Day 1

Arrival to Iquitos & Transfer to Tahuayo Lodge

Important: You can arrive to Iquitos in the morning or early afternoon (before 2pm); we start when you arrive.

• Airport or hotel pickup – Our staff will pick you up on arrival from the Iquitos Airport or directly from your hotel in Iquitos City. Land transfer from airport (30 min) to our office/dock complex in Iquitos City. Note: If you will be staying in Iquitos before/after your trip we also offer accommodations in Iquitos city. See:
• Transfer to Tahuayo Lodge – speedboat transfer (note–is up to 4 hours) up the Amazon River, then the Tahuayo tributary to our lodge.
• Arrival to Tahuayo Lodge – Arrive to the Tahuayo Lodge. Lodge orientation & meet with guides. Afternoon excursion (if morning arrival) and evening excursion of your choice.

Lunch, Dinner

Days 2-3

At the Tahuayo Lodge

Amazonia’s main lodge on the Tahuayo River is not a resort, nor a hotel, but a rustic lodge, comfortable for adventurous travelers. Cabins are private, and all have private bathrooms. Explore from the lodge with your private guide in and around the Tahuayo Reserve. We offer fully customizable itineraries and excursions day and night. To get you started, here is a list of some of our more popular activities:

• The Canopy Experience – Experience the Tree Giants & Canopy of the Amazon Rainforest. Completely rebuilt in 2019, our NEW Canopy Experience allows you to explore 6 canopy platforms and zoom through the rainforest on 4 ziplines more than 100 ft above the rainforest floor.
• Igapo/varzea Forest Exploration – Explore the Igapo forest with your guide in search of wildlife. Search for beautiful birds, primates such as pygmy marmosets, night monkeys, howler monkeys, and other wildlife.
• Tahuayo River Exploration – Go by boat with your private guide to explore the Tahuayo River. Here you can spot colorful birds (macaws, tanagers, hawks) sloths, neotropical river otters and monkeys along the riverbank.
• Cultural Visit –Learn about life in the local communities and about the work of our nonprofit organization Angels of the Amazon. You can visit the Hospital we built and support or the schools we built (and are continuing to build).
• Tahuampa (flooded forest) Excursion – Canoe in and around permanently flooded forest around either Tabano Lake or Traves Lake, with a vast diversity of wildlife. Search for the spectacular hoatzin (one of the world’s most interesting and unique birds), black caiman, horned screamers, wattled jacana, giant fishing spiders, giant ficus fig trees and much more.
• Frog Valley (Terra Firme) – For this full-day excursion, you will ride a motorboat up the Rio Blanco to visit terra firme (never flooding) ecosystem. Hike through the dense forest searching for beautiful little poison dart frogs, harlequin toads, marmosets, leaf cutter ants and more.
• Dolphin Search – Explore nearby oxbow lakes searching for the incredible Pink Dolphins of the Amazon Rainforest. Swimming is possible in some lakes. Note: we do NOT feed or disturb the dolphins in anyway.
• Birding – early morning birding along the Tahuayo River. With over 600 species, our region has a higher count of bird species of any site in lowland Amazon Forest.
• Fishing – Head by boat early in the morning or late afternoon to fish for the Piranha, Pacu, Vampire Fish, and other species.
• Night Excursions – Go for a night hike to search for scorpions, tarantulas, snakes, and other nocturnal wildlife. Explore by boat on the Tahuayo or Blanco River; here you can search for caimans, snakes, and frogs. If you are in the mood to relax….enjoy the constellations while you listen to the jungle symphony all around you.
• Anything else you want to see or do? Just ask. Your trip is fully customizable.

Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Days 4-5

At the Amazon Research Center (ARC)

Depart the main lodge in the morning en route to the Amazon Research Center (ARC). Search for wildlife along the way. The Research Center is more remote and about 2 hours up-river from our main lodge. It is formally recognized as a research institution by Peru’s national science council, CONCYTEC (Consejo Nacional de Ciencia, Tecnologia e Innovacion Tecnologia). Cabins are private, simple, and comfortable, all have shared bathrooms. Sample activities from the Research Center:

• Explore the Trail Grid – We have over 75 km of hiking trails from the research center, most of the trails are laid out in a grid to facilitate the scientific collection of population data (In the rainy season these may become canoe trails). The trails go through several varieties of igapo ecosystems, including bajial, high and low restinga as well as palm swamp ecosystem. We can see many different species of monkeys, including brown and white capuchins, saki monkeys, titi monkeys, woolly monkeys, sometimes uakaris, as well as giant tayra weasels and tamandua anteaters. Data collected from camera traps also reveal a high density of jaguar and other predators live here, but these are rarely seen.
• Cochas – Boating the various lakes and rivers from the research center we often see caiman, anaconda as well as the highly endangered Giant River Otter.
• Hiking to Lake Yarina – Full day hike where we can see hoatzins on their nests, blue and yellow macaws and caiman. One night camping may also be available (must be booked in advance)
• Citizen Conservation & Science Excursion – Take photos of Giant River Otters and share with us so we can send to the Frankfurt Zoological Society data base, which monitors the population of these endangered species in the Amazon basin. Individuals can be identified by the unique color patterns on their necks.
• Night excursions – Trail Grid night hike, explore Tahuayo River by canoe or boat.

Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Day 6

Return to Tahuayo Lodge & Return to Iquitos

The Research Center is more remote. On the boat ride to theResearch Center we stop to see bats, sloths, monkeys, raptors,toucans.

• Depart the Amazon Research Center – We leave in the morning en route to the Tahuayo Lodge. Search for wildlife along the way.
• Speedboat transfer (note–is up to 4 hours) back to Iquitos.
• Arrival back to Iquitos – transfer to airport or hotel

 Breakfast