Tambopata Research Center

Activities offered

The excursions offered allow for wildlife and flora sightings from many different angles: visits to collpas* with macaws, parrots and parakeets, canopy observation towers and oxbow lakes, walks through primary terra firme forest, seasonally flooded forest, and bamboo forest...

Before breakfast, departure towards the “Guacamayos” (macaw) and “Papagayos” (parrot) collpa. Walking time: approximately 60 minutes.
From a floating hide, you will be able to observe and photograph hundreds of medium and large parrots as well as red and green macaws, which also come to feed on the clay walls of the collpa (they are thought to find a substance there that neutralises certain toxic properties of the berries they eat).

Departure to the Tapir Collpa. A platform has been specially built on site to observe these animals, which visit the collpa to feed on the clay of its walls. The chance of seeing them is around 15%. After breakfast, you will take a forest walk where you can see ficus, ceibas, shihuahuacos, squirrel monkeys, and sajinos (wild peccaries). You will then visit the pond, where you can observe ducks, herons and a variety of other birds. After dinner, a night walk to observe mammals.

Terra Firme Trail: an entirely different habitat characterised by small trees atop hills. Saddleback tamarins are frequently seen in this area. As we walk near the edge of the swamp, we will also keep an eye out for tapir tracks.

Palm Swamp Trail: located in what remains of a former lake, this natural wetland within the rainforest has become home to thousands of palm trees. It is a major nesting site for blue-and-yellow macaws. You will see a wide variety of amphibians as well as monkeys drawn by the highly nutritious fruit of the aguaje palm.

In the evening, a night hike: you will have the opportunity to walk at night, when most mammals are active but rarely seen. Much easier to find are frogs, with their equally odd shapes and calls.
Walk across the suspension bridges at treetop level (known as the “Canopy”). Climb the towers for a 30-minute walk through the forest canopy. From the top, you can take in sweeping views over the forest. Toucans, parrots and macaws can be seen flying along the horizon. Mixed-species bird flocks are also visible, and you will watch birds taking off and landing in the trees right beside you.

Streams Trail: this runs through a different type of forest — terra firme — crossed by a number of streams that eventually reach the Tambopata River. The walk heads in the opposite direction from the river. Among the towering fig, ceiba and shihuahuaco trees, we will look for squirrels, brown capuchin monkeys and spider monkeys, as well as peccaries.