Upon your arrival in Puerto Maldonado, Peru’s capital of biodiversity, we will welcome you at the airport. Then, we’ll start our program by visiting the city on a bus.

Then, we will go to Puerto Capitanía, the port where our riverboat will be waiting for us. We will sail across Rio Bajo Madre de Dios (Winding River) until arriving at our lodge, 30 km away from Puerto Maldonado City.

On our way, you will be able to observe rural lands destined to agricultural and livestock activities near the city. If the weather is good, you will sight colorful plants like the large-flowered heliconias, and you will have the chance to observe diverse animals such as the capybaras, caimans, water turtles, herons, cormorants, carrion birds and birds of prey.

Upon the arrival in our lodge, you will be welcomed with delicious Amazon tropical fruit nectars and taken to your comfortable room (bungalow) reserved for the occasion. Once you are settled in the room, a hearty lunch will be served for you in our warm, rustically designed dining room.

The singing birds of paradise will wake you up renewed. A hearty breakfast will provide the energy for a morning full of new experiences.

Lake Apu Victor

After breakfast, we will start a hike to the deep forest on conveniently prepared, preserved and signposted trails. On the way, we will cross the riverside to reach high-elevation forests, and then we will descend to floodable forests, to go up again to the hills. During the journey, we will see the widest range of flora and fauna in the wild.

Along the way, we will see diverse species of medicinal plants and fruit trees supporting the animal and human populations in the Amazon forests. Some of the most important are the moriche palm, mahogany, chestnut, catahua, cedar, trumpet-wood, copaiba, and shihuahuaco, among others.

With luck and in silence, you can see bigger mammals, like the Brazilian tapir and the white-lipped peccary; rodents like the giant otter, the capybara, the spotted paca and the armadillo; primates like the coto or howler monkey, the squirrel monkey, the lion monkey and the black-cap capuchin monkey; reptiles like the iguana and the bothrops atrox; amphibians like the toad and birds like the guan, the partridge, the golden parakeet and the blue, yellow and red macaw.

In the rainy jungle you will see insects such as butterflies (Lepidoptera), scarabs (Coleoptera), crickets, cicadas, ants, centipedes and millipedes of several species.

We’ll arrive at the majestic Lake Apu Victor surrounded by immense swamps and gigantic trees. Then, we’ll go up to an Amazonian observation deck, from which you’ll get to enjoy a panoramic view on the lake, observe parrots, macaws, toucans, horned screamers, hoatzins, herons and other animals like caimans, turtles, etc.

A wide variety of fishes enters Lake Apu Victor with the flooding of (heavy) rainy season. In addition, there are other species of fauna associated to the lake, like the yellow-footed tortoise, the mata mata, the twist-necked turtle, the freshwater blenny, the kinkajou, the white-tailed deer, the Central American agoutis and the giant otter of the Amazon rainforest.

Back in the lodge, a refreshing lunch will be waiting for you.

Monkey Island

In the afternoon, joined with our specialized guide, we will visit the Monkey Island, few minutes away from the lodge in the center of Madre de Dios River. This island shows an enormous variety of exuberant flora and hosts numerous primate specimens like the black spider monkey, the black-cap capuchin monkey, the squirrel monkey and the lion monkey. Also other species of little mammals like the ring-tailed coati (nasua nasua), the squirrel and an enormous variety of colored birds.

Finally, we will complete our visit to the island, enjoying a sunset with the most impressive dusk in the jungle.

Back in the lodge, you will taste an exquisite dinner.

The singing birds of paradise will wake you up and the powerful roar of the howler monkey will warn you that you are still in its territory and that it is time to leave.

In our dining room, a delicious breakfast will await you before going back to Puerto Maldonado.