Refugio Amazonas | Trip Itinerary

Offering "Design your own" itineraries based on your own interests and activity level

We also offer longer programs; soft adventure itineraries; programs for teens and special interest itineraries such as birdwatching and photography. Detailed itineraries and prices available on request

Our most popular & recommended itinerary is 4 days/3 nights. After checking over all the touring options, you may want to add a night or two to completely immerse yourself in the rainforest environment.

First day: Arrival & Reception by Guide, Transfer Airport to Puerto Maldonado Headquarters & boat transfer to the lodge
We will arrange your flights to correspond as close as possible to the lodge's transfer schedule.

Upon arrival at the Puerto Maldonado airport we will welcome you at the airport and  drive you ten minutes to our Puerto Maldonado headquarters.  While enjoying your first taste of the forest in our gardens we will ask you to pack only the necessary gear for your next few days, and leave the rest at our safe deposit. This helps us keep the boats and cargo light.

Transfer Pto Maldonado Headquarters to Tambopata River Port
Skirting Puerto Maldonado, we drive 20 kilometers to the Tambopata River Port, entering the Native Community of Infierno.  The port is a communal business.

Transfer Boat - Tambopata River Port to Refugio Amazonas
The two and a half hour boat ride from the Tambopata Port to Refugio Amazonas will take us past the Community of Infierno and the Tambopata National Reserve´s checkpoint and into the buffer zone of this 1.3 million hectare conservation unit.  Boxed Lunch

Orientation
Upon arrival, the lodge manager will welcome you and brief you with important navigation and security tips. You'll have time to settle in to your selected room (Please see our "Accommodations" tab for descriptions of the room categories offered at Refugio Amazonas) and meet go over your planned itinerary for the days ahead.   (L, D)

Days 2 & 3 (or more!)  (B, L, D)

A LA CARTE PROGRAM

With your Amazon experience at Refugio Amazonas you will be able to choose from a wide range of stand-out Amazon excursions.  These include options for family, adventure, wildlife, and being an active participant in on-going scientific studies at the lodge.

Do it at your own pace and create your own, custom experience.
At confirmation, we´ll send you the current menu of activities.  We suggest selecting your preferred excursions in advance to avoid missing excursions for which there is limited availability. A sampling of your choices for 

Science:
Discover a new species: Help us reveal nature’s wonders, became a scientist and have the chance to discover a new species! There is an amazing world of diversity awaiting exploration.  We will meet the resident researcher team at the lobby for a brief explanation on the types of specimens we will be looking for, and how to identify them. They will give us tools needed for collecting, and we will walk around 15 minutes from the lodge to the light trap where an incredible variety of insects will be waiting for us. We will look for and collect certain types of insects, and, if we are lucky, we may even discover a new species!

Amazon Cam Tambopata: We are building a Big Grid to answer Big Questions. Become a researcher and explore the world of camera traps and the amazing wildlife they reveal: it’s a Big Neighborhood! We will walk for about 20 minutes near the mammal clay lick, a favorite spot for many animals. We will help researchers collect the data from the camera traps and install some new ones. We will try them and make sure they are working correctly, and on the way back to the lodge, will get to see what we got on the cameras.

Tambopata Aerobotany: Why point to the stars when you can reach the canopy! Experience the incredible diversity of Amazon Trees and Plants from the Air! Throw a Drone from a 35 meter tall scaffolding tower and get an incomparable view of the canopy, feel like a star! This canopy tower experience is a quick 20 minute walk from the lodge, and provides access to the tops of huge rainforest trees. We will get the chance to observe the researchers programming the drones for their daily route, and we will get unique and amazing pictures and videos of the canopy from the air.

Adventure:
Mountain biking: If you like action, this is a great way to explore and experience the beauty and excitement of the rainforest along ten kilometers of trails.
We provide a GT mountain bike, helmet and cycling gear, water bottle, and your very own mountain bike guide.

Kayaking: After a short hike along a jungle trail, your kayaking guide will get you geared up for one of the best ways to explore the rainforest. You’ll quietly kayak with your guide along the edge of a river flanked by majestic rainforest to look for wildlife. We will also make a stop at a sandy beach for a dip in the river before heading back to the lodge.

Stand-Up Paddle: Paddle boarding is easy, fun, and a great, quiet way to explore the river. While paddle boarding near the banks of the river, we will have great opportunities to find wildlife like monkeys, caimans, and other surprises. A paddle board, paddles, life jacket, and
experienced guide are provided.

River Excursions:
Chuncho Macaw Claylick Expeditions: Since Tambopata is the worl’ds best hot spot for macaws, this is a “must-do” on every itinerary. Take a morning trip into the Tambopata national reserve to one of the famous macaw clay licks. The two hour boat ride from the lodge and into the national reserve also offers outstanding opportunities for seeing wildlife. This clay lick is often visited by three species of large colorful macaws, and many others parrots, and parakeets. Your guide will help you identify the birds seen at the clay lick, as well as other wildlife there and along the river..Binoculars and a provided spotting scope will take you that
much closer to wildlife.

Sunset Cruise: Sunsets in the jungle are one of nature’s most beautiful spectacles, and one of the best places to enjoy them is from a boat on the Tambopata River. In the afternoon, your guide will take you to a boat for an easy-going, two hour ride on the Tambopata. Your guide will talk about the dynamics of this Amazonian river as you watch for rainforest wildlife and see macaws fly overhead before enjoying the jungle sunset.

Children’s Activities
Circle of fire: As a prelude to the Ania trail activities that will take place with our child-specialist guide, we head towards the circle of fire. A series of lights will lead us on a path that goes through the forest and ends at the circle of fire. This is where the house of Tawa, the ancient healer, is located. The house is filled with magic potions and extracts prepared from plants of the forest. There, we learn about the story and characters from "Ania and the Voice of the World", as we sit and listen to our guide. This is also the starting point for the adventure that awaits us in our next child activity.

The Children's Rainforest Trail: learn about the rainforest from a different perspective. Ania &The World´s Voice is an exciting journey designed for children, ages 4 to 10 years. We will travel with our guides on a short but challenging walk where we follow maps, solve riddles, and find clues that will lead to the "treasure of Ania.” The path includes a visit to the houses of Ania and Tawa, the grandfather of the woods. Searching for the “lost Brazil nut”, the city of ants, and other fun games teaches children how people live in the rainforest, why we need to preserve it, and leaves us with a valuable message: "A child born in the jungle fills our hearts with hope." The concept and history of this are all registered in the name of ANIA, a nonprofit organization with a mission to create 100,000 acres of "Lands of Children" – private, protected areas managed for children.

Rainforest Tattoo: Getting tattooed in the Rainforest? No worries, we´ll prepare a paste from a fruit called “huito”, and achiote or other natural dies to draw tattoos on ourselves. We can draw different shapes of animals or other patterns associated with the forest. They only last a few days.

Classic Activities
Oxbow Lake Visit: A 45 minute hike through terra firme rainforest brings us to an aguaje palm swamp and the Condenado oxbow lake. Oxbow lakes are amazing habitats, and we’ll have the opportunity to experience one while paddling a traditional canoe or catamaran on Condenado Lake. We will look for lakeside wildlife such as big fish, lots of birds, colorful butterflies, and more, while also hoping to see rare Giant Otters. You will also be rewarded with overhead sightings of macaws and beautiful jungle skies.

Canopy Tower: Let’s get to the top and have an eagle’s view of the forest. A thirty minute hike from Refugio Amazonas leads to a 25 meter scaffolding canopy tower. A banister staircase running through the middle provides safe access to the platforms above, and the tower has been built upon high ground, therefore increasing your horizon of continuous primary forest that extends towards the Tambopata National Reserve. From here, views of mixed species canopy flocks as well as toucans, macaws and raptors are likely.

Farm Visit: On the other side of the river from the lodge, we visit a family owned farm managed by charismatic Don Manuel from the neighboring community of Condenado. He grows a variety of popular and little known Amazonian crops – just about every plant and tree you see has a story and serves a purpose.

Ethnobotanical Tour: Most medicines come from a medicinal plant in the Amazon, along this trail we will find a diversity of plants and trees that are used by the local people for a variety of purposes. We ‘ll learn about the medicinal (and other) uses of Ayahuasca, Ajo-Sacha, Yuca de Venado, Uña de Gato, Charcot-Sacha, and Para-Para among several others.

Tambopata National Reserve Lecture: Nightly lectures prepared by the staff of Refugio Amazonas cover conservation threats, opportunities, and projects in the Tambopata National Reserve.

Parakeet clay lick: A fifteen minutes boat ride and sixty minutes hike from Refugio Amazonas will take us to a completely different clay lick used both by parrots and parakeets. We will watch from a blind as parrots and parakeets descend to ingest the clay on a bank. Species such as Dusky headed and Cobalt winged Parakeets come to this clay lick. With luck we will also see some or all of the following species in the early morning rush: Mealy and Yellow-crowned Amazons, Blue-headed Pionus, Chestnut-fronted (Severa’s) Macaw, and Orange cheeked (Barraband`s) Parrot. We visit the lick at dawn, when parrots are most active, or in midmorning or early afternoon.

Brazil Trail Nut and Camp: Refugio Amazonas is located in a Brazil Nut forest. This hike is a beautiful old growth patch of Brazil Nut forest that has been harvested for decades (if not centuries) where the remains of a camp used two months a year by Brazil Nut gatherers can still be experienced. We will demonstrate the whole process of the rain forest's only sustainably harvested product from collection through transportation, drying, and on to the products we consume.

Mammal Clay Lick: Mammals feed on clay too and a peccary clay lick is just 20 minutes on foot from Refugio Amazonas. These wild rain forest pigs show up in herds of five to twenty individuals to eat clay in the late morning. Chances of spotting them are rare but well worth the short hike. Other wildlife also shows up sometimes, including deer, guans, and parakeets. This area has also sometimes featured the nest of the rare Harpy Eagle.

Night Walk: The rainforest comes alive again at night. This is the best time to see a bizarre and beautiful world of sounds, frogs, insects, night skies, and other nocturnal animals. Your guide will take you on a trail near the lodge for an hour and a half exciting hike into the night of the Amazon rainforest.

Overlook Walk: This 2 km trail will take us along the Tambopata River for a great overview. We will show you the differences of a terra firme forest and a secondary forest after passing through both habitats. We will also take breaks at benches that help us witness the Tambopata on its journey through the Amazonian lowlands.

A sample of options for different times of the day:

Early morning:
Macaw Clay Lick
Canopy Tower

Morning (after breakfast)
Parakeet Clay Lick
Farm &  Ethnobotanical Trail
Mountain Biking
Birdwatching
Mammal Clay Lick
Oxbow Lake
Children’s Trail
Rainforest Tatoo
Brazil Nut Trail & Camp
Stand Up Paddle Boarding
Kayaking

Afternoon
Oxbow Lake
AmazonCam
Tambopata Aerobotany
HarpyCam
Brazil Nut Trail & Camp
Farm & Ethnobotanical Trail
Mammal Clay Lick
Overlook Trail
Mountain Biking
Kayaking
Stand Up Paddle Boarding

Evening
Sunset Cruise
Discover a New Species
Nightwalk Tour
Circle of Fire
Tambopata Lectures

Last Day: Breakfast and Transfer Boat - Refugio Amazonas to Tambopata River Port
Transfer Tambopata River Port to Pto Maldonado Headquarters.  Transfer Puerto Maldonado Headquarters to Airport
We retrace our river and road journey back to Puerto Maldonado, our office and the airport. Depending on airline schedules, this may require dawn departures. Check-in for your flights to Cusco or Lima.

B=Breakfast; L= Lunch; D=Dinner.