Peru - Lonely Planet Publications [396]
* * *
Madre de Dios and Tambopata lodges quote their prices in US dollars, which include transportation unless stated. Luggage per person is often limited but can be stored in lodge offices in Puerto Maldonado.
SIGHTS & ACTIVITIES
The ITA Aceer Tambopata en Inkaterra (www.wcupa.edu/aceer) is an important research center that was built on the site of a 19th-century house formerly occupied by one of the first doctors to practice in this part of the Amazon. ITA retains parts of the original house while providing modern research facilities in the new construction. Although the modern accommodations are mainly for researchers, ecotourists can visit to attend lectures and examine the small exhibit about local conservation issues. The Inkaterra Reserva Amazonica Lodge is 7km away.
You can reach Lago Sandoval (Click here) from some of the lodges here.
SLEEPING
Most lodge-style accommodations are based along the rivers. Riverside lodges are listed as you travel away from Puerto Maldonado, irrespective of price.
Corto Maltes (082-57-3831; www.cortomaltes-amazonia.com; s 3 days & 2 nights US$240); Puerto Maldonado (Map; Billinghurst, cuadra 2) The closest lodge to Puerto Maldonado is traveler-friendly and upbeat. Only 5km from town, this lodge offers 15 comfortable, fully screened, high-ceilinged bungalows with solid mattresses, eye-catching Shipibo indigenous wall art, patios with two hammocks, and cheerful decorative touches in the public areas. Electricity is available from dusk until 10:30pm, and showers have hot water. The French owners pride themselves on the excellent European-Peruvian fusion cuisine.
Tambo Lodge (082-57-2227; tambojunglelodge@hotmail.com; per person 3 days/2 nights US$210) Puerto Maldonado (Map; Ancash 250) Just beyond Corto Maltes, this pleasant lodge offers 14 large, airy bungalows, each furnished with hot-water showers and copious supplies of fresh drinking water, around a clearing in secondary jungle. The main restaurant-bar area is convivial, with lots of board games. Included are trips to Sandoval Lake, a 5km walk away, and Monkey Island (supposedly containing each of the Amazon’s monkey species).
Inkaterra Reserva Amazonica (www.inkaterra.com; 3 days & 2 nights s/d US$673/1082, ste per person double occupancy US$739); Cuzco (Map; 084-24-5314, Plaza Nazarenas 167); Lima (01-610-0400, Andalucía 174, Miraflores) Further down the Madre de Dios, almost 16km from Puerto Maldonado, this option is exceptionally luxurious, and offers a better look at the jungle. Tours here include 10km of private hiking trails, and a series of swaying, narrow, jungle canopy walkways up to 35m above the jungle floor for flora and fauna observation.
A huge, traditionally thatched, cone-shaped, two-story reception, restaurant, bar, library and relaxation area greets the arriving traveler. Some of the Southern Amazon’s best meals are served here; travelers with special dietary needs can be accommodated. There are occasional alfresco barbecues, where guests stuff their own choice of food into bamboo tubes and leave them on hot coals to roast. A resident kinkajou – an odd, raccoonlike creature – sometimes darts among the tables, startling diners.
Upstairs, four separate sitting areas come complete with couches and balconies for imbibing the views and spotting the birdlife outside. A separate building houses an interpretation center (with maps, photos, casts of mammal footprints – ask about making your own – and occasional slide shows). Guides speak English, French or Italian. About 40 rustic individual cabins have bathrooms and porches with two hammocks. Six suites boast huge bathrooms, writing desks and two queen beds each.
EcoAmazonia Lodge (www.ecoamazonia.com.pe; per person 3 days & 2 nights US$210, per person 4 days & 3 nights US$280); Cuzco (Map; 084-23-6159, Garcilaso 210, Office 206); Lima (01-242-2708, Palacios 292, Miraflores); Puerto Maldonado (082-57-3491) Roughly 30km from Puerto Maldonado is another lodge boasting a huge, thatch-roofed restaurant and bar, with fine river