Amazon Itinerary 8 Days / 7 Nights

The reason people visit the Amazon, and our reserve, the ACRCTT in particular, is to see the world’s greatest biodiversity. But biodiversity in the Amazon does not mean there is a great diversity of species all together in one place. Rather the Amazon is a mosaic of different ecosystems, each with its own community of plants and animals, and to visit a selection of different ecosystems requires an investment of several days. Also you must figure in that it is a rainforest, and so some of your time there will be interrupted by rain. This is why we (our website) suggest 8 days / 7 nights as a minimum trip length for a truly enjoyable stay. Trips shorter than 5 nights would be just at the main lodge; we need more time to include the remote research center lodge, as described below.

Amazonian Day 1

Transfer in from airport or hotel

If airport: After clearing baggage security in Iquitos Airport exit the nearest door, look for our staff in the parking lot waiting area, wearing uniforms and tee shirts with our logo (head of a hoatzin bird in a diamond shape).

Speedboat transfer (note – it is a 4 hour ride) up the Amazon, then the Tahuayo tributary to our lodge.

Afternoon and evening excursions

Lunch, Dinner

Amazonian Days 2-4

*From the main lodge

Guided excursions in and around the Tamshiyacu-Tahuayo Reserve. Every day your guide will discuss a selection of activities that you can choose to do. There is no extra cost for private guide or customizing your itinerary to your needs and interests.

The Tahuayo lodge has the greater variety of excursions of our two lodges.  The following is but a sample list:

Canopy platforms and ziplines

Hike into varzea forest behind lodge; highly probable to see pygmy marmosets, owl monkeys, yellow-crowned brush tailed rates, wire-tailed manakins, barber bees. Also possible to see black tamarins, saddle-backed tamarins, trogons.

Hike to Lake Tapaje, explore by canoe.

Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Birding Tour

Canoe into tahuampa forest (flooded forest), canoe past giant ficus trees, see hoatzin birds, horned screamers, look for caiman on observation platform.

Motorboat to terra firme forest, hike into frog valley.  See beautiful little poison dart frogs, which were studied by scientists from Uppsala University (Sweden) September-November 2013. See bat cave; braver people can crawl through bat cave.

Motorboat to Lake Charo to see pink dolphins, swimming. En route look for squirrel monkeys, sloths, raptors.

Fish for piranha.

Visit native village of El Chino. Visit artisania cooperative. Visit with shaman. Visit farm. Visit school.

Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Amazonian Days 5-7

*To the Amazon Research Center lodge, ARC

The Research Center is more remote.  On the boat ride to the Research Center we stop to see bats, sloths, monkeys, raptors, toucans. We have over 100 km of hiking trails from the research center, most of the trails are laid out in a grid to facilitate the scientific collection of population data. The trails go through several ecosystems, including bajial, high and low restinga, palm swamp and terra firme. We may see many different species of monkeys, including brown and white capuchins, saki monkeys, titi monkeys, squirrel monkeys, pygmy marmosets, moustached tamarins, saddle-backed tamarins, and sometimes uakaris, as well as giant tayra weasels and tamandua anteaters.  Data collected from camera traps also reveal a high density of jaguar live here but these are rarely seen.

Boating the various lakes and rivers from the research center we often see caiman as well as the highly endangered giant river otters.

Hiking to Lake Yarina (full day) we can see hoatzins on their nests, blue and yellow macaws and howler monkeys.

Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Amazonian Day 8

Morning return to the Tahuayo lodge

Afternoon boat to Iquitos

Transfer to airport

Fly to Lima

Breakfast, Lunch

*A note on our two lodges – You can reserve time at either or both lodges according to your interests:

Tahuayo Lodge:

Cabins have private bathrooms

Greater variety of activities

Canopy zipline

Native culture–close to villages

Better canoeing-close to flood forest (tahuampa ecosystem)

Hiking restricted to varzea ecosystem–limited wildlife

Research Center Peru Lodge:

Cabins have shared bathrooms

Better hiking, over 50 miles of trails through a variety of ecosystems

More wildlife

Lodge is more remote, in more pristine forest

Reservations must be made in advance.

Land cost $1295 per person (no single supplement for single travelers)

Includes all in Amazon (all transfers, lodging, meals, private guided excursions–customized to your liking, entrance fees, port taxes, etc.). Optional expenses only: cola or beer drinks, souvenirs, laundry. Airfare round trip to Iquitos is optional, at a discount, on Lan Airlines, Peru’s most reliable carrier.