Tambopata National Reserve

The Tambopata reserve protects rainforest along the Tambopata and Madre de Dios rivers in the south-east, and it is the most straightforward stretch of Amazon lowland in Peru to reach: a flight to Puerto Maldonado, then a boat. Its best-known feature is the clay licks, exposed banks of mineral-rich earth where macaws, parrots and parakeets gather in numbers at first light, screaming and jostling for position on the clay. The forest holds tapir, peccary, capybara, several monkey species and, far less reliably, jaguar. Canopy towers put you level with the tree crowns, and oxbow lakes off the main river hold caiman and, in a few, giant otters.

What you actually see

• The macaw clay licks - hundreds of parrots and macaws on the bank at dawn, weather permitting.
• Canopy towers - platforms in the crowns for toucans, macaws and mixed feeding flocks.
• Oxbow lakes - still water off the river with caiman, hoatzin and sometimes giant otters.
• Night walks - frogs, snakes, insects and spiders that the daytime forest keeps hidden.

When to go

May to October is drier, with easier river travel and better clay lick activity; the licks go quiet on rainy mornings in any season. November to April is wetter and hotter but greener and less busy. Cold southerly winds called friajes can drop temperatures sharply for a few days between June and August. Book lodges well ahead.

Honest expectations

The clay licks depend on the weather and can fail entirely; a wet dawn means no birds and no refund. Lodges close to Puerto Maldonado see far less wildlife than those hours upriver, and prices track that distance. Boat transfers eat a good part of the first and last days. Humidity, mosquitoes and pre-dawn starts are constant, and rooms are usually open-sided.

Nearby

Puerto Maldonado is the gateway, and Lake Sandoval lies off the Madre de Dios river nearby.