JAGUAR the King of the Jungle

Stories

The Jaguar That Discovered Man

Our expedition ventured into the deepest corners of the Peruvian Amazon to study the macaws of the remote, isolated  Candamo Valley. Since the beginning of time, wildlife has existed in the secluded valley without human disturbance. Our enthusiastic research team sailed the hostile rapids of the Candamo River, hoping to contribute new scientific knowledge about this biodiverse place.

What we never expected? That a jaguar would discover us instead…


I’ve been working in Peru as a conservation biologist, studying the genetics of wild macaws, for over a decade. Through my work, I’ve led several research expeditions into the deep, mysterious Candamo in the past. Surrounded by the foothills of the Andes, the Candamo Basin hosts one of the very few uninhabited tropical rainforests of the world — the place is so remote, not even native tribes have settled there. We discovered an isolated macaw population in the basin, and suspect the valley holds even more hidden unknown species.

Thanks to my collaboration with Rainforest Expeditions, along with a Peruvian grant, we brought several scientists to Tambopata. One of them, Dr. Zoltan Korsos, discovered at least three new millipede species during his short visit to Tambopata! But I didn’t want to keep these exciting discoveries to ourselves — I wanted to share them with people around the world. We’ve already produced a documentary called The Macaw Project, so this time around, we decided to make a film about our expedition to Candamo.

I took everyone from researchers to locals, filmmakers to reporters, on the scientific adventure. One night, at our primitive campsite deep in the Candamo valley, we were about to turn off the lights and go to bed.

Suddenly, we saw two eyes glowing in the dark forest. As we turned our flashlights towards them, we realized who the eyes belonged to a large female jaguar! In this deserted valley, the lithe cat had probably never seen a single human before. Her behavior was totally different from what we’d expected: She wasn’t afraid of us, and became so curious about us that she started to walk into our camp!

To know more details about that night, read reporter Nadia Drake’s intrepid story here!

The award-winning film about this expedition, called The Macaw Kingdom, will be released soon to the public

By George Olah

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The lodge is located in the middle of the forest accessible only by boat. The experience was very unique and exciting. Service is great, and the fun part are the nature activities and tours the hotel offers for free. We had an amazing tour guide that had a lot of knowledge and was fun to spend time with. The rooms are totally open to the forest which is really cool the struggle is the there is no privacy at all in between the rooms, also food was pretty basic. All together a very unique experience. Read all

This hotel is the perfect blend of comfort and hospitality, with the natural experience. The hotel is reached by a hours boat ride from Puerto Maldonado, expertly organized and accomplished. Most staff are members of the local Esa Ejja community. The food is good and plentiful. Hot water is always available and lovely bedding features mosquito nets. There is of course no air conditioning (one side wall is open in rach room) and the electricity is off for a few hours at night affecting overhead fans, so I was glad to have brought a small battery powered fan for sleeping. But the best of the experience is the wildlife. Our expert guide Oscar Mishaja introduced us to nearly 100 bird species, along with caimans, river otters, poison dart frogs and capybara. A trip of a lifetime. Read all

Excellent experience overall— really kind and welcoming staff at every point of the journey. All transfers were well organized and smooth. Excellent and educational excursions all around the rainforest. Delicious food for every meal. We had wonderful guides- Freet and Alvaro. Enjoyed our time here! Read all

Unbelievable.... Magical Everything I have dreamed of since I was 8 years old but MORE Read all

We had a surreal experience at Refugio Amazonas. From the well organized transportation to the warm welcome, hospitality and the experience of living in nature - we loved it all. Huge shout out to our guide Boris who went out of his way to ensure we had a good experience and got to watch all kinds of wild life. The meals and cocktails were delicious. And even though this place is smack in the middle of the jungle there was super fast WiFi available. We made unforgettable memories. Read all

We had an amazing time in TRC. From the guide, tours, lounge staff, food and room, everything has exceeded our expectation and like an amazing dream came true. We highly recommend to directly book with the lounge website, so that you got a private guide for your group. Special thanks to our guide Saul, who made this experience extra special! We were so impressed by his knowledge about all the animals and the rainforest. Read all

We had an amazing time in TRC. From the guide, tours, lounge staff, food and room, everything has exceeded our expectation and like an amazing dream came true. This is the only lounge available in Tambopata national park, and this eco lounge takes environment seriously. We highly recommend to directly book with the lounge website, so that you got a private guide for your group. Special thanks to our guide Saul, who made this experience extra special! We were so impressed by his knowledge about all the animals and the rainforest. If you are a natural lover, you can’t miss this place Read all

Excellent and luxurious place, wonderful experience and our guide Boris was first class, he had a unique patience with my 8 year old son. An experience in the tropical rainforest that marks the life of its visitors. In addition to the scientific research that takes place in the place: a whole research center. Rooms: Very comfortable and luxuriou Read all

El mejor hotel para visitar la Amazonia peruana. Hotel eco turístico metido en medio de la selva, equipado para visitar y vivir la selva, su flora y fauna, en todas sus facetas. Todo incluido, con guías preparados y amables, resultó una experiencia increíble para mi familia. Dentro de las opciones no se debe perder el Canopy de 45 metros de altura para observar y escuchar la selva, así como el lago de las tres Chimbadas, lugar único para ver caimanes, nutrias gigantes, monos y aves exóticas. Recomiendo mínimo dos noches!!! Read all

Wunderbare lodge mit freundlichen Menschen. sehr persönliche guides, tolle Tourangebote und super kulinarische Verpflegung ! Wir wurden herzlichst von Caesar empfangen und unser guide JuanJo hat uns phantastische Dinge gezeigt. Wir können die lodge nur wärmstens empfehlen! Read all

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