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Tambopata Research Center

4D3N Tambopata Research Center

For travelers passionate about nature and biodiversity, it doesn't get better  — anywhere in the world — than the Tambopata Research Center lodge.

Tambopata Research Center is the only lodge that lies within the Tambopata National Reserve, making it one of the most remote lodges in South America! The lodge's pristine location means it's surrounded by the best wildlife the Amazon jungle has to offer. There are no humans nearby, so you can see more monkeys, Macaws and other large and endangered species than anywhere else. One in three guests here even spots a Jaguar!

Why you'll love the Tambopata Research Center Lodge

  • Elevate your Experience: The lodge now features 300 meters (almost 1000 feet) of elevated walkways! These walkways are located in the perfect level of the forest — in between the canopy and the floor — where wildlife becomes more active, allowing you unprecedented opportunities to spot animals.
  • Spectacular Macaw Sightings: A trip to the Tambopata Research Center includes a visit to the two most important clay licks (clay cliffs that attract many birds) in the region: the Colorado and Chuncho Claylicks. Visit these special portions of riverbank while Macaws and Parrots make a raucous and colorful spectacle — one that even inspired a National Geographic cover story!
  • Fantastic hikes: TRC is situated near five distinct habitats. Near the lodge, you have access to a variety of stunning, biodiverse hikes, including the Floodplain Trail, the Palm Swamp Trail, the Terra Firma Trail, and the River Overlook Trail.
  • Herds of Rare Jungle Pigs: Our location inside a vast, pristine rainforest means huge numbers of rare, vulnerable White-Lipped Peccaries roam freely. In fact, herds of one hundred or more jungle hogs often visit the lodge garden to gather nuts from its palm trees!
  • Support Research and Conservation: Since 1989, researchers have been carrying out groundbreaking Macaw conservation research from the Tambopata Research Center. During your stay,  you'll have the chance to talk with Macaw biologists, ecologists, and other experts while they do fieldwork.
  • Rooms at one with nature: Our naturally-built rooms have a wall open to the surrounding jungle. This gives you a safe way to enjoy this diverse ecosystem, even during downtime. Wild animals, including monkeys, are often visible from the lodge. With only 24 rooms, this intimate lodge is as close as you can get to the jungle.
  • Guilt (and carbon) free travel: Since we became totally carbon neutral, you're actually neutralizing your carbon footprint through local conservation actions when you stay with us!

Details

Days
4 Days
Nights
3 Nights
Price from
$1080 USD Per Person

Itinerary

  • Arrive in Puerto Maldonado, capital of Madre de Dios, and join a 1-hour bus and a 2.5 boat journey till the lodge. Your first taste of the Amazon culinary will be in the river while you leave the city to enjoy the amazing jungle landscapes.
  • As we cross the confluence with the Malinowski River, we will leave the final traces of human habitation behind. Within the 700,000 hectares uninhabited nucleus of the reserve, sightings of capybara, caiman, geese, macaws and other large species will become more frequent.
  • Tambopata Research Center awaits – a spacious boutique eco-lodge, with bar, a massage center, and buffet service in the heart of National Reserve of Tambopata, being the only lodge inside the reserve surrounded by dozens of macaw nests belonging to the Macaw Project.
  • Accommodation includes rooms from 21 mts to 83 mts suites with a private bathroom and an open window facing the forest.
  • Your stay includes three meals daily, teas, coffee, guided excursions and activities, refreshments upon arriving, and transfers to and from the airport. We assign guides on private small groups of 6:1
  • This afternoon join the Overlook A three to five-kilometer hike will lead us to overlooks commanding magnificent views of the Tambopata winding its way into the lowlands. The forest on this trail, regenerating on the old bamboo forest, is good for Howler Monkey and Dusky Titi Monkey.
  • You will have the option of hiking out at night when most of the mammals are active but difficult to see. Easier to find are frogs with shapes and sounds as bizarre as their natural histories.

  • 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, we 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.
  • 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 go for a monkey search Squirrel, Brown Capuchin, and Spider Monkeys as well as peccaries. TRC is located within this habitat.
  • Ten minutes upriver from the lodge explore the island where 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.
  • After dinner scientists will provide a night lecture, 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.

  • Stepping carefully over the winding “highways” of peaceful leaf-cutter ants, the Rainforest Master Hike will leave you with unforgettable memories and a profound sense of accomplishment. Due to their years of local experience, our Tambopata Research Center guides know everything about the forest. They’ll spot the tiniest bird hiding in the canopy, the most elusive monkey, and the most spectacular plant life.
  • Twilight descends early in the jungle. Under the thick tree cover of the rainforest, darkness falls quickly, when the light cannot slip through the foliage any longer. Now, as afternoon slips into evening, you’re about to see one of the world’s most spectacular sunsets. The Sunset Cruise floats down the wide river, countless oranges and pinks reflecting off the water in lovely patterns.

  • It is time to say goodbye, as the expedition comes to an end.
  • Your visit will make a direct contribution to Wired Amazon and the National Reserve of Tambopata.
  • You will take the journey back to the city to the airport for your national flight onwards.ds.

Prices by room:

Room Category

3Days/2Nights

4Days/3Nights

Superior Single

$ 1080

$ 1,620

Superior Double

$ 1,660

$ 2,490

Comfort Single

$ 1,280

$ 1,920

Comfort Double

$ 1,920

$ 2,880

Amazon Suite Single

$ 1,500

$ 2,250

Amazon Suite Double

$ 2,240

$ 3,360

Suite Deluxe Single

$ 1, 720

$ 2, 580

Suite Deluxe Double

$ 2, 580

$ 3, 870

Valid from January 1st, 2023 to December 31st, 2023

Single: 1 guest – Double: 2 guest

Children: 20% Discount for children under 12 years old sharing triple or quadruple accommodation with parents. Not valid for single or double rooms.

The Journey

To begin your rainforest tour, you take a quick plane trip from Lima or Cuzco to the Amazonian city of Puerto Maldonado, in Southeastern Peru. After we meet you at the airport, we'll take you on a one-hour road trip, followed by a tranquil two and half hours boating on the Tambopata River, to arrive to our most secluded lodge, the Tambopata Research Center.

By Air

The first step in your trip to Tambopata includes a plane trip from Lima or Cuzco. Flights from Lima depart from the national terminal of the Jorge Chávez airport. The trip takes about two hours. Most flights stop in Cuzco before continuing to Puerto Maldonado. The flights from Cusco depart from the national terminal of the Velasco Astete airport. The trip takes about 45 minutes.

By Land

Upon arrival in Puerto Maldonado, you will be greeted by our guides, and taken to a waiting vehicle. We will make a brief 5 minute trip to our operations office in Puerto Maldonado where we will ask you to keep the luggage you do not need. The luggage is transported by hand in several stages of the long-distance trip, so we ask that you please limit your weight to 15 kilos (32 pounds per piece). You can pack bags separately and leave them safely in our offices in Puerto Maldonado the first day so that we do not load them unnecessarily. Your luggage will be waiting for you at the airport the day you leave. After taking care of your luggage, we take a one-hour bus trip to the Filadelfia River Port.

By River

Due to the secluded nature of the Tambopata Research Center lodge,  at Filadelfia River Port, we board long, stout canoes equipped with outboard motors and head upstream to the lodge. The two-hour boat trip is pleasant, and often includes our first sightings of macaws, herons, alligators, and capybaras. Once the boat reaches the dock of the lodge, you'll have officially arrived in the wild jungles of Tambopata!  — many guests see jaguars and other wildlife along the way. You will stop at Malinowski Check Point to register your entry into the National Reserve of Tambopata, the only lodge inside the protected area.

Rainforest Expeditions Departures from Airport (Puerto Maldonado to Lodge)*:

Two daily departures at 1:00 p.m. and 1:30 p.m.

Rainforest Expeditions Returns to Airport (Lodge to Puerto Maldonado)*:

One daily departure at 7:30 AM

**Do not take LATAM 2081 or LATAM 2077 as they do not match with our transfers to the lodge. For departures, make sure your flight leaves after 12:30 midday. We do not recommend arriving or departing to / from Puerto Maldonado by bus, as the highway is unsafe**

Tambopata Research Center Map Journey

Programmes based on double occupancy. Includes all meal, accommodations, and services, all river transportation, and transfer from and to the airport of Puerto Maldonado.

Entrance fee to Tambopata National Reserve US$75.00.
International or domestic airfares, airport departure taxes or visa fees, excess baggage charges, additional nights during the trip due to flight cancellations, alcoholic beverages or bottled water, snacks, insurance of any kind, laundry, phone calls or messages, reconfirmation of flights and items of personal nature.

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