Tambopata Research Center

Overview

Description

The Tambopata Research Center is located in the Tambopata National Reserve, just a short distance from the world’s largest clay lick for macaws and parrots. Located in the buffer zone of the Bahuaja-Sonene National Park, this area is the best site to observe flora and fauna in a vast, threatened ecosystem. Over the past twenty years, the Tambopata Research Center has conducted an in-depth study of macaws and parrots, which is now focusing on monitoring the clay lick to detect changes in seasonality and telemetry of parrots and to establish migration range and nest monitoring.

Tambopata Research Center is an ideal destination for a unique experience in the Amazon. It's a small, simple, comfortable lodge from which you have access to trails leading to different types of habitats. In addition to sightings of different types of animals, you can visit the clay lick where you will observe up to 16 different species of parrots.

The adjoining natural areas of Tambopata National Reserve and Bahuaja-Sonene National Park, in the department of Madre de Dios in southeastern Peru, encompass an area that is 1.5 times the size of Costa Rica, protecting more than 3.7 million acres (1.5 million hectares) of diverse habitats that include the Andean foothills and the lowlands of the Amazon basin. Holding one of the highest levels of biodiversity in the world, the region is home to healthy populations of species that require large ranges such as the jaguar, giant river otter, tapir, macaw, and harpy eagle.

The Reserve harbors more than 1,300 species of birds, including 32 species of parrots (10% of world’s parrot population), 200 species of mammals, 90 species of amphibians, and 10,000 species of vascular plants. Encompassing more than 2.5 million acres (1 million hectares), Bahuaja-Sonene National Park is home to various intact populations of species that have become endangered or extinct in other parts of the Amazon. The park is adjacent to the Madidi National Park in Bolivia.

Rooms

18

Making a Difference

Number of employees: 9

Percentage of local employees: 89%

Rainforest Expeditions manages three initiatives in Tambopata: Posada Amazonas, the Tambopata Research Center, and Refugio Amazonas in the southeastern Peruvian Amazon. In addition to the staff employed by the lodge, Rainforest Expeditions works with 35 to 40 guides who provide tours to guests at the three lodges. Fifty percent of the guides are local.

For more than 15 years, the Tambopata Research Center has funded research and conservation projects for large psittacids (parrots and macaws). This work is helping us define visitation policies and minimum standards for visitors to the clay lick, and also in making government-level policy recommendations.

For the past two years, Rainforest Expeditions has participated in the Rainforest Alliance’s sustainable tourism program.

Rates

$150 and up

$185 and up per night. Rates include lodging, meals, transportation, activities, and guides.

For more information about rates, please visit:

• www.perunature.com/rates (available in English, German and Spanish).

Getting There

Nearest international airport: Lima (LIM)

Nearest local/national airport: Puerto Maldonado (PEM)

Travel time to nearest airport: 8 hours

You can reach Puerto Maldonado in 90 minutes by plane from Lima or in 45 minutes from Cuzco.

Puerto Maldonado is seven hours from the Tambopata Research Center. We recommend that visitors spend the first night at Refugio Amazonas, another of our company’s lodges, to divide the trip into two four-hour stretches.

Additional Information

Awards or Recognitions

Rainforest Expeditions, the company that owns Posada Amazonas, was the winner of the following awards and recoginitions:

• Latin American Travel Association's Customer Service Award, 2011.
• Finalist in the Tourism for Tomorrow awards, 2008.
• "Highly recommended" by Travel 2006.
• TO DO! 2005.
• Finalist in the United Nations Development Programme's (UNDP) Equator Initiative.
• Best Ecotourism Tour Operator Award, July 2000.
• Conservation International's Excellence in Ecotourism, July 2000.

Date This Information Was Provided

July 2012.

Photos courtesy of Tambopata Research Center, Peru, for SustainableTrip.org.