You just can’t miss a trip to Amazon Rainforest if you are visiting South America. A trip to amazon rainforest was in my bucket list for a very long time. Amazon rainforest is located in 9 different countries. Almost 60% of Amazon rainforest is situated in brazil. Manaus in brazil is the center of most of the Amazon trips and it is situated by around 4 hours flight from Sao Paolo. An Excursion to Amazon rainforest in Brazil is both time consuming and expensive. Around 15% of Amazon rainforest is situated in Peru and it is the most popular destination for tourists to visit Amazon rainforest. Most people visiting Amazon rainforest use it as a way of relaxation after doing the full Inca trail to Machu Picchu. Peru is much smaller country compared to brazil and it is really diverse. In Peru you can do your Amazon rainforest tour either from Puetro Maldonado or from Iquitos. Both places are well connected to famous tourist spot like Lima and Cusco. You can leave the beautiful pacific coast of Lima and can reach heart of Amazon rainforest in 2 hours. It takes about 1 hour to reach Puetro Maldonado from Cusco.
I was very confused whether to go for Iquitos or Puetro Maldonado for my Amazon Excursion. After lot of research I settled with Puetro Maldonado. Iquitos is a really big city with lot of population. You have to go really far from town in order to experience real feel of Amazon rainforest. Most of the excursion in Iquitos are longer in duration. I had around 4 days for this trip and I didn’t want to spend too much money for the trip. The flight to Iquitos was more expensive compared to Puetro Maldonado. Puerto Maldonado was perfect for my budget. After lot of research I finally booked my trip with Adventurewithinreach.com to Puetro Maldonado. Initially I had problem in booking for accommodation because I was travelling solo and most websites were only accepting booking for at least 2 people. Thanks to Adventurewithinreach.com agency I was able to book my perfect Amazon trip. I booked my trip at Inkaterra Field Station which is situated by around 1 hour boat ride from Puetro Maldonado. Puetro Maldonado is a very small town compared to Iquitos. There are not much construction happening in Puetro Maldonado compared to Iquitos. You should visit Amazon rainforest during dry season which lasts from June Till September. You should completely avoid trip to the rainforest during the wet season from October till April. During the wet season you will experience heavy rain and most of the tours are cancelled because of flooding.
I paid total 330 USD for the 3N/4D trip. The price includes
Included in Pricing
- Transfer between Puetro Maldonado Airport and Lodge (Return)
- Accommodations for 3 nights
- Meals (Lunch on day one through breakfast on day four)
- Daily Excursion with guide
- Rain boots or other necessary equipment
- Free Wifi
Flights were not included in the cost. The flight from Cusco to Puetro Maldonado was very cheap. I paid around 70 USD for the return flight.
Day 1
I reached at Puetro Maldonado at around 11.30 am. I was picked up by the hotel staff. The ride from airport to the pier takes about 30 minutes. They offered me a bottle of water and a small snacks packet during the trip. I was coming from Cusco where the weather was below freezing. The temperature in Puetro Maldonado was 25 C. That’s almost 25 C temperature change in 1 hour. It was very humid and hot. We reached the pier located on the shore of Made de Dios river. Madre de Dios river is a tributary of Amazon river.
You will get the first glimpse of the Amazon rainforest during the boat ride. We used traditional narrow and long boat during our trip. The water was muddy dark yellow in color. Both side of the river was covered with vast stretch of forest. The boat ride to the lodge took about 1 hour. I get off from the boat and took a motorcycle ride to our lodge. The lodge is situated by about 1 km from the pier. My luggage was picked up from the boat and it was directly delivered to my cabin. I was completely thrilled to visit inside the amazon jungle. The road was narrow and it was surrounded by dense forest on both sides. We arrived at the field station and I was amazed by the architecture of the place. The construction was very basic because they used locally sourced equipment to built the place. I had the feel of authentic amazon expedition when I first saw the beautiful rooms. There was a small garden at the middle of the compound. The field station has 4 double shared rooms, 4 Quadrouple shared rooms, 1 office room, 1 expedition room, 1 room dedicated to research and dining hall area . I reached my accommodation at around 1 pm. Our receptionist showed me around and introduced to my guide for the amazon expedition. I completed basic requirements for check in and put my luggage inside the room. The room was pretty basic with toilet and shower facility. It was a room with four beds and I was the only one in the room. The accommodation was pretty decent and I loved it. There was no Air Con in the room. Inkaterra field station accommodation is much cheaper compared to accommodation at other lodges. Inkaterra also offers luxury accommodation at Inkaterra Reserva Amzonica and Inkaterra Hacienda Concepcion.
Inkaterra field station has 4 Cabanas and 2 Pavillion. Each pavilion has 4 Quadrouble shared rooms with four twin bed. Each cabana has 2 double rooms with twin beds. If you are a couple, then I recommend to stay at Cabanas. The Cabanas are priced much higher compared to Pavillion. The facility at the lodge was similar to any hotels. You get blanket, mosquito net, hot shower facility, towel and basic toiletries like shampoo and conditioner. Each of us in the quadruple room had private study table, personal security drawer and closet. You have to get yellow fever vaccine if you are visiting Amazon rainforest. I didn’t see any checks during my trip but I will strongly advise everyone to get vaccinated.
I went to the dining hall after keeping my luggage inside the room. The hall was spacious and it was very well designed. There was a TV inside the hall. The seating facility was good enough to host 30 guests at a time. The dining hall was entirely constructed from wood and it had a raw feeling. There was also a bar at one side of the dining hall. Drinks are not included in the cost of the trip. I got pulpy pineapple juice as a welcome drink. It was the best pineapple juice I have ever had in my entire life. Most of the vegetables and fruits are sourced locally from the puetro Maldonado area and the taste was completely unique.
I had chicken pasta for lunch. The preparation was similar to a five star hotel. There was also small serving of vegetables. I also got one piece of banana. The banana was from the farm inside the field station. It was red in color instead of white color banana what you see in the market. It was completely organic and it tasted little less sweet compared to ordinary banana. The serving size was proper for one person and you don’t need to bring any extra food for your trip. After lunch I met my guide for the expedition. He discussed about the itinerary for the day. My first guided tour inside the jungle was planned at 4pm. I went inside my lodge and took a short much needed nap.
Inkaterra Trail System
I met my guide Mr Sanchez at the tour office at around 4 pm. I saw piranha skull, preserved snakes and various reptiles inside the expedition office. Mr Sanchez is a very experienced guide and he has over 10 years of experience of Amazon rainforest. He spent almost 5 years in the amazon rainforest of Bolivia. He told me not to touch any plants inside the jungle and not to let any insect bite you. Amazon rainforest is very diverse and most of the plants and insect species are not yet identified. I will strongly recommend not to wear shorts during your trip to Amazon rainforest. The two hours guided tour includes trip around the trail system located near the lodge. We started going along the trail and soon the sunlight became very dim because of the presence of tall trees around the trail. Mr sanchez was holding a machete with him all the time. It was a narrow trail and you are walking inside a very dense forest. I was immediately awestruck by the diversity of flora around the trail. The rainforest also famous for bullet ants and you don’t want to get bitten by them. A sting from bullet ant is very painful and it might ruin your trip to the jungle. You have to watch out for spider and frogs. There are lot of species of poisonous spider and poisonous frogs in the rainforest.
My guide explained me about different species of plants inside the jungle. The plants inside the forest have different medicinal properties. My guide also asked me it is very difficult to find original trail if you are lost inside the jungle. Tall trees and dense forest makes it very difficult to move around the jungle. The most prominent tree inside the jungle was Kapok tree. The tree was huge and it grows more than 200 ft in height. We saw couple of snakes during our trip. You will not find many poisonous snakes inside the rainforest. The plants grow very quickly inside the rainforest. The trail was made by inkaterra but it needs maintenance because plants grow very quickly and it covers the trail completely. I saw lot of fallen trees inside the forest, Our guide told me that because of huge amount of rain the trees grows very quickly and they can’t handle their weight.
Mr Sanchez told me stories about his trip to the amazon rainforest. He was once lost inside the jungle and finally he was rescued by search operations. During the construction of the lodge there was two instances where the workers lost inside the jungle. You shouldn’t move much if you are lost inside the jungle that’s the best way of survival. It gets very dark at night and you cant move a feet during night time. I will strongly recommend to take a high powered torch with lots of extra batteries during your trip. We finished the trail at 6pm and came back to the lodge. It was a great 2 hours excursion and I had lot of quality discussion with my guide. Mr Sanchez was very knowledgeable and he can speak fluent English. The small region around our lodge is called Inkaterra Ecological Reserve. There are around 540 bird species, 362 ant species and 100 mamal species in this region. There has been sighting of jaguars and Anacondas around the lodge. Jaguars are nocturnal animals and they mostly hunt at night. They are very aggressive predators and they have a powerful jaw. Our guide told me that you have the best chance of seeing Anaconda in the low lying Bolivian Amazon.
River Night watch
Our next trip was scheduled at 630 pm. The river night watch tour was organized to spot nocturnal animals like Caymans, Black Caymans, Capybaras near the shore of the river. I joined with some other guests for the River Night watch trip. We followed the main trail and went to the pier. The sky was completely clear and there was no trace of cloud. It was perfect weather for stargazing. I didn’t carry powerful camera to take some beautiful shot of the night sky. Don’t forget to bring your high end cameras if you are planning to take shots of the night sky. The forest was completely dark. We were walking close to each other but if we switch off the light we couldn’t see each other. The weather was little cooler compared to morning. We went inside the long tail boat. Our guide said everyone will get opportunity to spot some Cayman so no need to move around the boats. Caymans are spotted in south America and Central America and they look very similar to Alligator. We stopped our boat near the river shore and spotted lot of Caymans. We used powerful light beam to spot Caymans. We didn’t see any big Caymans and most Caymans were around 1m long. The boat ride along the Madre Dios river during night was the highlight of the day. The forest was completely dark and there was hardly any source of light. The experience was very unique and I felt close to nature during the trip.
We came back to our lodge at around 7.30 pm. Our dinner was served at around 8 pm. We ate mushroom & cheese soup for starter. We got grilled pork, beans and vegetable stew with rice for our main course. The food was very well prepared by an experienced chef and locally sourced ingredients are used for the preparation. The serving size was enough for 1 person. I was very impressed by the way they served food around the table. I will rate the place very high in terms of hospitality.
Day 2
My guide told me to meet at around 8.30 am for the Canopy walkway tour. I wake up at around 7.30 am. It was little noisy at night because of the sounds of insects. Since there was hardly any human intervention you can hear very clear sound of the rainforest. The electricity supply was limited and there was no electricity after 10 pm at night. I ate cereals, ham omelet and fruits for breakfast. The fruits were very delicious at the lodge and I loved the unique taste of the fruits.
Inkaterra Canopy Walkway
Our first stop of the day was Inkaterra Canopy Walkway. Canopy Walkway was perfect for bird watching. The Canopy was located by around 20 minutes hike in the trail system developed by Inkaterra. We followed marked trail to reach the Canopy Walkway. The walkway was situated very close to the Reserva Amazonica lodge which offers luxury accommodation for travelers. There are 2 observation towers in the Canopy walkway system. The Canopy system consists of around 8 platforms and 7 hanging bridges. The bridges are situated at an average height of 100ft. If you love Canopy walkway then this is the place for you. This is one of the longest and highest Canopy system of walkways in the world. If you have fear of heights, then I will not recommend you to look down when you walk on the bridges. You need to be very careful when you walk along the Canopy. 100ft is very high and fall from that height can be fatal. The Canopy is maintained on a regular basis and major equipments are replaced on a regularly. The highest Canopy walk is situated in the Amazon rainforest of Colombia.
My guide told me that rainforest in Colombia is perfect for birdwatchers. Binoculars are very handy during your trip because you can spot birds from far. I spotted different varieties of birds and my guide explained to us about different characteristics of the birds. I had never seen those birds before in my life. Our guide was very knowledgeable and he was a pro photographer.We spotted different varieties of Macaw, owl and Topaz birds from close proximity. You need to climb stairs in order to reach the starting point of the Canopy walk. Overall I really enjoyed the experience. You need hat and sunscreen because sun is very harsh in the Amazonian rainforest. When you are doing Canopy walk you don’t have protection from the shades of the trees. It took around 6 months to built the walkway and it is also used for scientific research.
CARACHAMA TRAIL
Our next stop was Carachama trail. It took us about 20 minutes to reach Carachama trail from the Canopy walkway. We followed the trail made by Inkaterra Reserve and we saw different types of diverse plants and insects on our way to the Carachama fishing area. Carachama trail was made over a water pool. It was constructed completely from wood. The entire area felt like a swamp and it was covered by dense forest. Our guide told us he saw Anacondas near this area. Anacondas love to stay near swamps. The place is used for Carachama fishing. Carachama is a type of fish and it is a local delicacy in Peru. I couldn’t see any animals during this trip and I was little disappointed. Jaguars are almost impossible to see in Amazon rainforest. If you are planning to see Anaconda, you have to travel deep inside the jungle and it might take more than a week to do an excursion like that. Overall it was a beautiful trail with dense forest on both sides of the trail. It was almost noon time but the impact of the sun was not there because of the tall trees. After spending an hour at the trail we came back to our Lodge.
Our lunch was served at around 1 pm. We got basket of fruits and complementary pineapple juice for our starter. We had grilled chicken and two types of locally prepared dish for our lunch. I loved the sweet potato dish cooked using local ingredients. All the fruits and vegetables had a different feel and taste. Our chef came to meet us and asked about the food. We were all very pleased by the quality of the food.
Lake Sandoval
I met my guide at around 2pm for the trip to Sandoval lake. Lake Sandoval is a must visit place if you are visiting Puetro Maldonado area. The lake is known for its bio-diversity and it is a protected region inside Amazon rainforest. Sandoval lagoon was highlight of my trip to Amazon Rainforest. Tour to Sandoval lagoon is operated only during dry season. The lake is situated inside Tambopata natural reserve.Tambopata natural reserve is a protected natural reserve situated in the Madre Dios region. The natural reserve occupies vast rainforest around Madre Dios river and it extends till Bolivia border. We took our long tail boat and in 30 minutes we reached a small pier located on the other side of the river.
Other tourists didn’t join this tour and I was the only one for this trip. We did our registration at the entrance of the rainforest. The trek to the lake was about 5 km long and it takes about 1 hour. We spotted snakes, Wild boar and lot of spider monkeys in the trail. We saw lot of people coming back from the trail. You can also visit Sandoval lake from Puetro Maldonado as a day trip. The day trip groups come to the lake early and they leave by 3pm. There is a lodge very close to the lake, if you are planning to stay near the lake you can do your booking there. The price is similar to Inkaterra Field station. The hike to the lake was very beautiful. During rainy season the trail become completely submerged in water and there is no way to hike to the lake. There were bridges along some parts of the trail for crossing muddy areas and small streams. The path was surrounded by palm trees and other varieties of tall rainforest trees.
We reached the end of the trail at around 3.30 pm. There was a small pier at the end of trail. There was number of canoes around the pier. The place looked very similar to a rainforest swamp. We picked one canoe and two peddle boat and started movie along the narrow stream. My guide asked me not to do any peddling and instead asked me to lookout for different animals along the way. It was a very narrow stream with a dense rainforest. We supported lot of small caymans size of around 1 m near the stream. We were in the middle of the day but it was almost dark. We crossed some other canoe and there were some serious traffic jams. After peddling for 10 minutes I was finally able to see the beautiful Sandoval lake. The visibility became much better and we crossed the narrow stream and went inside the lake. The lake has a shape of a horse shoe. We started canoeing near the shores of the lake close to the palm trees.
The entire lake is surrounded by palm trees. We were canoeing very slowly and the sun was very harsh. I would strongly recommend to bring your hat and sunglasses for the trip. There only two other groups at that time inside the lake. We spotted different types of macaw and parrot around the lake. The sun was slowly coming down and the scene was very beautiful. My guide told me places like Sandoval lake are perfect place for Anacondas. He said he saw Anaconda twice around the Sandoval lake. We saw group of huge Otters moving around the lake shores. Sandoval lake is a perfect place if you are interested in birdwatching. You can see different color and types of birds around the lake. Colorful Butterflies are very common to spot around the lake. I saw some blue color butterfly near the shores of the lake. Blue color butterflies are considered very rare. Macaws are very common in Amazon rainforest. We circled around the lake and came back to the center for the sunset. Capybaras are occasionally found around the lake and it is difficult to spot them. The lake is full of piranhas. My guide took some pork meat and put it inside the lake. Group of Piranhas took only seconds to completely eat the meat. My guide told me that lake Balenciaga has the highest concentration of Piranha in this region. The lake is located near Peru/ Bolivia border and it takes full day to visit the lake.
The sky was slightly cloudy. You get the best sunset views during the cloudy weather. The sky slowly turned red. We were the only tourists inside the lake and most tourists already left the lake. The place was not touristy and I saw the best sunset of my life. The sunlight gets reflected from the water and it provides a great atmosphere. We waited at the center till the sun went down. Our guide told us that we have to move quickly because it gets dark very quickly in Amazon rainforest because of the tail trees. We crossed the lake and came near the stream. The stream was almost dark because it was surrounded by dense forest. We had to use torchlight to navigate in the water. There was no other tourist group around the area. We reached the pier and got out of the boat. I took some last shots of the surrounding area before complete darkness. My guide whispered me to be silent and he told me that there is a Tapir in the trail. I never knew what exactly is a Tapir. I never heard that name before. It was looking like a pig and I could hardly see anything because it was dark. The Tapir ran away and my guide said it’s time to switch on the lights.
We had to hike for another 1 hour inside the forest. It was completely dark after 10 more minutes. My guide switched off the light and it was pitch black. He was standing next to me and I couldn’t see him. I was scared at this time. The sky was little cloudy so we couldn’t see the stars. He said watch out for snakes and be careful of the rough terrain. I turned back lot of time and was scare to see complete darkness behind me. If I am followed by a person or some animal there is no way I could spot something. My guide told me not to look back because you are followed by spirit of Amazon inside the forest at night. It’s a very old believe of people of Amazon. I was little scared when he said this to me. I wanted the trail to end as soon as possible and I started walking very fast. I was constantly listening to the music of the nature during the trail. 1 hour felt like really long during the hike and we finally made it to the end. The park office was closed at that time and there was no one there. We went down to the river and got inside our long tail boat. The boat ride took us about 30 minutes and I reached the lodge at about 7.30pm. It was a epic trip to Sandoval lake and I can never forget the trip in my life. My guide Mr Sanchez was very knowledgeable and helpful throughout the trip.
It was a long day and I was feeling really hungry. There was vegetable soup, grilled chicken, mashed potatoes and rice for the dinner. Peruvian people love potatoes and there are more than 100 varieties of potatoes in Peru. The people of the lodge were very friendly and the food was delicious. I was really excited for the excursions scheduled for the last day of the tour.
Day 3
I woke up at 7.30 on the last day of the trip. The weather was little colder. The sky was cloudy and it was windy. I had cereals, ham omelet and fruits for breakfast. Most people do the excursion for 3D&2N. The price for the 4D/3N trip was marginally higher compared to 3D/2N trip. Longer duration trip will help you to relax better during your trip. It will also help you to explore the jungle at a slow pace. Longer stay increases probability of sighting various animals significantly.
RIVER ISLAND
Our first stop of the day was River island. The island is situated very close to the Inkaterra Field station. The island is actually a large sandbank with dense forest. The island is home to lot of monkeys. We visited the island during the first day of our tour during river night watch but we didn’t go out from the boat.
The island was small in size and it was full of tourist boats. The island is a popular sight for day tour tourists coming from Puetro Maldonado. The boat ride from the field station to the island took about 20 minutes. River island is a great place to spot some diverse birds. Many tourists feed the monkeys on the island. My guide told me that there are lot of snakes on the island but I couldn’t manage to see one. River island is a private island. This island was not a great place to spot other animals. There were more than 4 varieties of monkeys in the jungle. Overall I felt the trip was pretty average. The wind was blowing very hard and the sky was completely covered with clouds. I wanted to experience rain during my visit to the rainforest. After spending about an hour on the island we came back to the lodge.
BIO ORCHARD
Bio Orchard is an organic farming place developed by Inkaterra. Natural fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides are used in the cultivation. Different types of vegetables, aromatic herbs & fruits are cultivated in the region. Bio-Orchard is huge initiative by Inkaterra to conserve diverse sample of edible and medicinal crops found in the Amazon rainforest. Ingredients used to serve guests are mostly sourced from the organic farm. The farm grows hot Pepper, Cocona, Sacha Cilantro, Uncucha, Maxixe, banana and papaya. People interested in different agricultural techniques might find this place very interesting. It was a good place to roam around and try different types of fruits. My guide was very knowledgeable and he asked me to smell leaves of different medicinal plants. The place is also used to research different types of medicinal plants. I couldn’t remember names of single medicinal plant. Overall it was a great day to take your time and relax. I came back to the lodge and took some time to roam around the lodge. I walked on the main trail and went to the pier. I ate delicious chicken spaghetti for lunch. My next excursion was planned at around 2.30pm.
PALMETUM
Palmetum is a permanent plot area for rainforest restoration and conservation. It is developed by Inkaterra foundation. It is spread across an area of 30 Hectre. There are around 19 native palm species in the area. We started our journey from the pier at around 2.30 pm. The Palmetum is situated by just 20 minutes boat ride from Inkaterra Field station pier. The farm also harvests different types of fruits and vegetables. I tried some unique variety of fruits at the farm. My guide introduced me to a unique variety of palm tree called walking pal. The palm tree moves its roots in search of sunlight. The place is maintained by Inkaterra and the place is looked after by a family. After visiting the settlement, we trekked inside the jungle for 30 minutes. My guide introduced me to Amazon rosewood trees. Rosewood tree wood is considered as one of the strongest wood in the world. The price of the wood is very expensive. We spotted snakes and wild boar inside the trail. We stopped near a narrow stream and got into a canoe. The stream was situated in the middle of the dense forest. It was a great place to spot Capaybaras, Anacondas and Cayman. The place was extremely beautiful and it looked like a set from a HolIywood movie. Some parts of the stream was blocked because of fallen trees. We were able to spot a medium size cayman resting near the shore. The flow of the water was not that strong. My guide was paddling and I was busy taking some nice photographs of the surrounding. There was no other tourist in the trail and I had the whole place to myself. We also spotted some different kinds of birds during our trip. I was amazed to see so much diversity in a small region. Scientists are yet to identify 65% of the total species inside the rainforest. We had to take lot of detour in order to move around stream because of the fallen trees. The flow finally started to become little rapid and we could see the huge Madre Dios river.
The flow was strong at the place where it meets the river. My guide was very experienced and we managed to safely reach the pier located near the Madre Dios river. The ride back home took us about 30 minutes because we were going up stream. The water was very rough because of windy and overcast condition. I was able to reach the lodge before sunset. I waited near the pier till sunset. The sunset was good but it couldn’t match the sunset at Sandoval lake. I reached the lodge at around 7 pm and took some rest. I ate steak, grilled vegetables and tomato soup for dinner. I don’t know about the place but I will definitely miss the delicious food offered at the lodge.
My flight from Puetro Maldonado was scheduled at 11 am. I did my breakfast at 7.30 am at the lodge. The boat ride and transfer by car took about 1 hour. I reached the airport at 9 am. Puetro Maldonado is a very small airport compared to other airports in Peru.
The Food was excellent during my stay at Inkaterra Field Station
I will strongly recommend everyone to visit Amazon Rainforest during their trip to Peru. Most people don’t visit Amazon rainforest if they are visiting Peru. It was a completely different experience for me and I am sure I will never forget this experience in the future. All the staffs at the lodge were very friendly. Pick up and Drop off was organized very efficiently. The trip was very reasonably priced for solo travelers. If you are short of time, then you can visit the rain forest for 3D/2N instead of 4D/3N.
Please find below list of things you need to carry with you during your trip to Amazon Rainforest.
1. Rain Jacket
2. Insect Repellent
3. Powerful Torch
4. Hiking shoes
5. Waterproof Trouser
6. Full sleeve top
7. Cap or Hat
8. Sunscreen
9. Binocular
10. Warm Jacket
11. Yellow Fever Vaccination
12. Any other item specific for you like medicines or snack
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