Destination
Amazon
Two nights at a rainforest lodge in Tambopata, reached by boat down the river, added onto the classic Cusco, Sacred Valley, and Machu Picchu route.
Destination
Two nights at a rainforest lodge in Tambopata, reached by boat down the river, added onto the classic Cusco, Sacred Valley, and Machu Picchu route.
The case for the Amazon
At Puerto Maldonado the Andes are gone and the river runs the show: the lodge is reached by boat, macaws gather by the hundred at the clay licks, and giant otters hunt the oxbow lakes off the Tambopata.
Days move between canopy walks and river outings; nights belong to the forest's own soundtrack. It is a short flight from Cusco, which is why our Peru trips close with it: mountains first, then the jungle.
Timing
Our trips
Both halves of the year buy something different, and neither is a bad trip. From roughly December to April the water is high, and boats push further into flooded forest that is walkable only from a hull. From May to October the water drops, beaches appear, trails open up, and wildlife concentrates along the banks and the oxbow lakes.
May and September are our picks, catching the change. The clay licks, where macaws gather by the hundred, are most reliable in the drier months.
Macaws and parrots at the clay licks in numbers that are hard to believe until you are sitting in front of them, giant otters hunting the oxbow lakes, caimans, monkeys, and more bird species in a morning than most places offer in a week. Jaguars exist and are seen rarely; anyone who promises you one is selling something.
Days move between canopy walkways and river outings, and the guides are naturalists who find what you would walk straight past. Nights belong to the forest's own soundtrack.
This needs a travel clinic rather than a website, because the answer depends on your own health and history. Book one six to eight weeks before you fly. Yellow fever vaccination is commonly recommended for the lowland jungle, and malaria precautions vary by area and season.
Nothing is required for the Andean part of a trip. We send the current guidance for your specific route when you book, and your specialist can tell you exactly which areas you will be in.
The lodge sits on the Tambopata and is reached by boat, which is part of the appeal: there is no road, and the river is how the day begins and ends. Rooms are comfortable and screened, meals are included, and the pace is set by when the wildlife is active rather than by distance covered.
The trip carries a physical rating of 3 out of 5. Walks are flat, warm and humid rather than strenuous, and it is a short flight from Cusco, which is why our Peru trips close with it: mountains first, then the jungle.
