Upon arrival from Lima or
Cusco, 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 the 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 luxurious yet unobtrusive 24 room lodge owned jointly by Rainforest Expeditions and the Ese'eja Native Community of Tambopata.
We will receive a short orientation and a complete briefing of the lodge and the Ese'eja Ecotourism Project before our afternoon activity: Ethnobotany. In this activity, we will hike the trails around Posada Amazonas with an EseŽeja native, who will explain to us the everyday uses of forest medicine, construction, food and fiber. At some point in our walk, we will visit a small parakeet clay lick. 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.
A video about the forest of Tambopata will be displayed after dinner.
Lunch, Diner
DAY 2 POSADA AMAZONAS
We will be up at dawn for a visit to the Tres Chimbadas oxbow lake.
After an early breakfast we depart, fifteen minutes from Posada Amazonas by boat and a 30 minute walk take us to the lake shore. From here we take a long, easy canoe ride around it. 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.
Then we will return to the lodge for lunch before embarking on our afternoon outing.
In the afternoon we will have an Ethno botanical walk. In this activity, we will hike the trails around Posada Amazonas with an EseŽeja native, who will explain to us the everyday uses of forest medicine, construction, food and fiber.
Optional night walk to look for amphibians and insects.
Breakfast, Lunch, Diner.
DAY 3 POSADA AMAZONAS
After an early breakfast we will visit a second clay lick. This clay lick is also a ten minute walk from the lodge, but next to the river. Amazingly, the variety of parrots that visit this clay lick is considerably different than the one inside the forest. 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.
After lunch, we'll visit a native slash and burn farm. Slash and burn agriculture systems are often thought of as wasteful because the fields are burnt, cultivated for a few years, and then abandoned. Many resident studies, however, have shown that this is far from the truth. The secret of their success is mixed planting in small patches, so that the crops are not decimated by disease and pests spreading through monocultures, the use of a mixture of herbaceous and woody crops, and the genetic diversity of their crops.
After our visit, we will be able to understand why the EseŽeja cultivation system is sustainable over the long term.
We will return to Posada Amazonas for dinner and overnight.
Breakfast, Lunch, Diner.
DAY 4 POSADA AMAZONAS - PUERTO MALDONADO
After an early breakfast we will return to Puerto Maldonado for our flight back to
Lima or Cusco.