Excursions
Life at the fullest! With this Amazon Experience, choose from a wide range of stand-out Amazon excursions, including options for family, adventure, wildlife, and being at active participant in on-going scientific studies at our lodges. Do it at your own pace and create your own, custom experience.
Jungle Orchid Trail
During this activity you will learn about Orchids in Peru and the project that we carry out in Refugio Amazonas, rescuing and relocating some species in order to investigate and conserve certain species. You can visit the nursery and if you’re lucky, you’ll get to see the orchids in bloom (according to the season). After a proper introduction, you will be able to identify a wild orchid in the forest. This experience will not only lead you to learn more about Amazonian orchids but also about their important ecological relationship.
Canopy Tower
As you crane your neck to see the top of the Canopy Tower, it doesn’t seem that high up. But when you ascend the staircase and reach the top platform, you realize just how high you are. Freed from the dense vegetation of the forest, you can see all the way to the horizon, framed by an endless sea of treetops.
Night Walk
At first, you were a little nervous about the Jungle Night Walk, taking uncertain steps onto the dark trail and fidgeting with your headlamp. But soon, your eyes adjust, and a new world opens up to you. While many animals sleep, others emerge, making the Amazon their own. These weird, otherworldly creatures of the night — giant insects, frogs, snakes, and more — are ripe for discovery.
Discovering New Species
The light glares against the sheet, highlighting its white color against the dark jungle night. As the bright light flickers, moths begin to flutter towards it. You study them carefully, noting their shapes and patterns. By the end of the night, you’ve discovered a species totally unknown to science. Now, you get to name it yourself!
Oxbow Lake
After trekking away from the Tambopata River — past the hanging nests of Oropendola birds and fluttering fruit bats — you arrive at the Oxbow Lake. Separated by just a thin sliver of land from the river, this lake is a world away from those rushing waters. Here, tranquility reigns. But the Oxbow Lake’s calm waters and beautiful landscape bely the wild creatures, from tiny to giant, lurking just below the surface.
Amazon Birdwatching
As you trek through the marshy forest, a tiny flash of color catches your eye. Your guide motions towards it, setting up his telescope and honing in with his binoculars. Maybe it’s a Manakin or even a small Trogon? Finally, the bird comes into focus: it’s a Collared Puffbird, as fluffy and lovely as any jungle bird could be. In fact, this bird is just one of the hundreds you can spot on our birdwatching activities and tours.
Chuncho Macaw Clay Lick
As you sit, subtly hidden on a small river island, the Amazonian sun begins to light up the clay cliff. Suddenly, shrieks and caws fill the air as the jungle’s most charismatic birds swoop down to the Chuncho Macaw Clay Lick, or Collpa, as it’s known here. Soon, dozens of tiny parakeets, colourful parrots, and brilliant macaws perch and preen on the cliffs. It’s like nothing you’ve ever seen — or heard.
Overlook Trail
Deep within the dense forest, the only hints that the river lies below come from its soft, flowing sound and brief glimpses of water through the trees. As the air becomes fresher and lighter on the River Overlook Trail, it seems like you’re getting near. Then, all of a sudden, you break through the trees and see it: the vast, splendid Tambopata River in all its glory.
Medicinal Plants Trail
As you walk down the path, the quiet is broken by the sound of Capuchin Monkeys in the fruit trees above. Nearby, a Morpho butterfly flutters its bright blue wings, and hundreds of insect types march along the forest floor. This unbelievable sight should come as no surprise: you’re in the world's most biodiverse place, the Amazon, after all! And just as the animal world here is incredibly diverse, so too are jungle plants. Along our Medicinal Plants Trail, you’ll discover the amazing variety of Amazon plants — and learn about their traditional uses for healing.
Children's Trail
The morning sunlight glints through the canopy, lending the rainforest floor a mysterious look. Everyone studies the treasure map, searching for the city of the Leaf-Cutter Ants. Suddenly, a little girl spots something along the Children’s Rainforest Trail. She’s made a discovery, and they’re all one step closer to solving an Amazon mystery! These children, coming from all over the world, never knew that nature could be this exciting.
Jungle Farm Visit
In the fertile jungle garden, every plant bursts with growth and flavor. The skinny Papaya trees bear their heavy fruits, the Pineapples poke from spiky bushes, and lush Cacao trees hide their purple pods near the trunk. This is a far cry from the cornfields of North America or the vineyards of Europe. On your Jungle Farm Visit, you’ll learn the ins and outs of organic rainforest agriculture. Even more than this, you’ll discover a local way of life.
Sunset Cruise
Twilight descends early in the jungle. Under the thick tree cover of the rainforest, darkness falls quickly, when the light cannot slip through the foliage any longer. But here, in a canoe drifting gently down the Tambopata River, it’s another story. Freed from the dense jungle canopy, glistening sunlight streams down for much of the day. Now, as afternoon slips into evening, you’re about to see one of the world’s most spectacular sunsets. The Sunset Cruise floats down the wide river, countless oranges and pinks reflecting off the water in lovely patterns.
Circle of Fire
As curious children enter the ancient house, even the most lively among them fall silent. The place’s beauty and jungle mystery mesmerize them. This is the House of Tawa, the Amazon healer. As the guide’s story begins, children gather around the Circle of Fire. Finally, by the end of the evening, their love for the environment and their knowledge of the rainforest will be forever heightened.
AmazonCam Tambopata
As you collect each camera’s data, your anticipation grows. What will you discover? The rainforest is dense and silent, but you know that mammals are hiding all around the area. An incredible creature — a Giant Anteater, or maybe even a whole herd of jungle pigs — might’ve been here just a few hours ago. Back at the lodge, you’ll find out what amazing wildlife has paid the camera traps a visit. This is the AmazonCam Tambopata: a unique way for science-lovers to learn about modern science and explore the jungle.
Rainforest Tattoo
Getting tattooed in the Rainforest? No worries, we´ll prepare a paste from a fruit called “huito”, and achiote or other natural dies to draw tattoos on ourselves. We can draw different shapes of animals or other patterns associated with the forest. They only last a few days.
Brazil Nut Trail & Camp
Towering high up into the canopy, you crane your neck to see to the top of the immense Brazil Nut Tree. It’s one of the most magnificent trees you’ve ever seen. And somehow, dozens of these trees loom above you all around this forest grove. In fact, you’re in one of the best-preserved Brazil Nut forests in this part of the Amazon jungle. But on the Brazil Nut Sustainability Trail, you won’t just admire these giant trees’ splendor. The Brazil Nut trees are actually heroes of the rainforest, providing a sustainable and eco-friendly living to many jungle dwellers.
Tambopata Aerobotany
You climb higher and higher until you reach the top of the Canopy Tower. Suddenly, the whole jungle looks like your kingdom, stretching on as far as the eye can see. Now, your Aerobotany excursion begins: it’s time to unleash the drone! Soon, you’ll be flying high above the canopy.
Night Lectures
After a day spent exploring the Amazon jungle's incredible beauty, we do something a little different during the evening. As you relax at the lodge, our guides give you a taste of our rainforest initiatives. These Night Lectures enrich your experience and immerse you in fun, engaging stories and experiences.
Mammal Clay Lick
There are some nutrients that Amazon animals just can’t get from leaves or fruits. While scientists still quibble about just what these are, it’s probably salt. After all, living far from the salty Atlantic Ocean, and separated from the nearby Pacific by some giant mountains, means that salt is hard to come by here in the Amazon Rainforest. It’s barely in the soil, nor is it in the rain or the rivers! So jungle animals need to find a way to get their sodium. The way many animals do this is by, well...eating dirt. In fact, that’s where the Mammal Clay Lick comes in!
Parakeet Clay Lick
After a boat ride along the calm Tambopata River and a trek through the thick jungle, you’ve arrived at the secluded bluff. Hidden behind a blind, you watch and wait for the Parrot's family smallest members. As the sun rises higher in the sky, tiny flecks of green and yellow and blue rush towards the bluff in swarms. Here at the Parakeet Clay Lick, this fascinating spectacle happens daily!
Jungle Mountain Biking
As you navigate your bike along a narrow trail, you finally emerge from the forest, blinking at the unfamiliar sunlight. The view nearly takes your breath away. You’re perched on an Amazon overlook, high above the majestic Tambopata River. This view alone was worth the trip. But more than that, your Mountain Biking ride has been jam-packed with excitement, with new discoveries at every twist of the trail.
