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Heath River Wildlife Center & Sandoval Lake Lodge
Amazon Rainforest, Peru
Madre de Dios River, Tambopata National Reserve.
Photo: Mylene d'Auriol Stoessel.
Discover the world's largest pristine rainforest...
Land Price (6 days/5 nights)
Private US$ 1,435
The land price includes escorted transfers, private excursions with a naturalist guide (a birder guide is available at additional cost), entrance fees, indicated accommodations, all meals except beverages, all transportation except air flights, and travel insurance for guests through the age of 59 years. Over that age, there is a supplementary fee. All prices are per person based on two people sharing a guest room. For a detailed description of our services, see About Our Tours. We also offer a 4-day/3-night tour and a 5-day/4-night tour. Please note that a valid passport must be brought on this journey and that a yellow fever vaccination is recommended but not currently required.
Map
Detail Map
Intra-Tour Air Flights & Fares
Air fares are in addition to the land price.
Intra-Tour Air Flights & Fares shows South American air flights needed for this tour and the fares.
Flooded Mauritia palm forest, Sandoval Lake, Tambopata National Reserve.
Photo: Mylene d'Auriol Stoessel.
The Tambopata-Madidi Wilderness
Three extraordinary, contiguous Amazon reserves lie only a 25-minute flight from Cuzco -- the great Tambopata-Madidi Wilderness on the Peru-Bolivian border. Taken together, these parks are two-thirds the size of Costa Rica and protect the most species-rich natural habitats in the world. No other lodges than the Sandoval Lake Lodge and Heath River Wildlife Center combination can offer you as much wildlife viewing in the greater Tambopata-Madidi region.
The intimate Heath River provides the fastest and easiest route to the uninhabited, unhunted core of these parks, a vast 2.5-million-acre (one-million-hectare) wilderness full of the five top predators of the Amazon -- Jaguar, Giant Otter, Black Caiman, Harpy Eagle and Anaconda. The unhunted region of Manu (the other great Peruvian nature reserve) is only 750,000 acres (300,000 hectares) and demands more money and time to visit.
The Heath River features the world's most accessible large macaw lick, which has registered up to 260 large macaws in one day, making it one of the five largest recorded macaw licks in the world. Though all five of these licks are spectacular, the Heath Macaw Lick is by far the most economical to visit, making it ideal for a short Amazon itinerary to combine with the Inca sites of Cuzco and Machu Picchu. The Heath lick is the only one of the five that can be reached the same day that you fly by jet from Cuzco, thus saving one or two nights over other licks.
Travelers enjoy warm pancakes and coffee while viewing the photogenic lick from a comfortable floating blind anchored only 100 feet (30 metres) away, a fraction of the distance from which one views the more remote clay licks in Tambopata. Finally, the rainforest on both sides of the Heath River is fully representative of the world's most biologically diverse habitat -- the Amazon forest at the foot of the eastern slope of the Andes.
Canoeing on Sandoval Lake, Tambopata National Reserve.
Photo: Mylene d'Auriol Stoessel.
Heath River Wildlife Center
Location: Heath River, adjacent to the northern tip of Bolivia's 4.7-million-acre Madidi National Park and across the river from Peru's 2.7-million-acre Bahuaja-Sonene National Park. Reserve size: 25,000 acres. Wildlife it protects: Jaguars, Lowland Tapirs, Maned Wolves, Marsh Deer, Harpy Eagles, six species of macaws and Giant Otters.
Only four hours by river from the 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 bird 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.
Though very traditional, the lodge in Sonene does not sacrifice comfort in the least. Guests enjoy roomy, private, double-occupancy bungalows and en-suite facilities with hot showers. The combination of the most accessible and most photogenic large macaw lick and the warmth and uniquely traditional hospitality of our Indian hosts make Heath River Wildlife Center and Sandoval Lake Lodge the Amazon's best value in wildlife and authentic rainforest adventure.
Programs may be combined with the Sandoval Lake Lodge.
Spotting wildlife on Sandoval Lake, Tambopata National Reserve.
Photo: Mylene d'Auriol Stoessel.
Sandoval Lake Lodge
Location: Lake Sandoval, Tambopata National Reserve, Peru. Reserve size: 100 acres within the 627,000-acre Tambopata National Reserve. Wildlife it protects: Giant Otters, Black Caimans, Red-bellied Macaws, Brown Capuchin, Squirrel and Titi Monkeys.
Located deep in Peru's Tambopata National Reserve, Sandoval Lake Lodge overlooks sparkling, palm-rimmed Sandoval Lake, the most beautiful and wildlife-rich of all lakes in the Tambopata-Madidi Wilderness. This privileged location gives you exclusive access to the lake in the early morning and late afternoon, the choice hours for wildlife viewing and photography. No other lodge in Tambopata-Madidi is on the banks of a protected oxbow lake.
Our short Sandoval Lake Lodge program includes two nights of fully-screened accommodation in 25 double-occupancy rooms complete with en-suite facilities with hot-water showers, electricity, fans, meals, airport transfers in Puerto Maldonado, naturalist guides, lake excursions by day in search of Giant Otters, monkeys and macaws, forest excursions, night excursions in search of caimans, and evening slide shows. The lodge specializes in small groups and individualized attention in its overriding quest to conserve the lake and surrounding rainforest. Sandoval Lake Lodge is built out of ecologically-correct driftwood mahogany and is owned jointly by a nonprofit conservation group and five families of indigenous Brazil nut collectors.
As featured on PBS: The Real Macaw.
Rufescent Tiger-Heron,
Tambopata National Reserve.
Photo: Mylene d'Auriol Stoessel.
Highlights
Heath River Wildlife Center
Day 1: Puerto Maldonado - Heath River Wildlife Center. Meet at the airport and drive to the Tambopata River port. Travel downriver to the Madre de Dios, which we follow for four hours to the Heath River. Travel up this wild and intimate river to the Heath River Wildlife Center. After dinner, explore the forest, including a mammal clay lick. Overnight in the Heath River Wildlife Center.
Day 2: Macaw Clay Lick - Ethno-Botanical Walk - Pampas del Heath. Board a motorized canoe for the journey up the Heath River to the macaw and parrot clay lick. A specially-designed floating blind allows for proximity and complete concealment. When we return to the lodge, the guide leads us on an ethno-botanical walk. After lunch and a rest, hike through the rainforest to the Pampas del Heath, the largest remaining undisturbed savanna in the Amazon. Overnight in the Heath River Wildlife Center.
Day 3: Macaw Clay Lick - Forest Trails - Pampas del Heath. Full day exploring the macaw and parrot clay lick, forest trails and the Pampas. Overnight in the Heath River Wildlife Center.
Sandoval Lake Lodge
Day 4: Heath River Wildlife Center - Sandoval Lake Lodge (Red-Bellied Macaws). Breakfast in the floating blind at the macaw and parrot clay lick for a last round of looks and photos. Return to the lodge to pack for the trip to Sandoval Lake Lodge, located on the banks of one of the most beautiful lakes in Amazonian Peru. On the journey, visit the Ese'Eja native community of Sonene. Disembark at the trail head to Sandoval Lake Lodge, walk through the forest, board dugout canoes or catamarans, and paddle across the lake. Drift through flooded Mauritia palm forest and listen to the babbling of Red-bellied Macaws overhead. Overnight in the Sandoval Lake Lodge.
Day 5: Giant Otters - Black Caiman - Paichi - Medicinal Plants - Monkeys. Explore the western end of the lake in the catamaran or canoe. See Giant Otters, Black Caiman or the Paichi, a 10-foot-long Amazonian fish. Later, your naturalist guide will lead a hike through the forest. In the late afternoon, board the catamaran or canoe and set off to explore the eastern end of the lake. Capuchin, Squirrel and Titi Monkeys often forage along the lake's edge. After dinner, search again for Black Caiman. Overnight in the Sandoval Lake Lodge.
Day 6: Sandoval Lake Lodge - Puerto Maldonado. Paddle across the lake, encountering macaws or monkeys. Hike back out to the river and return to Puerto Maldonado for the flight back to Cuzco or Lima.
Black Caiman, Tambopata National Reserve.
Photo: Mylene d'Auriol Stoessel.
Day 1: Puerto Maldonado - Heath River Wildlife Center
We meet at the Puerto Maldonado airport and drive through town to the Tambopata River port. After boarding motorized canoes, we travel downriver to the mighty Madre de Dios, which we follow for approximately four hours to the Heath River. We then travel up this wild and intimate river, which forms the wilderness border between Peru and Bolivia, to the Heath River Wildlife Center. Note that the lodge is located on the Bolivian side of the Heath River so passports are required to clear Bolivian passport control.
After dinner, we'll explore the forest by flashlight, including a visit to a mammal clay lick, if it is active. Overnight in the Heath River Wildlife Center.
Blue-and-Gold Macaw, Tambopata National Reserve.
Photo: Mylene d'Auriol Stoessel.
One of the world's most dazzling wildlife spectacles...
When the morning sun clears the Amazon tree line in southeastern Peru and strikes a gray-pink clay bank on the upper Tambopata River, one of the world's most dazzling wildlife spectacles is nearing its riotous peak. The steep bank has become a pulsing, 130 foot high palette of red, blue, yellow and green as more than a thousand parrots squabble over choice perches to grab a beakful of clay, a vital but mysterious part of their diet. More than a dozen parrot species will visit the clay lick throughout the day, but this midmorning crush belongs to the giants of the parrot world, the macaws.
-- Franz Lanting, Macaws: Winged Rainbows, National Geographic, January, 1994
Choro Monkey, Tambopata National Reserve.
Photo: Mylene d'Auriol Stoessel.
Day 2: Macaw Clay Lick - Ethno-Botanical Walk - Pampas del Heath
We rise early in the morning to board a motorized canoe for the 10-minute journey up the Heath River to the macaw and parrot clay lick. Brightly-colored parrots and macaws fly in by the hundreds to feed on the clay that detoxifies certain seeds and nuts they eat. Marvel at the cacophony of sound and color as Red-and-Green Macaws vie for the best clay-eating position. A specially-designed floating blind allows for proximity and complete concealment -- so you can even have breakfast and coffee while the birds are performing their morning ritual.
When we return to the lodge, the guide leads us on an ethno-botanical walk through the forest, pointing out flora used in the daily lives of rainforest people. The guide explains how certain plants are used for medicinal or healing purposes, which ones can be made into the best bows and arrows, and how to select trees and leaves for home construction.
After lunch and a short rest, we hike through the rainforest to the Pampas del Heath, the largest remaining undisturbed savanna in the Amazon. The contrast is striking as we emerge from the mature rainforest onto the palm-studded grassland plain of the Pampas. Overnight in the Heath River Wildlife Center.
Mauritia palms, Pampas
del Heath.
Photo:
Pete Oxford.
Day 3: Macaw Clay Lick - Forest Trails - Pampas del Heath
Full day exploring the macaw and parrot clay lick, forest trails and the Pampas. Overnight in the Heath River Wildlife Center.
Tigrillo, Tambopata National Reserve.
Photo: Mylene d'Auriol Stoessel.
Day 4: Heath River Wildlife Center - Sandoval Lake Lodge (Red-Bellied Macaws)
We breakfast in the floating blind at the macaw and parrot clay lick for a last round of looks and photos. We return to the lodge to pack, and then it's back on the Madre de Dios River, box lunch in hand, for the trip to Sandoval Lake Lodge, located on the banks of one of the most beautiful lakes in Amazonian Peru.
During the trip back downstream, families of capybaras are often spotted on the banks of the river. Weighing up to 120 pounds (55 kilograms), this giant, three-toed relative of the guinea pig is the largest rodent in the world.
On the journey to Sandoval Lake Lodge, we will visit the Ese'Eja native community of Sonene, where there will be an opportunity to interact with the community and purchase local handicrafts.
We disembark at the trail head to Sandoval Lake Lodge and walk for 45 minutes on a wide, flat trail through the forest, stopping to look at birds, butterflies and towering trees. At the end of the trail, we board dugout canoes or catamarans, and are paddled across the lake in the golden afternoon light. We drift through flooded Mauritia palm forest and listen to the babbling of Red-bellied Macaws overhead as they roost in treetops for the night. We arrive at the lodge around nightfall and walk up the torch-lit path to dinner in the dining hall. Overnight in the Sandoval Lake Lodge.
Rainbow Boa, Tambopata National Reserve.
Photo: Mylene d'Auriol Stoessel.
Day 5: Giant Otters - Black Caiman - Paichi - Medicinal Plants - Monkeys
After an early breakfast, we explore the western end of the lake in the catamaran or canoe. We might see Giant Otters that live on the lake, or encounter a Black Caiman lazily crossing the water, or see the huge splash of the Paichi, a 10-foot-long Amazonian fish, as it rises to the surface of the water to gulp down bubbles of air.
Later that morning, your naturalist guide will lead a hike through the forest, pointing out plants with medicinal uses, interesting insects, and colorful birds and butterflies.
Following lunch and a short siesta in the late afternoon, we once again board the catamaran or canoe and set off to explore the eastern end of the lake. Capuchin, Squirrel and Titi Monkeys often forage along the lake's edge, and energetic guests can take another hike through forest on the other side of the lake.
After dinner, we go out on the lake to search again for Black Caiman, since they are most abundant on the lake at night as they forage. Floating in the middle of the lake, the brilliant stars light up the sky as the night sounds of the rainforest surround you. Overnight in the Sandoval Lake Lodge.
Canoe on Sandoval Lake, Tambopata National Reserve.
Photo: Mylene d'Auriol Stoessel.
Day 6: Sandoval Lake Lodge - Puerto Maldonado
After a dawn breakfast, we paddle across the lake, perhaps encountering a family of macaws leaving their roost to forage or a troupe of monkeys greeting the day. We hike back out to the river and return to Puerto Maldonado for the flight back to Cuzco or Lima.
Thank you for choosing Inka's Empire Tours.
© 2008 Inka's Empire Corporation, Luxury Peru Tours & Travel. All rights reserved.
