Research Sites

The core of the field research is undertaken at four of Tambopata's thirty ecotourist lodges. Each have bespoke facilities for visiting researchers. Three of them have a long history of hosting researchers from around the World and some of the most pioneering biodiversity, forest dynamics, and autecology studies, some dating back to the late 1970s, have been undertaken here (see publications).

In the forests and ox-bow lakes managed by these lodges it is common to see rare and endangered wildlife species such as Scarlet macaws (Ara macao), Giant otters (Pteronura brasiliensis), Brazilian lowland tapir (Tapirus terrestris), Black caiman (Melanosuchus niger) and Spider monkeys (Ateles chamek). With a little luck it is also possible to observe Jaguar (Panthera onca), Puma (Puma concolor), Harpy eagle (Harpia Harpyja), and Anaconda (Eunectes murinus).

Explorer's Inn (EI)

This lodge is located on the southern bank of the Tambopata River (12º50´15´´S, 69º17´30´´W) at the confluence with the La Torre River at a distance of 30 km SSW of Puerto Maldonado. The EI was built and began operating in 1975. It was the first ecotourism venture to operate along the Tambopata River at the time.

In 1977, the Peruvian government granted private protected area status to 5.5 km2 of rainforest around the lodge which became known as the Tambopata Reserve Zone (Stewart 1988). Through its Resident Naturalist Program, which offered free room and board to graduate biologists in exchange for guiding guests, the EI has been very successful in combining tourism with research.

Reserva Amazonica (RA)

This lodge is located on the northern bank of the Madre de Dios River (12º32´30´´S, 69º03´20´´W) at a distance of 15 km of Puerto Maldonado. The RA was built and began operating in 1976, shortly after the EI. It was the first tourist lodge to be built along the Madre de Dios River. As in the case of EI, in 1977 the government approved the establishment of a private reserve around the lodge totalling 10 km2. The status of the reserve prohibited the extraction or conversion of natural resources by the local inhabitants. However, in the late 1980s the government failed to renew the reserve status and subsequently previously forested lands close to the lodge were colonised by subsistence farmers and much riverine forest was converted to agriculture.

Sachavacayoc Centre (SC)

The Sachavacayoc Centre is located on the southern bank of the Tambopata River (12º51´15´´S, 69º22´00´´W) at a distance of 35 km SSW of Puerto Maldonado. It was constructed in 1994 by Newton College, an private international school in Lima, as a centre for conservation and education. The Centre caters mainly for student groups from all over the world, who stay for 7-14 days, although normal tourists also use the facilities on occasions. The forest is accessed via a network of trails totalling 18 km. Other lodges including Caiman Lodge and Libertador Tambopata Lodge also use these trails to access the Sachavacayoc Lake, an oxbow lake.

Tambopata Research Center (TRC) 

This lodge is located on the western bank of the Tambopata River (13º08´10´´S, 69º36´40´´W) at a distance of 75 km SSW of Puerto Maldonado in an isolated area of the TNR bordering the BSNP. It was constructed in 1989, within 200m of a macaw clay lick. Initial activities at this time were dedicated to macaw research, although as of 1994 the principle activity switched to ecotourism. A significant amount of research has been undertaken at this site over the last 20 years and comprehensive inventories of some taxa have been undertaken. The trail system is 20 km long. No permanent settlements exist within 40 km of this lodge and hunting pressure is nil.

This is Tambopata's most remote lodge, situated near the World's largest macaw clay-lick deep within the Tambopata National Reserve and alongside the Bahuaja-Sonene National Park. Located on the banks of the Tambopata River, 8 hours from Puerto Maldonado.