OVERVIEW

ITINERARY

Day 01 FROM PUERTO MALDONADO TO SANDOVAL LAKE

Our staff will welcome you at the airport in Puerto Maldonado and take you through this bustling Upper Amazon Basin to the boat dock of Tambopata River. Here we board a powerful motorized dugout canoe and set off to the nearby confluence of the mighty Madre de Dios River, a headwaters tributary of the Amazon. Here we turn downstream for a 25 minute river landing at the trailhead to Sandoval Lake.
We walk a path of 3 km / 2 miles stopping to watch birds and butterflies, up to a narrow canal boats. From there navigate the flooded palm forest that leads to the open waters of this peaceful lake. Our crew paddle across the lodge (as we are in a reserve zone ,motor engines are prohibited). We can see the appearance of a huge lake boken Paiche an Amazon fish that can weigh up to 100 kg / 220 lbs. - Breaks the surface. Or maybe hear the strange and haunting calls, and see heads bobbing above the lake surface, which will mark our first encounter with the Pteronura brasiliensis or Amazonian Giant Otter.
After a brief rest to avoid the heat of the early afternoon, again we start catamaran to explore all the east end of the lake moving to the sound of hundreds of macaws blue-and-yellow and red chest while returning the forest of palms to rest and spend the night. Our view from the canoe often allows closer and more extended encounters with birds and mammals, which has a stretch of jungle in a typical walk, and can witness an intimate foster or courtship. On Lake Sandoval monkeys, in particular, have almost lost their fear of humans.
Return to the lodge in the evening for dinner. After dinner, we take the boats, once again, in search of black caimans, which are now extremely rare in the Amazon, but still common in this protected lake. They grow up to 4 m long, and its portion of the fishing dispute with the Giant Otters. On clear nights we take our boat further out into the lake for a view of the vast southern sky, unobstructed, with its unfamiliar constellations and superb views of the Milky Way.

Included Meals: Lunch & Dinner

Day 02 LAKE SANDOVAL

A call before dawn allow us to be on the lake for what is often a spectacular sunrise, and hope for an encounter with the Giant Otters, which patrol the entire lake in a united family herd, very active at this time of day. At this time most of the birds that inhabit the lake are also quite active especially those of fishing birds. We will observe them as they stalk and capture their prey. We will also have close-up views of the large, clumsy and primitive Shansho, eating leaves.
After enjoying a late breakfast, we set off to walk the distance through the cool understory of the mighty primary rainforest that surrounds the lake. We will see the great Brazilian Chestnut trees that abound here, and meet a local family-the only people allowed to live here permanently and collect natural bounty of the jungle. They teach us how to harvest the nuts, they get their shells and market this important forest product. After lunch we will rest for an hour and then explore the western part of the lake where we have chances of observing one or more species of monkeys like Capuchin monkeys.
Before dinner there will be a talk with slides or presentation of a video on the Peruvian Amazon.
After dinner we will have another chance to spot alligators in the lake, and maybe do a night walk along a trail in search of the numerous creatures, including frogs, toads, owls, nightjars, spiders and night monkeys that make the jungle one so busy and different place at night.

Included Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

Day 03 LAKE SANDOVAL

This can be a very relaxing day or a very active, according to our needs and desires. If you are one of the many visitors who have fallen in love with this lake and its extraordinary atmosphere, or if our trips so far have failed to get a meeting with the family of giant otters, we can make another early start in your search and many other surprises wildlife that Lake Sandoval may have in store for us.
Return to the lodge for a late breakfast and then rest for a while, perhaps enjoying the panoramic view from a high point on the shore of the lake, before leaving to walk by a special circuit where investigate and learn the use of dozens of medicinal plants Amazonia. We will see the pamicho, the plant that provides the material for our palm roofed shelters, ginger palmatorio anti- inflammatory medicine, the Cinchona tree or quinine, historically important, whose bark has saved billions of dying of malaria, and numerous other vital plants. This route includes both wild jungle, as a small botanical garden dedicated to the cultivation of some of these species.
After lunch we take a break, and then to refresh the evening departure by boat to the starting point for a walk through the quieter and more secluded jungle area on the north shore of the lake, to return, perhaps, amidst the rosy glow of another glorious sunset.
At night we can have a final chance to look for the black alligator along the shore of the lake, or go for a short walk last night forest.

Included Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

Day 04 LAKE SANDOVAL TO PUERTO MALDONADO

After a dawn breakfast we take a final paddle along the palm swamps of the west end of the lake in search of the resident family of Giant Otters. From here, on clear mornings, we see a glorious sunrise and its reflection in the open waters of the lake. Returning once more down the trail to the Madre de Dios River, where we take our boat to return to Puerto Maldonado and from there to the airport for your flight to Cusco or Lima.
Meals included: Breakfast

PRICES

Price Minimum of 2 people

INCLUDES

• Transfers from the airport to the lodge and vice versa
• Private rooms with bathrooms
• All meals and snacks
• Purified water and juices
• Naturalist guide in Spanish and English language.
• Forest walks and excursions on the lake
• Entrance to the Tambopata National Reserve

OPTIONALS

WHAT TO BRING

• Good binoculars.
• Cameras and photographic equipment (ASA 50, 100 and 200 is recommended)
• Two or three pairs of long pants
• Four pairs of cotton socks
• Rain jacket and trousers or a long poncho (100% waterproof - try them before you leave home)
• Three or four long-sleeved shirts, cotton
• Two or three poles or T- Shirts
• A bottle or canteen to carry water on excursions.
• Sunblock (with high protection factor)
• Hat not fly on routes boat.
• A pair of shorts or shorts
• A pair of sneakers or boots trek (with soles that have grip) and sandals.
• Insect repellent ("Skin so Soft" to the river, and some 20% more DEET to the jungle)
• A photocopy of your passport.
• A large and powerful flashlight.
• Bag with toiletries and medicines.
• Rubber boots for rainy season from November to April.
• Cash for souvenirs in the shop of Peru Verde of the lodge, alcoholic beverages, soft drinks, etc.
• Please note all rainforest itineraries may vary slightly, to maximize wildlife viewing, depending on the reports of our researchers and experienced naturalist guides.