Average rating Family Rainforest Expedition in Peru

Take the family for a 5-day educational Rainforest expedition in Peru. Staying in an eco-lodge in the heart of the Tambopata National Reserve, this trip has been put together specifically with children in mind. Hike through the jungle, spot caiman in the river and learn about how the fruits of the forest are used in every facet of local people’s lives.

The Tambopata National Reserve, part of the Tambopata-Candamo Reserve, is an incredibly rich and diverse rainforest reserve that is (relatively) easily accessed from Lima. The Tambopata Reserve plays hosts to an astounding variety of mammals, butterflies and bird species and features the world's largest known clay lick - where hundreds of exotic parrots and macaws congregate in a sight that has to be seen to be believed. Refugio Amazonas is a 200 hectare sustainable community owned lodge & reserve sat within the national park.

During your stay you’ll really get a taste of the rainforest directly, as well as learning about it through nightly talks given by the lodge staff. You’ll search for caiman by flashlight along the riverbank at night, and take a night hike to listen to the amazing nocturnal forest sounds. You’ll get to view the unbroken forest stretching for miles from the high canopy tower, and learn how to use native plants to tattoo your skin (temporarily!) The children will go on exciting and informative hikes into the nearby forest where they will learn about ecology through games and puzzles. And, of course, you’ll be able to relax in the midst of this lush and vibrant world in the comfortable surroundings of the lodge itself.

If you want to take the whole family somewhere really special, and enjoy a structured, educational and genuinely ecologically-sound holiday immersed in natural beauty, then Refugio Amazonas may be for you. It’s comfortable, beautifully built and in harmony with the surroundings. The activities offered on this adventure are specifically tailored to fit the needs of families with young children, and are safe, expertly supervised, and truly educational, in keeping with the underlying aims of the lodge. Refugio Amazonas is actively involved with helping to preserve the forest ecosystem through educating and providing alternative economic opportunities for the local people, so the precious resources of the area remain sustainable.

Getting there

You need to get to Puerto Maldonado Airport. There are no direct flights from the UK, but you can fly to Lima or Cusco and take an internal flight from there.

Price includes

All meals, accommodation and services, all river transportation, and transfer from and to Puerto Maldonado airport.

Price details

$705 Per person based on two or three people sharing
Single supplement fee: $180

When is best

The lowland rain forests of the Tambopata Reserve lie far enough south of the Equator to provide a cooler, drier winter season between May and October. The general weather conditions are warm and humid. The average daytime high is between 78° and 93° F (24° and 31°C) and the average nighttime low is between 66° and 78° F (20° and 24°C). Nevertheless between May and September, cold fronts from Argentina can sweep into southwestern Amazonia and push daytime highs down to 50° F (9° C) and the nighttime lows to 43° F (5° C).
During the rainy months of November through April, always be prepared for heavy rain that can continue for hours or days. Around 80% of the annual average 3000 mm rainfall occurs during this season.

Available

Jan—Dec

Typical Duration

5 days

Comfort level

Reasonably comfortable (Inns, B&Bs, luxury camping etc.)

Experience required

A reasonable level of fitness and interest is all that is needed

1. Getting to Refugio Amazonas from the airport at Puerto Maldonado involved a slow, bumpy hourlong bus ride to a sweltering jungle outpost aptly named Infierno, where we transferred into 55-foot-long motor boats that resembled hollowed-out bananas. The 2 1/2-hour ride upriver instantly oriented us to our new environment. Sixto pointed excitedly to a black caiman, an endangered reptile that resembles an alligator, sunning itself on the riverbank. We drew in for a closer look, which prompted the fierce reptile to eye us warily and slither into the water, its eyes still trained on us like periscopes. Moments later, we were distracted by the primordial shriek of a scarlet macaw. Perched on a clay outcropping were two of the storybook birds with their coats of crimson, gold, and green. Our normally skeptical teenager took in nature's technicolor with disbelief. "Can you believe where we are?" she said

   Our boat finally pulled ashore at a set of wooden steps that rose up from the river. We had been hiking for 10 minutes when the lush green forest suddenly parted to reveal what looked like an enormous ship's prow cutting through the vegetation. This was Refugio Amazonas, a giant open-sided structure with a thatched roof and spacious two-story common area that included a bar, dining room, and hammock lounge. Our rooms had three bamboo-lined walls and beds draped with gauzy mosquito nets. The fourth wall was open to the rain forest. The bathrooms had running water and cold showers. Candles and kerosene lanterns provided our only light (the dining room has several hours of electricity each night where you can recharge camera batteries). We fell asleep that night to a thrilling cacophony made by howler monkeys, macaws, parrots, and crickets.

   The next morning, while Jasper (7) was helping to save the forest, (along a special children's rain forest trail created with help from a Peruvian nonprofit organization, ANIA, which aims to teach children about natural and cultural resources of the rain forest) Ariel (15) was out with another group climbing a 75-foot tree with ropes and a harness. Another day featured kayaking and fishing on the Tambopata, hiking a remote clay lick to observe macaws and parrots, and following Sixto as he showed us how he used rain forest plants as medicines. "I don't go to a pharmacy," he said, motioning to the dense growth around us. "I have all the medicine I need right here." He won over Ariel by curing her nagging stomachache with a potent tea he brewed from a forest vine.

   On our last morning, we climbed an 80-foot canopy tower to bird-watch with Sixto and take in the sunrise. Jasper and Ariel were glued to their binoculars as they took in the bird's-eye vantage point. Mist rose over the green carpet beneath us, and we peered into the tops of giant kapok trees. We spotted more birds in an hour than I had ever seen, including a toucan, tanager, parrots, macaws, and parakeets, to name a few. A full-throated symphony of birdsong rang out around us.
   (David Goodman, writing for the Boston Globe, August 2007)

   Boston-Globe reviewing Family Rainforest Expedition in Peru