TAMBOPATA RESEARCH CENTER & POSADA AMAZONAS

SUGGESTED 8D/7N ITINERARY - FOUR NIGHTS AT TRC

DAY 1
PUERTO MALDONADO - POSADA AMAZONAS
Upon arrival from Lima or Cuzco, reception and transfer to the Tambopata River port in Puerto Maldonado. Puerto Maldonado is situated at the confluence of the mighty Madre de Dios and Tambopata Rivers and is a bustling, booming tropical frontier town. Its principal activities are gold mining, Brazil nut collecting, timber extraction, agriculture and ecotourism. After a brief survey of the town we will depart on a 2-hour boat trip by motorized canoe to Posada Amazonas. Depending on the arrival time of the plane we will have a boxed lunch aboard the boats or have lunch upon arrival at Posada Amazonas. During our voyage we 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 flycatchers.

When we arrive at Posada Amazonas we will unpack and unwind. Posada Amazonas is a comfortable yet unobtrusive 24-room lodge owned jointly by Rainforest Expeditions and the Local Community of Infierno. We will receive a short orientation and a complete briefing on the lodge and the Ecotourism Project. before our afternoon visit to the canopy tower. The 35-meter tower is about 15 minutes walking distance from the lodge. The scaffolding tower is built so that you can safely climb using the internal staircase with verandahs on each side, and rest in platforms present every 2 meters. From the top you not only get spectacular views of the river and the surrounding forest but also excellent opportunities to observe birds from the canopy including parrots, toucans and macaws. A video about the forest of Tambopata will be displayed after dinner.
L, D

DAY 2
POSADA AMAZONAS
After an early breakfast we will visit a small clay lick. This clay lick is located ten-minute walk from the lodge and next to the river banks. Amazingly, the variety of parrots that visit this clay lick is considerably different than the one inside the forest that we will visit later in the day. Some of the large macaws, like the red and green macaw and larger parrots, like mealy and yellow crowned Amazons visit this lick, as well as the smaller parrots and parakeets. From the blind we have constructed next to this lick, even the amateur photographer can take good pictures of these wonderful birds. We will also have a great opportunity to spot other spectacular wildlife, active at this time of the day, like scarlet or blue and gold macaws and a great deal of other birds.

When the activity dies out we will visit a small parakeet clay lick that is a 45-minute walk away. Dozens and sometimes hundreds of Blue Headed Parrots, Orange-Cheeked Parrots, Cobalt-winged parakeets, and sometimes even the rare Rock Parakeet congregate here on clear days to ingest clay. This congregation creates a riotous and colorful wildlife spectacle where the greens, oranges, reds and blues of the parrots dance around the bank as each individual parrot competes for their choice beakful of clay. At times, this spectacle lasts for hours. We will return to the lodge in time for lunch.

In the afternoon we will visit the community's ethno botanical center. From this small center, the community has been registering the uses of medicinal plants with the help of the community elders. The center is planting, producing and distributing their harvest of medicinal plant to the community for over ten years. We will hike the trails around the center with one of the residents who will explain to us the everyday uses of forest resources used in medicine, home building, food supplies and the production of handicrafts. We will return to Posada Amazonas for dinner and overnight. After enjoying our popular happy hour and refurbishing your spirits, you will have the option to go participate on a night walk t and search for amphibians and insects
B,L,D

DAY 3
POSADA AMAZONAS-TAMBOPATA RESEARCH CENTER
After an early breakfast we depart from the port in Posada Amazonas on a fifteen minutes boat ride and then a 30-minute walk to the shores of Tres Chimbadas lake. From here we take a long, easy canoe ride around the lake. We will look for giant river otters, turtles, hoatzin, and wading birds. The giant river otters that are seen in Tres Chimbadas belong to a resident family of nine. We will return to the lodge for lunch and a chance to relax before our afternoon activity.

As we approach noon, animal activity decreases, and we will return to our boat and continue our journey upriver to TRC. The trip will take about 4-hours and will takes us into the pristine heart of the reserve. After the first hour we will leave the final traces of human habitation behind as we cross the northern boundary of the 700,000 hectare, completely uninhabited nucleus of the Tambopata National Reserve. Differences in wildlife abundance will be noted immediately: We will begin to sight macaws, herons, kingfishers and cormorants frequently. Chances to spot capybaras, caiman, storks, ducks and other wildlife will also improve. Boxed lunch will be served on the boat.

We will arrive at the Tambopata Research Center in the early afternoon and there is good chance we will be greeted by the Chicos, our flock of semi-wild, rescued macaws. On arrival, we will hold an orientation session. After the orientation, we will hike the 1.5 mile Bamboo Trail, a trail famous for the abundance of rare birds that live exclusively in this habitat and are endemic to southern Peru. It is also the home of the frequently found Howler and Dusky titi monkeys. As we birdwatch our way through the trail we will end our hike at the rain forest overlooks which are advantageous spots to observe canopy birds like tanagers, jacamars, elaenias, guans, and oropendolas. We will return to TRC for dinner. After dinner, to cap off a fulfilling day we can have a frog walk through the forest, allowing the photo lovers if fortunate to take incredibly beautiful macro images of american bullfrogs, horned frogs, tree frogs and an incredible variety of colorful insects.
B,L,D

DAY 4
TAMBOPATA RESEARCH CENTER
At dawn we will cross the river and enjoy the world's largest macaw clay lick where hundreds of parrots and macaws of up to 15 species congregate daily. The January 1994 issue of National Geographic features an article on Tambopata Research Center and the Tambopata Macaw Project. It begins with a description of the daily spectacle at the clay lick:
" When the morning sun clears the Amazon tree line in southeastern Peru and strikes a gray-pink clay bank on the upper Tambopata River, one of the world's most dazzling wildlife gatherings is nearing its riotous peak. The steep bank has become a pulsing, 130-foot-high palette of red, blue, yellow and green as more than a thousand parrots squabble over choice perches to grab a beakful of clay, a vital but mysterious part of their diet. More than a dozen parrot species will visit the clay lick throughout the day, but this midmorning crush belongs to the giants of the parrot world, the macaws."

You can expect to see ten to twelve of the following members of the parrot family: Red-and-green, Blue-and-gold, Scarlet, Red-bellied, Chestnut-fronted and Blue-headed Macaws; Mealy and Yellow-crowned Amazons; Blue-headed, Orange-cheeked and White-bellied Parrots; Dusky-headed, White-eyed, Cobalt-winged and Tui Parakeets and Dusky-billed Parrotlets. This show will continue until the macaws sense danger, usually in the form of an eagle, and depart simultaneously in an explosion of sound and color. Around mid-morning, when the most intense clay lick activity is over for the day, we will return to TRC for breakfast..

After breakfast we will hike the 1.5-mile Ocelot trail, a trail that exemplifies the quintessential rainforest. Although at this time of day mammals and birds are not as active as in the early morning, we will concentrate on the forest itself and discuss general rain forest ecology. This forest, which is estimated to be 200 to 300 years old and includes truly huge Ceiba trees and Strangler figs is home to several mammals that are occasionally encountered: Saddleback tamarins, Squirrel and Brown Capuchin Monkeys and Collared peccary. This trail is one that most often sports ocelot, puma and jaguar tracks, although any one of these three large cats is extremely difficult to spot.

We will return to TRC for lunch and then embark on a 2-mile hike to the palm swamp, a nesting colony and preferred roost for Blue and Gold and Red-bellied Macaws. Although there are different degrees of macaw activity at the swamp year round, the most exciting time to visit it is from October to March. During the nesting season, macaws land on the nests and stand there for several minutes, interacting with other individuals at less then 20 feet from our observation tower. The scenes at the swamp, especially with the late afternoon sun in our backs, make for prized photo opportunities. After a lazy afternoon with the macaws we will hike back to the lodge for dinner.
B,L,D

DAY 5
TAMBOPATA RESEARCH CENTER
After our second visit to the macaw clay lick at dawn we will have breakfast. Then we will embark on a hike of the Toucan Trail that visits terra firme forests. We will visit beautiful pristine creeks that wind their way through forested hills, in some cases following dry stream beds. The community of birds and other wildlife that lives in the hilly terra firme, is very different from that of the bamboo or mature floodplain. After a long, easy hike, we will return to the lodge for lunch. After lunch we will take a short five-minute boat ride to a small, drying oxbow lake where we will spend the afternoon on a platform in the middle of the pond observing some of its birdlife, which may include hoatzin, duck, ibis, woodpeckers, chachalaca, parakeets, oropendolas and numerous flycatcher species. We will return to TRC for dinner and an optional second night outing.,
B,L,D

DAY 6
TAMBOPATA RESEARCH CENTER
We will wake up at dawn once again to visit the macaw clay lick and then return for breakfast. The rest of the morning will be spent walking a trail that passes through seasonally flooded forest, allowing us excellent opportunities to see wading birds and even mammals that look for this precious bodies of water to quench their thirst. This trail also reports excellent opportunities to spot howler monkeys and mixed flocks of birds.

After lucnh we will spend the afternoon in a challenging outing: we will travel upriver for 10 minutes, after what a five minute walk takes us to a small stream that feeds the Tambopata river. At this stream we will find two five-person canoes, in which we will be able to paddle silently through the stream, and try our luck at fishing. For the fish lovers, the most common species at this kind of body of water is the piranha. Dinner and overnight at TRC
B,L,D

DAY 7
TAMBOPATA RESEARCH CENTER - PUERTO MALDONADO
We will wake up at dawn once again to visit the macaw clay lick and then return to the lodge for breakfast. After breakfast we will take a short hike to retrace one of our favorite activity before packing and saying goodbye to the staff. We will embark for our trip back to Puerto Maldonado where we will arrive in the late afternoon. Transfer t o hotel for overnight.
B,L,D

DAY 8
PUERTO MALDONADO
After an early breakfast we will go to the airport for our flight back to Lima or Cuzco.
B.

INCLUDES: All hotel and lodge accommodations based on double occupancy. All scheduled land and river transportation. All transfers. All scheduled excursions with English-speaking guide services. Meals as specified in the itinerary. B=Breakfast. L= Lunch. D=Dinner.

NOT INCLUDED: 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, radio calls or messages, reconfirmation of flights and items of personal nature.