Don’t Miss Exotic Tambopata Reserve in the Peruvian Amazon

Landing at the tiny Puerto Maldonado airport takes you into a different world. First off, the heat and humidity hits you immediately. The city center is lively and colorful, and hopefully you’ll take the time to explore Puerto Maldonado city proper during your trip. If you only have enough time to visit one of the national parks surrounding the city, however, than you’ll probably head directly for the Madre de Dios River or the Tambopata River to embark on a thin, roofed canoe and continue your journey. 

Of the three national parks which surround Puerto Maldonado, Tambopata is the easiest and cheapest to access. You don’t see quite as much wildlife as in Manu, but there’s still plenty to see, even just on the boat ride there. The river is home to piranhas, giant anacondas, and caiman, but that doesn’t mean that you won’t see locals casually wading in the waters. Other animals, like capybara, will occasionally come to the shore to drink.

It takes about an hour and a half to reach the eco-lodges within Tambopata. You’ll know you’re there by the noises that fill the air, made by colorful birds, howling monkeys, and invisible but loud insects. After lunch, your visit truly begins. It starts with a nature walk that will introduce you to native plants and their traditional uses, whether for food, medicine, dye, or something else. The same night, there is another hike in order to observe nocturnal wildlife, especially caiman, whose eyes are known to glow red in the dark.

The few eco-lodges inside protected territory are charmingly integrated into their surroundings. Sometimes, the bungalows have only one or two walls instead of four. They’re equipped with the basic necessities: cold showers, mosquito nets, hammocks. Electricity is generally limited to a few hours a day, but it’s for the best as it forces you to truly disconnect. From 10pm onwards, you are generally left with a small gas lantern. It’s best for you to pack a head-lamp or flashlight, however.

There are plenty of activities to fill up the following days. Hopefully, you opt for a longer tour so that you can experience more of what the rainforest has to offer.

In Tambopata, the one of the two most popular destinations is Lake Sandoval (if you don’t have time for a multi-day tour of Tambopata, you can do a simple daytrip to Lake Sandoval from Puerto Maldonado). You arrive by boat, followed by a hike. Along the way, you’ll want to steer cleer of those giant anthills that the Amazon is known from- those leaf cutter or fire ant bites sting! Hopefully, you’ll be able to spot an anaconda or a tapir on the way. At the lake itself, there’s lots to see. The most famous sight is the giant otters, but there are also monkeys, extravagantly plumed hoatzin birds and colorful parrots.

The other most popular activity is to visit a macaw clay lick, or collpa. These are clay walls along the riverside where tropical birds gather to feed and obtain some necessary nutrients for digestion. The clay licks attract parrots, parakeets, and macaws. You might see around 30 birds during your visit, or 100 birds. It’s a colorful, very noisy sight. The best find is the extremely rare blue-headed macaw.

Other popular activities include piranha fishing, visits to local river estates where different crops are grown, and a canopy walk, which will allow you to get a tree-top view of the amazon and its wildlife.

If you’d like to know more about what you can do and see in Tambopata Reserve in the Peruvian Amazon, feel free to contact us at pirwatravel@gmail.com for more information. You can learn about the tours in Tambopata that we offer here.