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Destination Peru:
Tambopata National Reserve

As soon as you step out the plane in Puerto Maldonado you can feel that hot and humid air hit you. The town itself has some interesting history, founded over a century ago as an important rubber boom town, but unless you are an oil or gold prospector it is not really very interesting to stay in, so best to go straight to your jungle lodge. Book your lodging in advance and you will be met at the airport by your tour group leader, who will then whisk you off on a twenty minute drive through town to your boat that will take you to your lodge.

The tricky thing is choosing your lodge. The first two lodges to exist in the area were built around twenty eight years ago: Reserva Amazonica (formerly Cuzco Amazonica), which is run by Inkaterra, and Explorer's Inn, run by Peruvian Safaris. The latter was originally conceived as a hunting lodge. Today there are over twenty lodges on the Tambopata and Madre de Dios Rivers. The Tambopata National Reserve was declared as such in 1990 and can be reached by traveling up either of these rivers.

After deciding which river you want to stay on, you should consider how far from Puerto Maldonado you want be. For example, the Tambopata Research Centre, run by Rainforest Expeditions, is an 8 hour boat ride from Puerto Maldonado while the Corto Maltes Lodge is just five kilometers down the Madre de Dios River from Puerto Maldonado. You should also take into account that your first and last days are taken up mostly by traveling to and from the lodge, so I would advise you to plan on a minimum three-night stay in order to give you two full days of sight seeing.

Expect to see superb ox-bow lakes, macaw clay licks, a large number of tropical plants, insects, butterflies, birds and more than likely you will also encounter caiman, bats and monkeys, but other mammals are hard to see in the dense rainforest. Depending on where you stay, it will also be possible to visit an indigenous community.

The accommodations are pretty rustic and most lodges don't have electricity except in the kitchen/dining area. Be sure to take a flashlight as you will only have candles or a kerosene lantern in your room. Other essential items to take with you are binoculars, long sleeve shirts and long pants, rain gear and of course, mosquito repellant. Most of the lodges will loan them to you but if you already happen to have a pair, do take some rubber boots as well! -- Leda Duif, South American Explorers

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