Refugio Amazonas Tour

Rooms and bathrooms

Loft common area

 Refugio Amazonas Tour: 3 Days 2 Nights
make reservations here
$375 for double occupancy
$40 day trip option add-in for Kayaking!
Activities Highlighted in green

DAY 1

• Arrival & Reception by Guide Our guides are biologists, tourism professionals, or community members. Unless noted otherwise, our guides speak English. We assign guides at 10:1 ratio in Refugio Amazonas. This means groups smaller than 10 people will be merged with other groups under one guide. If you would like a private guide or a guide in a language other than English please let us know.
• Transfer Airport to Puerto Maldonado Headquarters Upon arrival from Lima or Cusco, 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.
• Dinner
• Caiman Search: We will be out at the river’s edge at night, scanning the shores with headlamps and flashlights to catch the red gleams of reflection from caiman eyes.



Caiman

• Most animals in the Peruvian rainforest are more active during the dim hours at dusk and dawn or only come out at night and can thus be a challenge to see on a family eco vacation. The reason why thousands of exquisite looking insects, alien-like frogs, fluttering bats, and various reptiles and mammals prefer the dark of the night is simply because that way, it’s more difficult for predators such as birds to see and catch them. During the day, birds of all shapes and sizes are constantly watching and searching the foliage for tasty bugs and other small creatures. if an insect comes out in the open, it will be caught by a beautiful, glittering jacamar, trogon, or other exotic rainforest bird in a matter of seconds. So, to avoid such a sudden demise, most of the insects and small animals in the Peruvian jungle have evolved nocturnal behaviors. In response, some predators have also become nocturnal and the Spectacled Caiman is one such animal.
  Although this “small” caiman (they can be 2 meters or 6 feet in length) is also encountered during the day, they are much more active at night. Boat rides on the Tambopata River in the daytime sometimes turn up one or more Spectacled Caimans but these are typically just one or two individuals sunning on the bank of the river. As they warm up with the rays of the tropical sun, they hardly move at all and look almost like caiman statues or pieces of driftwood. When you see them like that during ecotourism family travel, it’s hard to imagine those reptiles quickly lunging after fish or other small creatures. Nor do you see the other caimans that don’t need to warm up on the riverbank.
  To see caimans “in action” during eco travel, you need to look for them when they are actively feeding and searching for food in the river. Guests of Refugio Amazonas get to do just that with the caiman search activity. After a 15-minute night walk to the river’s edge, a boat takes guests a short distance upriver. As the boat drifts back downstream, both guide and guests search for caimans with headlamps and flashlights. Red eye shine reveals the presence of Spectacled Caimans and other creatures that only come out at night for a unique, jungle wildlife experience.
• Overnight at Refugio Amazonas

DAY 2

• Breakfast
• Oxbow Lake Visit We will paddle around the lake on a canoe or a catamaran, looking for lakeside wildlife such as hoatzin, caiman and hornerd screamers, hoping to see the otters which are infrequently seen here. You will also be rewarded with overhead sightings of macaws.



Oxbow River

• Oxbow lakes are an important and distinct habitat found in the Amazon basin. Formed when a bend in an Amazonian river gets cut off from its main channel, their waters are much more calm and clear than the silty, turbulent river. Shallow and tranquil, oxbow lakes provide perfect habitat for marsh grasses and a host of interesting animals that prefer these backwater lagoons. Many of these animals are also easy to watch and thus make great photography subjects for folks on a family eco vacation.
  Looking like a cross between a pheasant and feathered dinosaur, the bizarre Hoatzin clambers a around the lakeside vegetation and makes odd, grunting noises. The locals call it the “stinkbird” on account of the bad smell it gives off! Eco travel guests to Refugio Amazonas who visit the oxbow lake near the lodge frequently delight in sightings of Squirrel Monkey troops that sometimes forage in bushes at the edge of the lake. Overhead, spectacular Scarlet and Red and Green Macaws are a regular sight as they fly over the lake and parrots are also frequently seen. In the water itself, guests may also espy Black Caimans that reach a length of 4 meters (12 feet) and endangered Giant Otters that make their home in the fish-filled waters.
  For close views of animals and a better view of the lake, guests of Refugio Amazonas who take part in this ecotourism family travel activity paddle around the calm waters in a canoe or catamaran. After looking for rainforest wildlife that lives in the water and forests next to the lake, your guide will take you to one of the largest trees in the rainforest. An immense, old growth Kapok, you have to literally take a separate trail to walk around its base! As you appreciate this beautiful tree, your guide will tell you all about the historical and spiritual significance that the Kapok (or Ceiba) holds for Amazonian peoples.
• Canopy Tower A thirty minute walk from Refugio Amazonas leads to the 25 meter scaffolding canopy tower. A bannistered staircase running through the middle provides safe access to the platforms above. The tower has been built upon high ground, therefore increasing your horizon of the continuous primary forest extending out towards the Tambopata National Reserve. From here views of mixed species canopy flocks as well as toucans, macaws and raptors are likely.



The Canopy Tower

• Most of the life in the rainforest occurs in its highest reaches, the canopy. There has been little exploration of the upper levels of the Amazon rainforest on account of it being 30 meters (90 feet) or more above the ground. While hiking through the Peruvian jungle on a family green travel vacation, the tall canopy almost makes you feel as if you are walking through an immense sylvan cathedral with sun-dappled foliage acting as natural stained glass. The only problem posed by the sky-high canopy is realized when you try to watch toucans or other birds moving through the upper levels of the forest. Even with the best of binoculars, it’s hard to appreciate their beautiful plumage from the forest floor, especially when they fly into the crowns of massive, old growth rainforest giants whose foliaged peaks can reach a height of 60 meters (180 feet)!
  Fortunately, there is a an easy, eco travel solution for getting closer, much more intimate views of rainforest canopy birds, monkeys, and other creatures. At Refugio Amazonas, all you need to do is hike a short ways to the canopy tower, walk up the stairs, and you will find yourself looking into and over the last hidden realm of the rainforest. The canopy tower is 25 meters (80 feet) high and provides fantastic, close views into the crowns of huge Brazil Nut trees and overlooks a sea of forest.
  From the upper levels of the tower, your guide will be scanning for monkeys, toucans, parrots, and other canopy dwellers and will show them to you with a spotting scope. The tower is an excellent place to see flocks of screeching parrots and parakeets fly by at eye level. Macaws also fly over the tower and occasionally perch in nearby trees. You can look down at exotic birds like jacamars and trogons as mixed flocks of glittering tanagers and honeycreepers flutter through the nearby greenery. It’s the easiest way to see birds and other animals that frequent the upper reaches of the forest and an essential activity for any family eco vacation.
• Lunch
• Farm Visit Five minutes downriver from the lodge lies a farm owned and managed by charismatic Don Manuel from the neighbouring community of Condenado. He grows a variety of popular and unknown Amazon crops - just about every plant and tree you see serves a purpose.
• The Amazon rainforest is one of the wildest places on the planet and is an excellent choice for a ecotourism family destinations. Families of Red Howler Monkeys sit high in the trees and greet the dawn with loud voices that echo through the forest. Long-armed Spider Monkeys move through the upper reaches of the forest in search of fruiting trees. Cute, little Dusky Titi Monkeys calmly sit in dense vegetation and vine tangles in the rainforest understory while spectacular Scarlet, Blue and Gold, and Red and Green Macaws fly above the jungle.
  The Peruvian jungle is a wild, wonderful place for eco travel but animals aren’t the only beings who call the rainforest “home”. People also live in the rainforests of Amazonia and have been doing so for thousands of years. In the Tambopata region, the Ese-Eja tribe has lived in the rainforest for countless generations. During the twentieth century, people from other parts of Peru also moved to and settled in the rainforests of Tambopata. While some people came to the area in search of gold, most started small farms that produce a wide variety of crops.
  Just five minutes downriver from Refugio Amazonas is one such farm. Situated in the riverside community of “Condenado”, Don Manuel grows a huge variety of fruits and vegetables, many of which can be seen in the delicious dishes offered to guests of Refugio Amazonas on a family eco vacation. Guests of this Amazon jungle lodge are offered the opportunity of experiencing an authentic, working jungle farm to get a taste of local, Tambopata life. The owner of the farm will show you how he cultivates Amazonian crops such as Manioc, Cocona, Copuazu, Plantains, and other fruits and vegetables in a sustainable manner rather than slash and burn methods that would destroy the rainforest. Since his farm is situated right next to the rainforest, don’t be surprised if you also see flocks of parrots or macaws fly overhead as you learn about local Amazonian crops.
• Ethnobotanical Tour Along this trail we will find a variety of plants and trees that are used by the local population with at least the same variety of purposes. We will learn about the medicinal (and other) uses of Ajo-Sacha, Yuca de Venado, Uña de Gato, Charcot-Sacha, Para-Para, among several others.



Una de Gato Plant

• The biodiversity of the Amazon rainforest is simply astounding and thus perfect for ecotourism family travel. Nowhere else on the planet can one find a forest that harbors more than 600 species of birds, well over 100 species of mammals, and more than 100 species of reptiles and amphibians. The insect diversity is even more incredible with literally thousands of species of beetles, bugs, and other six-legged creatures. There are more than 1,000 species of butterflies in the rainforests of Tambopata and the number of shapes, colors, and types of katydids seems to be simply endless.
  However, as rich as the Peruvian rainforests are in animal species, the numbers of plants that grow in Tambopata is simply incredible and will amaze anyone on a family eco vacation. At least 20,000 plant species occur in the rainforests of southeastern Peru and who knows how many more still await discovery. To cope with the armies of insects and herbivores that feed on their leaves and vegetation, the rainforest plants of Tambopata have evolved an incredible array of defenses to ward them off. Many plants have elaborate thorns, irritating hairs on their leaves, and oils for protection against herbivores. Most have also developed chemicals that act as natural pesticides against insects, fungi, and other creatures that can harm plants.
  Several of the natural compounds that help to fend off insects actually have medicinal properties for people. Generations of Ese-Eja people have learned about and used hundreds of rainforests plants to treat everything from pain to parasites, kidney problems, and high blood pressure. On the eco travel, ethnobotanical trail at Refugio Amazonas, your guide will show you important medicinal rainforest plants such as the anti-oxident rich Uña de Gato, the highly hallucinogenic Ayahuasca vine, and the Para-Para plant (sometimes used to cure impotency). These and other medicinal plants grow wild in the rainforest and are still cultivated and used by local shamans to treat diseases.
• Dinner
• Tambopata National Reserve Lectures Nightly lectures prepared by the staff of Refugio Amazonas cover conservation threats, opportunities and projects in the Tambopata National Reserve.
• Overnight at Refugio Amazonas

DAY 3

• Breakfast
• 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.

Included

• Programmes based on double occupancy. Includes all meal, accommodations, and services, all river transportation, and transfer from and to the airport of Puerto Maldonado.
• Boat Transportation
• All our boats are 20 foot long, roofed canoes with 55 hp outboard motors. Daily arrivals and departures from every port are scheduled to meet every airline´s arrival and departure with a maximum two hour wait.
• We reserve the right to change the order of activities.
• 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 or messages, reconfirmation of flights and items of personal nature.