October 4-9, 2008


ADVENTURE IN THE RAINFOREST

(this is offered as an optional pre-trip to the Andes 2008 participants

and not as a stand alone excursion)




Minimum 4 people

$985 per person, double occupancy

$195 per person, single supplement


Our optional pre-trip takes us deep into the Amazon rainforest. We'll walk along jungle paths and cruise rivers and lakes, learning about the flora and fauna of this area rich in wildlife.  Our expert, Kitty Coley, and our local guide will show us many birds including toucans, hoatzin and macaws --perhaps a harpy eagle. We will watch for giant river otters, capybara, peccaries and other wildlife.


Day 1, October 4 -- USA to Lima

Fly from your city to Lima, arriving late in the day. You are met at the airport and transferred to your hotel, Hotel Posada Del Inco San Isidro (meals in flight).


Day 2, October 5 -- Lima to Puerto Maldonado-Refugio Amazonas

We have an early morning flight to Puerto Maldonado; we are met by our Rainforest Expeditions (RFE) representative and drive to their Puerto Maldonado headquarters. RFE has won awards internationally for their ecotourism  efforts and partnership with local indigenous people to solve problems of biodiversrty loss and poverty in the developing world..  While enjoying our first taste of the rainforest in their garden, we'll give them any luggage we don't need for our short stay in the rainforest. They will put it in their safe room until our return. (The boat and cargo must be kept as
light as possible.) Loading our smallbags into the comfortable truck, we then drive 20 km. to the Tambopata River Port, entering the native community of Infierno; the port is a local community enterprise.  Our simple but comfortable wood boat is 20' long, with a roof and 55 hp outboard motors. During the 4 hr. boat ride, past lush vegetation and small villages, we have a box lunch. Upon arrival, the lodge manager will welcome us and give us an orientation pertinent to our stay. Dinner will be at the lodge, after which we'll go with our knowledgeable guide to the river's edge and scan the shores with headlamps and flashlights to catch the red gleams of the caimans' eyes.  Nightly presentations on a variety of fascinating aspects of life in a tropical rainforest will be given by Kitty Coley. 


Day 3, October 6 -- Refugio Amazonas

After a very early breakfast, we hike at dawn on a 2 hr. trek to the Sachavacayoc Lake. We'll cruise around the lake in a catamaran, searching for the resident family of five giant river otters (seen by about 30% of lake visitors) and other wildlife such as caiman, hoatzin and horned screamers; the otters are most active
. We'll then take the 2 hr. hike back to the lodge for lunch. For those not wanting to do the long trek, another lodge guide can take them to the Condenado Lake, a thirty minute hike from the lodge.  After lunch at the lodge, a short walk takes us to a farm run by the charismatic Don Manuel from the neighboring community; he grows a variety of know and unknown Amazon crops--almost every plant and  tree  we'll see serves a culinary and/or medicinal purpose. We'll also visit a beautiful old growth patch of Brazil Nut forest that has been harvested for decades (if not centuries), where we'll experience the nut  gatherers' camp and see a demonstration of the rain forest's only sustainable harvested product, from collection through transportation to drying.  Dinner at the lodge is followed by a night walk, when most mammals are active, but rarely seen. Much easier to find are frogs with shapes and sounds as bizarre as their natural histories, recounted to us by our guide.


Day 4, October 7 -- Refugio Amazonas

After breakfast, a 15 minute boat ride and sixty minute walk takes us to a parakeet lick. From a blind, you will see parakeets, such as Dusky headed and Cobalt winged, descend on most clear days to ingest the clay on the bank. We visit the lick at dawn, when parrots are most active,  or midmorning or early afternoon when they are also active, depending on the weather. A twenty minute walk from the lodge is a peccary clay lick; these wild rain forest pigs show up in herds of from five to twenty individuals to
eat clay in the late morning. Chances of spotting them are around 15% but well worth the short hike.  Other wildlife also shows up, including deer, guan and parakeets.  After lunch at the lodge, we take a thirty minute walk to the 25 meter scaffolding canopy tower. A bannistered staircase running through the middle  provides safe access to the platforms above. The tower has been built upon high ground, thereby increasing your horizon of the continuous primary forest extending out towards the Tambopata National Reserve. From here, views of mixed species canopy flocks as well as toucans, macaws and raptors are likely.


Day 5, October 8 -- Refugio Amazonas-PTO Maldonado-Cuzco

We board our boat, after breakfast, for the return trip, retracing our river and road journey back
to Pto Maldonado, retrieve our left luggage and transfer to the airport. Depending on airline schedules, this may require dawn departures from the lodge. We'll fly back to Cuzco and transfer to our hotel, Hotel Casa Andina. The rest of the day is free to rest, as the altitude is quite high (11,500') and we need to take it easy. We may want to take a stroll through this charming city later in the day. Dinner is on our own at one of the many delicious restaurants.  Our local representative can give us recommendations.


Day 6, October 9 -- Cuzco-Sacred Valley

We are transferred to the airport where we meet up with the main group coming from Lima, board our private bus, and drive down into the Sacred  Valley (see Day 2 of Peruvian Amazon trip) to continue the itinerary described.



 


Adventure in the Rainforest includes:

-Kitty Coley as naturalist tour leader

-Daily presentations on a variety of fascinating aspects about life in the rainforest

-Hotel, meals

-3 night/4 day rainforest excursion

-Flight Lima-Pto Maldonado-Cuzco-Lima

-Lima airport departure tax

-Airport transfers

-English speaking local guides

-Hotel and restaurant taxes & service charges

-Local airport taxes

-Tips for guides and drivers

 

The trip does not include:

-Meals not noted in itinerary

-Beverages with meals

-Items of a personal nature (i.e. laundry, beverages, telephone calls, etc)

-International airfare


Accommodations and Food :

We stay at a classic, comfortable lodge designed around indigenous architecture using local materials. It is relaxed and welcoming with private bathrooms and ambient temperature showers, extremely comfortable after a day in the heat. there is no hot water to be found. The local cuisine is simple but quite delicious.


Content, pacing, hotels, etc may be subject to change without notice due to circumstances beyond our control.  Be assured we will make substitutions as similar in quality and interest as possible.



 


To participate in this trip, complete the Reservation Form and mail it, along with your $150 deposit to:


NOBLE JOURNEYS

5435 E. Placita del Mesquite

Tucson, AZ 85712


All Travel arrangements are made through our long-time colleagues at Noble Journeys, featuring

unusual trips to Morocco.


Having trouble printing the itinerary?  Try this printer-friendly version:

Pervian Rainforest itinerary



 


Here are a few of Kitty’s pictures from her last trip to the Peruvian Rainforest:

 

Kitty Coley Expeditions