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Only four hours by river from Puerto Maldonado
airport, Heath River Wildlife Center is the gateway to the largest
uninhabited and unhunted rainforest in the Amazon. An immensely
photogenic macaw clay lick, capybaras, oxbow lakes with Giant Otters,
hundreds of birds and mammal species and a lodge 100%-owned by the
Ese'eja Indians of Sonene make the Heath the best combination of
nature and culture in the entire Amazon. No other lodge in Tambopata
is 100% owned and operated by a community of lowland Indians.
Every person in Sonene speaks the original indigenous language, with
Spanish being a distant second used mostly in school and to trade
with outsiders and, now, to chat with pampered guests. Women from
Sonene hold daily crafts workshops at the lodge, teaching visitors
tribal traditions handed down through the millennia.
Day 1 : EXPLORE THE JUNGLE
We are met by our guide at Puerto Maldonado airport and transferred
to the
port on the Tambopata River. Here we board a motorized canoe for a
four-and-a-half hour journey to the Heath River Wildlife Center.
After descending the Tambopata River for 5 minutes to the confluence
with the larger Madre de Dios River, our boat heads east, downstream
on the mighty Madre de Dios River, passing small gold prospecting
barges before reaching the Peru-Bolivia border. This stretch of the
Madre de Dios River is particularly attractive, as more than 75% of
the riverbank is still covered by towering, virgin rainforest, and
periods of 15-20 minutes go by without a single sign of forest
cutting. (For comparison, a similar length of river travel up the
Tambopata River features only 10-15% of primary forest along the
riverbank---the rest is in agriculture and freshly burned forest
clearings). Here we transfer to a smaller motorized canoe and head
up the narrow, intimate Heath River, which forms the wilderness
border between Peru and Bolivia, to arrive at our 100% Indian-owned
lodge, the only all-Indian-owned lodge in the Tambopata region. We
will provide a complete box lunch during the river trip. PLEASE NOTE
THAT VALID PASSPORTS MUST BE BROUGHT FOR THIS JOURNEY.
In the late afternoon, our Ese Eja Indian hosts will take us to
explore the forest surrounding the lodge in search for the various
species of monkeys and hundreds of species of birds that make the
rainforest home.
After dinner we explore the forest by flashlight, including a visit
to a small mammal clay lick if it is active. (L,D)
Day 2 : HEATH RIVER
Rising before dawn we once again board the canoe for the journey up
the
Heath River to the Macaw and Parrot Clay Lick. Depending on the
level of the river this journey can take up to one hour. During the
river trip upstream, we nearly always see one or two families of
Capybaras on the banks of the river At 120 pounds (55 kilograms),
this simply gigantic relative of the guinea pig is the largest and
most photogenic rodent in the world.
Once at our specially-designed floating blind, our breakfast is
served as we marvel at the medium-sized, emerald-green and electric-blue
parrots and the large blazing Red-and-Green Macaws that arrive in
two shifts to eat the clay. Note that in some years ALL macaw and
parrot licks in southern Peru are less active in May, June, and
early July than in the rest of the months of the year. Thus, bear
this in mind if you are especially interested in photography of the
parrots and macaws.
Returning to the lodge after the a beautiful parrot display our
native guides take us on an ethno-botanical walk through the forest,
explaining how they use many of the forest trees and plants in their
daily lives, either as medicines or for bows and arrows and in home
construction.
After lunch and a short rest we go first by canoe then a short walk
to a natural forest of towering, 170-foot-tall (55-meter-tall)
Brazil nut trees to learn how the slight, yet surprisingly powerful,
men of the village harvest these nuts, which fall from the treetops
encased in rock-hard brown spheres the size of small grapefruits.
Our Ese Eja Indian hosts have harvested these delicious, valuable
nuts for thousands of years, and now they will show you the mystery
and splendor of this wonder of the Amazon.
Starting at some point in mid-2002, our hosts also will feature a
new canopy attraction in the top of a huge canopy emergent tree. The
details will be available as this attraction is completed. (B,L,D)
Day 3 : MACAW CLAY LICK
Once again we rise before dawn and set off to have breakfast in the
floating blind at the Macaw and Parrot Clay Lick.
After the spectacle of the lick we return to the lodge to pack and
then boat back upstream on the Madre de Dios River to Sandoval Lake
Lodge, which is located on the banks of the lake that most experts
consider to be the most beautiful in all the southern Amazon of Peru.
A box lunch will be eaten during the journey.
Arriving at the trail head to Sandoval Lake Lodge we take a
45-minute walk through the forest to a small canal where we board a
canoe and then transfer to one or more hand-paddled catamarans, each
of which has a capacity for 20
people. Arriving on the lake in the cool golden light of the late
afternoon, we enter into a flooded palm forest and drift beneath
dozens (and often hundreds) of babbling Red-bellied Macaws as they
return to the palm forest for the night. This macaw species is found
locally in parts of the Amazon, always living in flooded palm
forests such as the beautiful palm stand at Sandoval Lake. At
500-800 birds, this flock of macaws at Sandoval Lake is currently
the largest reported in the world for this highly-specialized macaw.
We return to the lodge around nightfall for dinner. (B,L,D)
Day 4 : SANDOVAL LAKE
After a dawn breakfast, we explore the western end of the lake in
the hope of encountering the family of nine Giant Otters that live
in the lake. For those with lots of energy, our guide will take us
hiking through the forest, and will bring the forest to life with
stories of the rain forest and the medicinal uses of the plants.
Following lunch and an optional rest, in the late afternoon we once
again board the catamaran and set off to explore the eastern end of
the lake.
Here we might see Brown Capuchin and Bolivian Squirrel Monkeys as
they forage along the lakes' edge.
After dinner we can return to the catamaran to look for large Black
Caiman, the rarest of the crocodilians of the Amazon. If it is a
clear starlight night, we will also be able to float in the middle
of the lake and marvel at the brilliance of the night sky. There is
a final after-dinner opportunity to look for Caiman on the lake, or
to explore the lodge trails by flashlight. (B,L,D)
Day 5 : TRANSFER OUT
After a dawn breakfast we return to Puerto Maldonado for the flight
back to Cusco or Lima.
*Prices are per person and based on a minimum of two people
traveling together. Trips depart daily.
END OF OUR SERVICES
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| Please note that the program may
vary slightly so as to maximize your wildlife sightings, depending
on the reports of our researchers and experienced naturalist guides
based at the lodge. INCLUDES: All hotel and lodge
accommodations based on double occupancy. All scheduled land, lake
and river transportation. All transfers. All scheduled excursions
with English-speaking guide services. All entrance fees. Meals as
specified in the itinerary. B=Breakfast;L=Lunch;D=Dinner.
NOT INCLUDED IN THE FEE
International or Domestic airfares, airport departure taxes or visa
fees, excess baggage charges, additional nights during the trip due
to flight cancellations, alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages or
bottled water, snacks, insurance of any kind, laundry, phone calls,
radio calls or messages, reconfirmation of International or Domestic
flights and items of personal nature.
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