| Duration
4 Days & 3 Night
Departures Daily departures
Airfares Not included, available upon request
Customizable YES, feel free to ask for extra
services
DAY 1 - PUERTO MALDONADO TO HEATH RIVER WILDLIFE CENTER
Staff welcome you at Puerto Maldonado airport and we drive through
this bustling Upper Amazon Basin city to the Tambopata River
boat dock. Here we board a powerful motorized dugout canoe and
set off to the nearby confluence of the mighty Madre de Dios
River, where we head downstream for approximately three hours
to the Peru-Bolivia border at the mouth of the remote Heath
River. Even beneath the vast sky of this major Amazon tributary
we glimpse the diversity of the riverine environment, with its
forest-capped red-earth cliffs, alternating with low banks thick
with Cecropia trees and giant grasses. Now, after brief frontier-crossing
formalities, we motor for about two more hours up narrower and
wilder waters, suddenly enjoying the intimacy of mysterious
forest looming close on either side. Occasional views of native
villages and children splashing by the banks, are interspersed
with long, quiet stretches where we may spot herons, hawks,
cormorants, Orinoco Geese, and perhaps a family of Capybaras
-- the world’s largest rodent, weighing up to 55kg./120lb, and
looking like an enormous Guinea Pig. We reach our simple, charming
and comfortable quarters at the Heath River Wildlife Center
in time for dinner. (Box lunch, D)
(Please note that the lodge is located on the Bolivian shore
of the Heath River, so passports are required to clear Bolivian
passport control.)
DAY 2: HEATH RIVER WILDLIFE CENTER
Today we make an early start to visit the lodge’s most spectacular
feature: the Heath River parrot and macaw lick. Here these colorful
birds gather to eat a type of clay from the cliff-like river
banks that neutralizes certain toxins in their diet. They congregate
early each morning, sometimes by the hundreds, jostling and
squabbling over the best eating spots on the clay lick. This
noisy and unforgettable show can go on for two or three hours,
and may begin with up to five species of parrot and two varieties
of parakeet, followed by Chestnut-fronted Macaws and their larger,
more boisterous cousins, the Red-and-green Macaws. This extraordinary
wildlife display occurs at only a handful of sites in the Upper
Amazon Basin, and nowhere else on the planet.
Our floating hide platform provides comfort and complete concealment,
so that we can eat a full breakfast here during pauses in the
bankside spectacle. For ultra-close-up viewing, our guides carry
a tripod-mounted spotting scope, which can also be used to get
telephoto pictures with even the simplest camera.
On our return we can land partway downriver and walk back along
a section of the lodge’s extensive network of forest trails.
We encounter numerous gigantic Brazil-nut, kapok and fig trees,
along with the scary strangler fig, whose life strategy is as
sinister as its name suggests. Our guide will point out and
explain the medicinal and commercial uses of dozens of plants
and trees, while we keep our eyes and ears open for birds, or
one of the eight species of monkeys found in this region. We
might come upon a small herd of White-lipped or Collared peccary
– two kinds of wild pig that are quite common in this area.
For purposes of territorial marking they deploy a “stink gland”
so potent that they are often smelled long before they are seen.
After lunch we typically hike or bicycle along a major trail
to a point where the forest abruptly gives way to the spacious
plains of the Pampas del Heath, part of Bolivia’s Madidi National
Park. This unique environment -- the result of very poor soils,
plus an extreme seasonal cycle of dryness and flooding -- is
the largest remaining undisturbed tropical savannah in the Amazon,
and is home to rare endemic birds and mammals, such as the Swallow-tailed
Hummingbird and the highly endangered Maned Wolf. Shortly beyond
the edge of the forest we can climb a raised platform that allows
us a grand view of this vast expanse of grassland and shrub,
studded with palm trees.
We can continue another hour or so to a swampy area thick with
Mauritia flexuosa palm trees, whose oil-rich palm nuts and hollowed-out
dead palms provide vitally important food and shelter for nesting
pairs of Red-bellied and increasingly rare Blue-and-yellow macaws.
We aim to arrive toward dusk, when the macaws are returning
from their day’s foraging to congregate in this very special
breeding site.
We return to the lodge by night, using our flashlights, and
perhaps pausing here and there in total darkness, to listen
to the ever-changing orchestra of animals, frogs and insects,
and to experience the magic of the night-time rainforest. We
may come upon such bizarre nocturnal creatures as camouflaged
frogs disguised as dead leaves, toads the size of rabbits, hairy
tarantulas peering out of their dirt holes, night monkeys lurking
among the tree branches, and a seemingly unpredictable array
of other nightlife.
After dinner some guests may choose to visit one of our mammal
lick hides, in hopes of seeing a Lowland Tapir, the rainforest’s
largest mammal. Hardy adventurers can choose to camp here with
their guide, in order to experience a full night in the heart
of the rainforest and increase their chances of a major wildlife
sighting. (B, L, D)
DAY 3: HEATH RIVER WILDLIFE CENTER
Our second full day at the lodge allows us to choose from a
wide range of activities available in this exceptionally diverse
tropical environment. Many people choose to make a second visit
to the macaw clay lick. Later we can take a canoe tour around
Cocha Moa, an oxbow lake that lies a short way downstream from
the lodge.
The reeds, fallen trees and forested shoreline of this lake
teem with birds and other wildlife. Red Howler Monkeys may peer
at us through the branches of the giant trees above us, while
herons lie in wait among the fallen trees, cormorant-like Anhingas
watch from the forest branches, and an Osprey may circle overhead.
Flocks of brilliant Red-capped Cardinals gather on dead branches,
and a colorful, primitive bird, the Hoatzin, hops its ungainly
way along the swampy water’s edge.
In the afternoon we may travel an hour or so downriver to visit
the Ese’Eja native community of Sonene, where we can meet these
descendants of nomadic forest tribes, and catch a glimpse of
those traditional ways of life that they manage to maintain
in the modern world. We can also purchase their handcrafts,
made from a wide range of seeds collected from the forest.
After dinner we can board our canoe once more, for an evening
of spotting for caiman, the Amazonian cousin of the alligator.
This region is home to the endangered black caiman, and we nearly
always pick out a few with our powerful spotlight as we patrol
the river. (B, L, D)
DAY 4: TRANSFER OUT
We leave at dawn for the return trip downstream. This is peak
hour for wildlife so we keep a sharp eye on the riverbanks,
often spotting families of Capybara, and perhaps being rewarded
with a rare jaguar sighting, or a tapir swimming across the
current. We reach the Madre de Dios River, re-enter Peru, and
set off upstream for Puerto Maldonado, where we are transferred
to the airport for our flight to Cusco or Lima.(B)
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.
END OF OUR SERVICES
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