7 days / 6 Nights Parrot Lovers Program

Day 1: Welcome to your Tour for Parrot Lovers!

• Our Amazon expeditions start from your arrival in Puerto Maldonado, the capital of Madre de Dios, then join a 1-hour bus and a 3.5-boat journey to the lodge. Your first taste of the Amazon cuisine will be in the river while you leave the city to enjoy the amazing jungle landscapes.


• As we cross the confluence with the Malinowski River, we will leave the final traces of human habitation behind. Within the 700,000 hectares of an uninhabited nucleus of the reserve, sightings of capybara, caiman, geese, macaws, and other large species will become more frequent.


• Tambopata Research Center awaits – a spacious boutique eco-lodge, with a bar, a massage center, and buffet service in the heart of the National Reserve of Tambopata, is the only Amazon ecolodge inside the reserve in front of the Bahuaja Sonene National Park in Peru surrounded by dozens of natural and artificial macaw nests belonging to the Tambopata Macaw Project.


• Accommodation includes a standard room.


• Your stay includes three meals daily, tea, coffee, guided excursions, and activities, refreshments upon arriving, and transfers to and from the airport. This itinerary includes a private guide.


• This afternoon joins the Overlook A three to five-kilometer hike will lead us to overlooks commanding magnificent views of the Tambopata winding its way into the lowlands. The forest on this trail, regenerating on the old bamboo forest, is good for Howler Monkey and Dusky Titi Monkey.

Wild scarlet macaws in the Peruvian Amazon

Day 2: Get inspired by wild macaws

• On most clear mornings of the year, dozens of large macaws and hundreds of parrots congregate on this large river bank in a raucous and colorful spectacle that inspired a National Geographic cover story. Discretely located fifty meters from the cliff, we will observe Green-winged, Scarlet, and Blue-and-gold Macaws and several species of smaller parrots descend to ingest clay. Outings are at dawn when the lick is most active.


• This five-kilometer trail covers the prototypical rainforest with immense trees crisscrossed by creeks and ponds. Amongst the figs, ceibas, and shihuahuacos we will go for a monkey search Squirrel, Brown Capuchin, and Spider Monkeys as well as peccaries. TRC is located within this habitat.


• Ten minutes upriver from the lodge explore the island where is a tiny pond with a platform in the middle. It is a great place to spot waterfowl such as Muscovy duck, sunbittern, and hoatzin along with the woodpeckers, oropendolas, flycatchers, and parakeets that call this pond their home.


• After dinner, scientists will provide a night lecture, an in-depth look at the biology of macaws, their feeding habits, the theories for clay lick use, their breeding and feeding ecology, population fluctuations, and the threats to their conservation.

Macaw Clay Lick by Carlos Gonzales

Day 3: Join a party of colors and sounds

• Two hours from Tambopata Research Center is the Chuncho clay lick. After a brief walk (~5 minutes) we will have the chance to see dozens of large macaws feeding on the special sodium-rich clays of the riverbank. The Chuncho clay lick probably attracts more large macaws than any other clay lick in the world and the sight of dozens of macaws taking flight is truly unforgettable. The details of our stopover will depend on the weather and the amount of macaw activity, as the birds don’t visit the clay lick when it is raining.


• We will head out along the bamboo trail for up-close looks at Scarlet, Blue-and-gold, and Green-winged Macaws as they loaf in the trees. This will give us wonderful opportunities to watch the social behavior of these birds as pairs fight, preen, and feed. At the end of the trail, we will visit an isolated area of clay lick rarely used by Cobalt-winged Parakeets and the rare Dusky-billed and Amazonian Parrotlets.

Day 4: Macaws at noon

• Get the opportunity to visit Colorado clay lick for a second time, as every morning is different than the one before. At dawn, we will cross the river and enjoy the closest clay lick where many parrots and macaws of up to 17 different species have been seen. Here we will watch as the parrots fly in from all directions and land in the trees above the clay lick. When a few hundred have gathered and the noise builds to a crescendo a small group of Severe and Red-bellied Macaws will break free from the loafers in the trees and make long slow circles in front of the lick. Once these first brave pioneers land on the lick the parrots will rain down by the dozens to join them. Mealy Amazons, Blue-headed Caiques, conures, and macaws will mix in a noisy blur of colorful wings as they rush in to get their fill of the precious clay. Then about one hour after it began, the birds will drift away and leave the area in an eerie silence. Once this early morning rush of activity ends we will head back to the lodge for breakfast.


• An entirely different habitat characterized by smaller, thinner trees atop hills and slopes is covered by this five-kilometer trail of terra firme forest. Saddleback tamarins are frequently found here. As we walk near the limits of the swamp we will also keep our eyes open for rare tapir tracks.


• A night to relax and enjoy the natural soundtrack around you.

Day 5: Parrot and macaws of palm swamps

• We will head out to the clay lick at 8 AM and wait for the arrival of the large macaws. By 9 or 10 AM over 100 Scarlet, Blue-and-gold and Green-winged Macaws should gather in the trees. Before descending to eat the clay the entire group usually flies en masse across the front of the lick. When the late morning sun lights up the birds, it is one of the most spectacular sights in the Amazon. Once the birds choose a safe spot, they will descend by the dozens to the lick. The Blue-and-golds grab bites of clay and fly back to the safety of the trees while the Scarlets and Green-wings sit on the lick and squabble over the best bits of clay. When the birds finish their visit to the lick we will return to the lodge.


• Growing on the remains of an oxbow lake and providing both arboreal and terrestrial mammals with fruits throughout the year, the aguaje palms swamp is one of the most important food sources in the rainforest. Demand for these fruits and great conditions for planting rice makes the palm swamp also one of the most threatened habitats.

Blue and yellow macaws usually nest on palm swamps

Day 6: Creek trail and sunset cruise

• A different kind of Terra Firme forest on a half-day activity is available daily. Crossed by several creeks that will eventually reach the Tambopata River, walk in the opposite direction of the river, where you will focus on forest and ecology on this creek trail.


• Twilight descends early in the jungle. Under the thick tree cover of the rainforest, darkness falls quickly, when the light cannot slip through the foliage any longer. Now, as afternoon slips into evening, you’re about to see one of the world’s most spectacular sunsets. The Sunset Cruise floats down the wide river, countless oranges and pinks reflecting off the water in lovely patterns.

Day 7: Thank you!

• It is time to say goodbye, as the expedition comes to an end.


• Your visit will make a direct contribution to the Wired Amazon Program and the National Reserve of Tambopata.


• You will take the journey back to the city to the airport for your national flight onwards.

What to read next: What to bring to your expedition in the Peruvian Amazon