Followed by an optional trip to Machu Picchu where we will see some of the ancient history of the ruins there as well as seeing lots of local birdlife including up to 4 more parrot species.

Arrival & Reception by Parrot Guide
All parrot lover guides have worked in the Macaw Research Project for at least one season. In this manner they are not only familiar with the different species of psittascines, but are also well acquainted with macaw biology and conservation. They also have plenty of anecdotes of life as a macaw researcher.

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.

Overnight at Refugio Amazonas

DAY 4

Breakfast

Parrot Clay Lick
A fifteen minute boat ride and sixty minute walk from Refugio Amazonas is a parakeet clay lick. From a blind you will see parakeets descend on most clear days to ingest the clay on a bank. Species such as Dusky headed and Cobalt winged Parakeet descend at this clay lick. With luck we will also see some or all of the following species in the early morning rush: Mealy and Yellow-crowned Amazons, Blue-headed Pionus, Severe macaw and Orange-cheeked (Barraband`s) Parrot. We visit the lick at dawn, when parrots are most active or in midmorning or early afternoon, when they are active.

Lunch

Refugio Amazonas Canopy Tower
We will visit a 135 ft scaffolding tower a 15 minute walk from the lodge. From the top you will see spectacular views of the river and the surrounding forest and watch as Mealy and Yellow-crowned Amazons, Blue-headed Pionus, and White-bellied Caiques stream by at eye level as they head towards the nearby clay lick.

Dinner

Overnight at Refugio Amazonas

DAY 5

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.

Transfer Boat - Refugio Amazonas to TRC
Four and half hours by boat from Refugio Amazonas, in the pristine heart of the reserve, lies the Tambopata Research Center. One and half hours into our boat journey, as we cross the confluence with the Malinowski River, we will leave the final traces of human habitation behind. Within the 700,000 hectare uninhabited nucleus of the reserve, sightings of capybara, caiman, geese, macaws and other large species will become more frequent.

Boxed Lunch

Orientation
Upon arrival, the lodge manager will welcome you and brief you with important navigation and security
tips.

Overlooks
We will head out along the "bamboo trail" for up close looks at Scarlet, Blue-and-gold and Green-winged Macaws as they loaf in the trees. This will give us wonderful opportunities to watch the social behavior of
these birds as pairs fight, preen and feed. At the end of the trail we will visit an isolated area of clay lick rarely used by Cobalt-winged Parakeets and the rare Dusky-billed and Amazonian Parrotlets.

Dinner

Macaw Project Lectures
After dinner scientists will provide an in depth look at the biology of macaws, their feeding habits, the theories for clay lick use, their breeding and feeding ecology, population fluctuations and the threats to their conservation.

Overnight at Tambopata Research Center

DAY 6

Macaw Clay Lick
At dawn we will cross the river and enjoy the largest clay lick where hundreds of parrots and macaws of up to 17 different species have been seen. Here we will watch as the parrots fly in from all directions and land in the trees above the clay lick. When a few hundred have gathered and the noise builds to a crescendo a small group of Severe and Red-bellied Macaws will break free from the loafers in the trees and make long slow circles in front of the lick. Once these first brave pioneers land on the lick the parrots will rain down by the dozens to join them. Mealy Amazons, White-bellied Caiques, conures and macaws will mix in a noisy blur of colorful wings as they rush in to get their fill of the precious clay. Then about one hour after it began, the birds will drift away and leave the area in an eerie silence. Once this early morning rush of activity ends we will head back to the lodge for breakfast.

Breakfast

Floodplain Trail
This five kilometer trail covers the prototypical rain forest with immense trees criss-crossed by creeks and ponds. Amongst the figs, ceibas and shihuahuacos we will look for Squirrel, Brown Capuchin, and Spider
Monkeys as well as peccaries. TRC is located within this habitat.

Lunch

Macaw project nest visit
A short hike from the lodge, we will stop and observe macaw project researchers at work as they climb trees to monitor natural and articifical nests. From thirty meters above, researchers will show us how they check the nest sites.

Dinner

Night walk
You will have the option of hiking out at night, when most of the mammals are active but rarely seen. Much easier to find are frogs with shapes and sounds as bizarre as their natural histories.

Overnight at Tambopata Research Center

DAY 7

Time - off
Time off to relax and enjoy the lodge surroundings, try out a new trail, or repeat your favorite activity. We usually go back to the clay lick it is different every time we go and always a real buzz.

Breakfast

Midmorning Macaw Clay Lick Visit
We will head out to the clay lick at 8 AM and wait for the arrival of the large macaws. By 9 or 10 AM over 100 Scarlet, Blue-and-gold and Green-winged Macaws should gather in the trees. Before descending to
eat the clay the entire group usually flies en masse across the front of the lick. When the late morning sun lights up the birds, it is one of the most spectacular sights in the Amazon. Once the birds choose a safe spot, they will descend by the dozens to the lick. The Blue-and-golds grab bites of clay and fly back to the safety of the trees while the Scarlets and Green-wings sit on the lick and squabble over the best bits of clay. When the birds finish their visit to the lick we will return to the lodge.

Lunch

Palm Swamp Tower
We will embark on a 4 kilometer hike to the palm swamp, a preferred roost for Blue-and-gold Macaws. A scaffolding tower allow us eye level observation of the macaws as they fly in and out of the trees.

Dinner

Overnight at Tambopata Research Center

DAY 8

Time - off
Time off to relax and enjoy the lodge surroundings, try out a new trail, or repeat your favorite activity. Back to the clay lick again?? I will be!!

Breakfast

Transfer Boat - TRC to Posada Amazonas
A five hour boat ride brings us to Posada Amazonas.

Boxed Lunch

Canopy Tower
A twenty minute walk from Posada Amazonas leads to the 30 meter scaffolding canopy tower. A bannistered staircase running through the middle provides safe access to the platforms above. From atop you obtain spectacular views of the vast expanses of standing forest cut by the Tambopata River winding through the middle. Now and then toucans, parrots or macaws are seen flying against the horizon, or mixed species canopy flocks land in the treetop next to you.

Dinner

Ecotourism Lecture
A daily presentation on the Infierno ecotourism project is available every night from a staff member.

Overnight at Posada Amazonas

DAY 9

Breakfast

Tres Chimbadas Oxbow Lake
Tres Chimbadas is thirty minutes by boat and forty five minutes hiking from Posada Amazonas. Once there you will paddle around the lake in a catamaran, searching for the resident family of nine giant river otters (seen by 60% of our lake visitors) and other lakeside wildlife such as caiman, hoatzin and horned screamers. Otters are most active from dawn to eight or nine AM.

Parakeet Clay Lick
This clay lick is only a twenty five minute walk from Posada Amazonas. From a blind located about twenty meters away you will see dozens of parakeets descend on most clear mornings to ingest the clay on a river bank. Species such as Blue-headed Parrot and Dusky headed Parakeet descend at this clay lick. The clay lick is active at dawn, during the late mornings and mid-afternoons.

Lunch

Parrot Clay Lick
We will visit a parrot clay lick located only a fifteen-minute walk from the lodge. From the blind next to the clay lick we will wait, watch and listen as dozens of parrots gather overhead. With luck we will see some or all of the following species in this early morning rush: Mealy and Yellow-crowned Amazons, Blue-headed Pionus, Dusky-headed Conure, Severe Macaw and Orange-cheeked (Barraband’s) Parrot.

Dinner

Overnight at Posada Amazonas

DAY 10