join us for the trip of a lifetime! Why wait? Space is limited, reserve your adventure today.

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