About two hours from Puerto Maldonado along Río Tambopata, followed by a 10-minute uphill walk, this posada (hostel) is on the land of the Ese’eja tribespeople, and tribal members are among the guides. At or near the lodge, which has 30 rooms including two suites, macaws, parrots and giant river otters can be spotted.
There are excellent chances of seeing macaws and parrots on a small salt lick nearby, and giant river otters are often found swimming in lakes close to the lodge. Guides at the lodge are mainly English-speaking Peruvian naturalists with varying interests. Your assigned guide stays with you throughout the duration of your stay.
Visits are also made to the Centro Ñape ethnobotanical center, where medicine is produced for the Ese’eja community. There is a medicinal-plant trail and a 30m-high observation platform giving superb views of the rainforest canopy. Lodge rooms have private showers and open (unglazed) windows overlooking the rainforest. Mosquito nets are provided. Electricity is available in the evenings; otherwise everything is candle- or lamp-lit.
Book online or at Rainforest Expeditions in Puerto Maldonado. Not even the Reserva Nacional Tambopata buffer zone entrance fee is payable, as the reserve is before the first checkpoint, Puesto Control La Torre.
The same outfit has two other lodges on the Tambopata: Refugio Amazonas and the Tambopata Research Center.
