You haven’t seen Peru until you’ve at spent a few days exploring the Peruvian Amazon. With an unbelievable diversity of species, the jungle is teeming with life in every square meter. Its sheer fertility and abundance is difficult to describe. It’s like life decided to “go crazy” here, with all that flies, slithers, crawls, swims, jumps, climbs, and oozes – all going about their business, but somehow interconnected in one highly complex and massive web of vitality. A few days exploring this diversity will imbue you with a deep understanding of why the Amazon Rainforest is entirely worth preserving and why it should be a “must-see” on your bucket list of places to visit.
At Kuoda, we offer Peru Jungle Trips to the rainforest preserve surrounding the Puerto Maldonado region. Puerto Maldonado is a small town that’s located about an hour plane ride from Cusco. From here, the Tambopata National Reserve is easily accessible by boat. This 679, 000-acre reserve shelters a plethora of diverse flora and fauna species.
Several jungle lodges are located around the region, and depending on the time you have and your interest, you can travel deeply into the jungle (3-4-hour boat ride from Puerto Maldonado) to the more remote lodges, or if you have less time, you can travel 45 minutes to the most accessible lodges, such as the Inkaterra Reserva Amazonica. The deeper you go, the more animals you will be likely to see, although in truth you are likely to see a variety of species at any of the choices we mention here.
The Inkaterra Reserva Amazonica is an upscale lodge that’s great for your Peru honeymoon or couple’s retreat. Selected as one of the world’s 25 best eco-lodges by National Geographic Traveler, the Inkaterra boasts 35 wooden tribal-inspired cabañas. Over 540 bird species have been recorded on its surrounding trails. A trip to the quietly reflective Lake Sandoval to look for endangered giant river otters, or a nocturnal hike to view caimans and other night creatures are both on offer. The lodge features a “canopy walkway,” a system of wooden bridges where you can gain an overview of the jungle below and spot wildlife that frequents the jungle canopy, including monkeys and sloths. There’s also a spa located right on the banks of the Madre de Dios River that offers full services using all-natural products, which are sure to delight vacationing couples.
If you have more time, a great option is the Refugio Amazonas, located four hours from Puerto Maldonado. If you have kids, this is the trip to bring them on. Activities such as canopy and tree climbing, wildlife viewing, piranha fishing (careful, they bite!) and viewing of nocturnal species are only a few of the activities that will delight everyone in the group. Your entire family will be enchanted with the teeming abundance of jungle life. This lodge offers discovery trails especially for children, and they even have a program for those hard-to-please teenagers in your life!
On your jungle trip to Peru, you and the kids can also visit macaw and mammal clay licks: many jungle species eat dirt to get needed minerals. You can see peccaries, deer, and other species if you visit at the right time of day.
One relatively new activity on offer is aerobotany, where working with scientists, visitors get to fly a drone over the jungle canopy and aid in important scientific research on the flora in the area.
For an even more remote and pristine jungle experience, visit the Tambopata Research, inside the Tambopata National Reserve. This is the lodge for those that are truly passionate about the diversity of flora and fauna found in the jungle. The Center offers some of the best wildlife-viewing opportunities in South America, and over 30% of its visitors actually have spotted an elusive jaguar!
Whether it’s with the kids, as a couple, solo, or in a group, Kuoda, your personalized travel agency in Peru, will work closely with you to craft a custom itinerary for your Peru jungle adventure.
