I might live in Lima, but I love the Peruvian Amazon Rainforest. And Puerto Maldonado and the Tambopata National Reserve are among my favorite destinations in Peru.
Yet, when I’m talking to my friends and family who are also considering visiting Tambopata, about my own experiences in the jungle, there’s a few points I find that I always need to stress to them. And they can be summed up in the 6 basic points below.
6 Things to remember when planning a Peruvian Amazon holiday in Tambopata!
High prices don’t mean high quality in the Peruvian Amazon!
This is the biggest mistake that people make when visiting Tambopata. Or anywhere else in Peru for that matter. In Peru, price and quality aren’t often aligned. And in Tambopata you can pay high prices for low quality lodges and guides.
Don’t assume because something is expensive that it’s better than other options. Or that it’s even on par with other options. In Tambopata and Puerto Maldonado, amazon lodges and accommodation providers are often the best example of high prices not meaning high quality.
Let’s start with Puerto Maldonado, the gateway to the Tambopata National Reserve. In Puerto Maldonado there are backpacker hostels. But these are often more expensive than nearby hotels. And they don’t have added amenities like air conditioning, free parking, breakfasts included or any form of ‘backpacker vibe’ or party atmosphere that most backpackers seek.
In Puerto Maldonado, there’s really only two places you should stay. And they are the Libélula Hotel and the Copasu Hotel. With my favorite being the Libélula Hotel. I avoid places like the Tambopata Hostel because they are pretty darn boring.
Now, when it comes to lodges in Tambopata, I haven’t yet found one that I’d rave about and that I’d recommend by name. But what I will do is give you an example from a recent trip where we tried out 4 different lodges.
The first one had no mosquito netting on the building and gaping holes in the mosquito netting around the bed that someone had attempted to block with wads of toilet paper. The shower didn’t work and the hand basin in the bathroom was being eaten away by termites.
The toilet wasn’t bolted to the floor and it would topple over and leak sewage into the room whenever it was flushed. Leading to giant cockroaches everywhere. The electricity and internet didn’t work as advertised and were barely ever switched on. They ran out of beer on round one of day one and never went to get more.
The guide at this establishment was the worst we encountered and he wouldn’t have been able to find a mosquito, even if it was sitting on the end of his nose. The only unprompted interaction we saw from him was an hour before our scheduled departure, when he was hustling for tips.
Yet at the next lodge we went to, everything worked. There was perfect mosquito netting, functional showers, toilets that didn’t leak sewage and they even had cold beer. The guides at this establishment were the best we encountered on the trip. They seemed to have a superhuman ability to find wildlife and were always excitedly showing all the guests different animals, insects and medicinal plants.
Now, of those two lodges, the first was significantly more expensive than the second. And it had apparently just raised its prices to make itself even more expensive. Yet the second lodge was one of the cheapest lodges in Tambopata. You see, price is rarely aligned with quality in Peru!
Travel Tip: I’m also a big fan of the Enai Hotel. Not as a lodge. But instead as a spectacular alternative to the lodges. It’s got an amazing setup right on the Madre de Dios river and is in close proximity to Lake Sandoval and Monkey Island. It doesn’t surprise me that the Enai Hotel holds many design awards in Peru.
The quality of your tour guide matters most!
The quality of your tour guide will make or break your holiday. If your tour guide can’t find the wildlife, then all is for naught. Without seeing the wildlife, you’re basically just staying in a 1 star hotel in a mosquito filled swamp. Now, like any service providers in Peru, there’s a few good tour guides and whole lot of bad ones.
The bad ones will seem disinterested. They won’t engage with you, they won’t point out wildlife and plant species and they will basically do nothing until you’re about to leave. Then, on your final day a few hours before you depart the lodge, they will suddenly want to be your best friend. But only so you tip them.
Good tour guides are active. They will spend time with each client and they will discuss all the different plants, animals and insects that live in the surrounding jungle. They will want to show you the wildlife and they will be as excited as you are to encounter different species.
To give you an example, I recently went with Marco, Nathalie and their kids to visit 4 different lodges in Tambopata. Marco runs Bloody Bueno Peru and he wanted to personally inspect these lodges as a client to make sure they were still well maintained. He took me along because I think he wanted to see what a tourist thought of each lodge. And we had different tour guides for the first and second lodges.
At the first lodge, the staff were unhelpful and unfriendly. They did the bare minimum and the lodge was not well maintained. The tour guide was almost always nowhere to be found. And when he was tracked down and wrangled into action, he never pointed out any wildlife. The most wildlife seen by another group who were in the lodge longer than us, was a turtle that I pointed out at breakfast on our second day.
At our second lodge we had a completely different tour guide. He was always with us for the full 3 days of our stay at that lodge. He would eat with us, talk with us, walk with us and was constantly finding and showing us different plants, animals and insects.
We were shown bullet ants, tarantulas, piranha, capybara, caiman, monkeys and even a sloth. But what was even more impressive, he was willing to jump overboard and crash tackle a caiman half his size, just so he could show it to the children. Because one of the kids said they really wanted to pat a caiman.
Now, you might think ‘well, that second tour guide probably cost a lot more’. Yet he didn’t. The second amazon lodge and tour guide were cheaper than the first. And not by a little, but a lot cheaper. And this is the key point, price and quality are not often aligned and the quality of the tour guide will make or break your amazon jungle adventure!
Always have travel insurance when visiting Tambopata!
I’ve spent a lot of time in rainforests not just in Peru, but around the world. And I’ve not always needed to use my travel insurance. Yet, you can get very unlucky when visiting the jungle in Peru. And on both of my last two trips, I’ve been unlucky.
On one trip, I came home with cellulitis in both of my feet. And I needed to see a doctor and get the correct medication to treat it. On my last trip to the amazon jungle I got dengue fever at our first amazon lodge in Tambopata. And as I write this article almost a month later, I’m still sore and I’m still needing to take medication to treat the after effects of the dengue fever.
On both of my last two trips to the Peruvian jungle in Tambopata, I’ve needed to use my travelers medical insurance. And I’m very lucky that I had insurance.
I don’t recommend any particular insurance provider. And I’m not loyal to one brand or another. I get all of my own travel insurance policies for Peru by using Visitors Coverage to compare the different plans and insurance companies.
Travel Tip: When planning to visiting the amazon rainforest in Peru, there are a lot of things that can go wrong. But there are some things you can plan for. And I recommend anyone planning to visit the jungle in Peru not only have travel insurance, but also talk to their doctor about vaccinations before visiting.
Don’t enter the rainforest when it’s raining!
It’s a ‘rainforest’, so you’re likely assuming it will be no big deal to walk through the jungle while it’s raining. But it is a big deal. When it rains, trees and branches do fall across the trails. And you won’t see it coming.
During heavy rain, jungle hikes are a bad idea. And most guides will bluntly refuse to take you into the jungle when it’s raining heavily or when heavy rain is predicted. And this is for their safety and yours. People do die from falling trees and branches when it’s raining heavily in the Peruvian jungle.
Travel Tip: During the dry season you’re less likely to have your plans disrupted by heavy rains. But during the wet season, you can lose whole weeks to rain. The dry season runs from May to October.
Always have these items when taking a tour in Tambopata!
It doesn’t matter what time of year you choose to visit the amazon jungle in Peru, because you will need the items below all year round. If you don’t have the items below, you will regret your decision not to take them with you.
- Bug repellent with high levels of DEET
- Sunscreen with a high SPF rating
- Sunglasses
- Hat
- Raincoat or rain poncho – but no umbrellas
- Travelers medical insurance
A lot of the activities you will likely undertake during your trip to Tambopata will be based around the rivers and oxbow lakes. The sun and the reflection of the sun off the water is very harsh. And if you don’t have sun protection you will get burnt. Now, believe me when I say that you will never want to experience mosquitos in the amazon when you have bad sunburn!
The wildlife is seasonal!
Your greatest opportunity to see wildlife during your amazon adventure is going to be in the dry season and the shoulder seasons. If you’re planning on booking a trip to the Macaw clay licks called ‘collpas’ in late December through to early April, don’t be surprised if you’re just looking at a blank clay wall, that’s devoid of life.
Each species of bird, reptile, insect and mammal has its own particular time of year or season when its seen more often and in greater numbers. And if you get a good guide and consult them before booking a trip, they will be able to recommend when you should try to come for that species and where you should stay for better access.
Yet, during the peak of the dry season is when you’re most likely to see basically everything. It’s also consequently the best time for fishing in the Tambopata River, the Madre de Dios and the many oxbow lakes around the region.
It is more hot and humid, and there are more mosquitos. Prices will also be higher than at other times throughout the year. But you will have greater opportunities to explore the jungle and you will see more during the dry season in Peru (May to October).
