South & Central America
Highlights - Essential Info - Itineraries
- Arequipa
- Cusco
- Lake Titicaca & Puno
- Lima
- Machu Picchu
- Nazca Lines
- Pisco, Ica & Paracas National Reserve
- Sacred Valley of the Incas
- The Amazon Rainforest
- The Colca Canyon
- The Inca Trail
- Trujillo & Chiclayo
The Amazon Rainforest
The Amazon Basin covers a vast swathe of eastern Peru and runs from its northern tip right down to the south of the country and covers over four million square kilometres and 60% of the country’s entire area. Vast regions of this green jungle remain in pristine condition and home to a staggering diversity of life including more than 10% of all the world’s bird species, 4000 species of butterfly, 2000 species of fish, 300 species of mammal and an extraordinarily rich variety of plant species.
The two principal areas where the jungle can be reached are via Iquitos in the north of the country and via Puerto Maldonado in the south. The only real difference is that the principal jungle viewing area in the north is based on the Amazon River itself, whilst in the south, the lodges are located on the Tambopata and Madre de Dios rivers and the southern jungle lodges tend to offer slightly better game viewing on account of this area being less disturbed by human activity.
Manu National Park is 1.6 million square hectares and is one of the world’s largest protected areas and contains three distinct ecological levels namely: High Andes, High Jungle/Cloud Forest and Rain Forest.
The activities at all jungle lodges tend to be similar in nature with an emphasis on trying to show guests a wide selection of flora and fauna with hikes in the forest with your naturalist guides as well as exploring the lakes and rivers by motorised dug-out canoe. We would recommend a three night stay as a minimum in order to make the visit worthwhile and to ensure you have as good a chance as possible of seeing plenty of the exotic wildlife including various macaw and parakeet species, giant otters, tapir, crocodiles and capybara.
Our preferred hotels, lodges & boats include:
Reserva Amazonica (Tambopata Region)
Sandoval Lake Lodge (Tambopata Reserve)
Posada Amazonas (Tambopata Reserve)
Tambopata Research Centre (Tambopata Reserve)
Manu Wildlife Centre Lodge (Manu Biosphere Reserve)
Ceiba Tops (Northern Jungle)
Delfin I & II (3 & 4 night cruises)
M/V Aqua (3 & 4 night cruises)
