Amazon Basin - Peru - page 937

ant lodge office. An additional fee is required if you are heading into the reserve proper
(such as to the Tambopata Research Center) rather than just the buffer zone.
Travelers heading up the Río Tambopata must register their passport numbers at Puesto
Control El Torre (Guard Post) next to Explorer's Inn and show their national-park en-
trance permits obtained in Puerto Maldonado. Visiting the reserve is only really possible if
you book a guided stay at one of the lodges within it. One of the reserve's highlights is the
Colpa de Guacamayos (Macaw Clay Lick), one of the largest natural clay licks in the
country. It attracts hundreds of birds and is a spectacular sight.
Lodges are listed in the order in which you would arrive at them if traveling from
Puerto Maldonado. In addition to those below, check out the association of Tambopata
homestays: small-scale lodges usually in the homes of local families with whom you can
stay (three days and two nights per person US$100 to US$350) at ht-
tp://tambopataecotours.com . Several are located near the small community of Baltimore,
just after the Refugio Amazonas lodge. The river is plied, as far as Baltimore, by twice-
weekly passenger boat from Puerto Maldonado, or by bus and foot. Take any vehicle from
Puerto Maldonado heading to Laberinto, and ask to get off at Km 37. From there, a foot-
path goes to Baltimore (two to three hours). No public transport exists to points further
upriver.

Posada Amazonas $$$
Offline map
(Rainforest Expeditions; www.perunature.com ; s/d 3 days & 2 nights US$485/750) Cuzco
( 084-24-6243; [e-mail]; Portal de Carnes 236); Lima (
01-421-8347; [e-mail]; Aramburu 166, Miraflores); Puerto Mal-
donado ( 082-57-2575; [e-mail]; Av Aeropuerto Km 6, CPM La Joya)
The first of three lodges on the Tambopata owned by Rainforest Expeditions, Posada
Amazonas is about two hours from Puerto Maldonado along Río Tambopata, followed by
a 10-minute uphill walk. The posada is on the land of the Ese'eja community of Infierno,
and tribal members are among the guides. (Several other lodges use 'native' guides, but
these are often mestizos rather than tribe members.) 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. The
lodge has 30 large double rooms with private showers and open (unglazed) windows over-

LODGE