[:en]It is still dark. I try to get in my humid clothes still tired. The calls of Bamboo-rats shout into the concert of insects. Soon we are sitting on a boat which goes up the Tambopata river into the mists of the early morning to a river bank. Expectantly we are sitting on a fallen tree trunk and are looking into the beautiful rise of the sun behind the rain forest in the east. First small Macaws appear. A flock of Chestnut-fronted Macaws and Red- bellied Macaws fly over the river bank where we are sitting. Red-bellied Macaws are easy to identify in flight because they are yellow under their wings; Chestnut-fronted Macaws are brown. Also the calls are different. More and more small Macaws fly from the Eastern Andes to the famous clay lick or collpa at Tambopata. Suddenly the sun is shining on the clay lick which is now a shiny red. Soon there are large Macaws coming. Blue and Yellow, Scarlet and Green-winged Macaws are flying into the Cecropia trees on the upper river bank. They prefer the branches on the top of the trees without leaves. I am really in a paradise, in a Macaw-land!
When I decided to travel the long way from Bern in Switzerland to Tambopata in Peru I did not expect that I would be so fortunate to observe so many different bird species in such a beautiful tropical rainforest. It was only possible because I had such a good and friendly guide. Edwin Salazar Zapata is a Peruvian biologist and ornithologist who is extremely knowledgeable about the wild life and particularly about the birds of Peru. Everything was well organised. Someone came to

 

 

wildlife tambopata macaw clay lick 2days

Peru’s Tambopata region in the Amazon basin is the only area in the world where parrots and macaws gather in their hundreds to eat clay from riverbank mud cliffs. Biosphere Expeditions are working on a unique project  to protect them

Length: 2 Days/1Nights wildlife tambopata macaw clay lick
Type of service: Private or Group
Location: Southern Peru, Madre de Dios Department, Puerto Maldonado, Tambopata National Reserve,
Activities: Mcaw clay-lick, Hiking .Tambopata Reserve
Altitude: 400 – 3,600 m.a.s.l.
Best time to visit: All Year
Departure: Every day
Minimum of participants: 2
Maximum of participants: 10
Price per person:

 

DETAILED ITINERARY FOR WILDLIFE TAMBOPATA MACAW CLAY LICK
TOURS DAY 1:
wildlife tambopata macaw clay lick.
We will start at 8:00 am from our Hostel or we can pass to pick you up from your hotel, we will have 2 hour by cay in a 4X4, the first part will be by the high way and the second part will be in a dirt route until we get to the Tambopata River near the limit to the reserve. Our boat will be waiting for us to take us 25 minutes up the Tambopata river to get to our Lodge, we will have good chances to spot capybaras and many shore birds along the river bank, getting to the lodge we will get a welcome drink and the manager will explain us all we need to know about our lodge and its around. After lunch we will go for an introductory walk in first in a secondary grow forest and then in a primary forest full of huge trees and lianas and vines, at the same time we will talk about the most important economic activities in this region. Chances to spot some Brown capuchin monkeys and squirrel monkeys will be always possible. When is getting dark we will come back to our lodge to get our torch and go to our boat and we will do one of the most exiting activities… it will be the Cayman spotting, we will go to look for White and black Caymans along the river bank with a big spot light, we might see more capybaras and we always have good chances to spot and ocelot or a jaguar by the river too.

TOURS DAY 2: wildlife tambopata macaw clay lick
We will wake up around 5:00am, we will get a hot drinks to get some energy and we will take our boat up the Tambopata for 1 hour and 30 minutes. Crossing the check point. We will have all the sunrise just for us in the boat, and we will have really good chances to spot shore birds, capybaras, White caimans, and why not to mention … A jaguar or an anaconda, I like to say it, we have a 20 %of probabilities to see one of these guys by the river bank.
Getting to our destination, we will get a show at the clay lick, parrots and macaws Green, red, blue and yellow birds all around us, flying and making loud noises, it will be spectacular this behavior of this birds. We will explain you the reason why every day the whole year around this birds go to the Cliff to eat clay. We will spend from 6:30 am to 11:00 am approx. Our breakfast will be in front of the clay lick activity. chuncho Macaw Clay Lick tambopata reserve sandoval lake lodge and manu park and amazon peru At the end of this activity, in our way down river to the lodge we will make a short stop in the check point to learn more about the small museum that there is here, after this we will continue toward our lodge to get an unforgettable swimming in the stream or may be in the Tambopata River. We will get our lunch and then we can take our boat for 30 minutes down the river to go for a fishing afternoon at the Gato stream, there are always hungry piranhas waiting for some meat that would be our bate, the stream is a really good place to swim too after we catch some piranhas, it is an unforgettable experience. We will short walk to explain you a Little bit about the local farm. In the afternoon around 4:00pm will start our way back to Puerto Maldonado, First 15 minutes up river by boat and then 2 hours by car.

Included for wildlife tambopata macaw clay lick:
A professional naturalist Tour Guide;
Motorboat transportation:
Private vehicle land transportation;
Meals: 1x Breakfast, 1x Lunch, 1x Dinner and drinking water (Please note: vegetarian option upon request for no extra cost!);
Accommodation: 1 Nights in Lodges;
First aid kit, including a poison extractor, mosquito bite treatment and an antidote for a snake bite;
Radio communications;
Rubber boots.

Not Included for wildlife tambopata macaw clay lick 2 days:
Any flight nor airport departure taxes;
Travel insurance;
Vaccination;
Entrance fees to the Tambopata Reserve
Breakfast on the first day and Last day Lunch
Drinks;
Tips to local staff.

What you Need to Bring towildlife tambopata macaw clay lick 2 days:
Mosquito repellent (DEET 35 recommended as a MINIMUM!!),
Original passport,
Small backpack,
Long sleeved cotton shirts (preferably green coloured),
Long cotton trousers,
Cotton long socks (to be put into your trousers),
Comfortable walking shoes,
Sandals or light shoes,
Rain gear (e.g. rain poncho),
Toiletries,
Sweater (for the beginning of the tour in Andes and the cloud forest only),
Swimsuits;
Binoculars (we also rent it),
Camera and its charger,
Plastic bags to be used for clothes and a camera,
A hat as a protection against the Sun or rain,
Small towel,
Toilet paper,
Sun cream,
Sunglasses,
Flashlight (with spare bulb and batteries),
A bottled water (1 litre as a minimum),
Pocket money (Soles) to buy some beverages and souvenirs as well as to tip.

 

 

continued for eight hours up the river. We stopped on a lake with giant otters, caimans, hoatzins and whole flocks of Ara ararauna. The boat trip up the river was most fascinating. After some hours there were no signs of human civilisation, only remote neotropical rainforest with its wild life. In the evening we got to Tambopata Research Centre.
During the following two weeks Edwin and I walked many kilometres on the trails of the rainforest around TRC. We observed the sloths, different monkey species like red howler monkey (Alouatta seniculus), common squirrel monkey (Saimiri sciureus sciureus) and
brown capuchin (Cebus apella), a lot of different insects like ants, spiders, tarantulas and
butterflies and reptiles like snakes, turtles and lizards. Daily we saw tapir and jaguar foot prints on the muddy ground, different fish species in the
clear water of lovely little rivers and, of course parrots and other birds.
I was very impressed with the plants. There were different forest types: typical lowland forests with Monstera and Philodendron climbing up the trees (often in symbiosis with termite nests), palm swamps with Mauritia flexuosa palms, drier forests on soft hills, bamboo forests and Cecropia forests on river banks which took over new places as pioneer trees. Around TRC and, especially every morning on the
pick me up at Lima-airport. I spent one night at Lima. The next day I flew from Lima to Puerto Maldonado which is the capital town of the department of Madre de Dios. At Puerto Maldonado Edwin came and picked me up. Afterwards we were sitting in a boat which was driving for about 2 hours up the
river to Posada Amazonas lodge. During the three days we spent there I observed many interesting bird species. Of course I was especially
interested in parrots.

As human beings we were confined to the grounds in the shade of the wonderful neotropical rainforest. It was
very exciting to hear parrot cries